Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Eve's Bayou Blu-ray Movie Review

One from the heart.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 21, 2022

Known more these days for the solidly popular Harriet, actor-turned-director Kasi Lemmons debuted behind the camera with Eve's Bayou in 1997, a film that late critic Roger Ebert famously championed as the best of that year. It features a strong and sturdy narrative that places substantial characters square in the middle of a compelling story about youth, loss, fear, and the supernatural all set against a deep-South backdrop and, at the risk of overusing my Ebert references for the day, it isn't long enough. Criterion partially remedies that with their new two-disc Blu-ray edition, pairing the theatrical version with a 115-minute director's cut that was last available on a nearly 20 year-old DVD.

In both versions, our story is told from the perspective of Eve Batiste (the tragically-named Jurnee Smollett), a bright-eyed ten year-old who lives with her older sister Cisely (Meagan Good) and younger brother Poe (Jake Smollett) in the care of their parents and grandmother. Patriarch Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), a charming and successful doctor, leaves home regularly to care for patients -- especially the young, pretty ones -- while his wife Roz (Lynn Whitfield) mostly turns a blind eye, much to the dismay of her mother (Ethel Ayler). Louis' womanizing ways predictably split the family piece by piece: daddy's girl Cisely doesn't even believe Eve's story of his late-night encounter with family friend Matty Mereaux (Lisa Nicole Carson), her mother finally calls him on it, and Eve isn't old enough to fully process her feelings. She later finds an unexpected confidante in her aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan), a psychic who can see everyone's future but her own, but must face other revelations as she learns to navigate through a turbulent childhood.

It's a confident and assured debut from a writer-director who some might remember from her supporting roles in films like The Silence of the Lambs , School Daze, the original Candyman, and even Hard Target, a near-perfect examination of youth, insecurity, and fear of the unknown which, yes includes its well-handled supernatural elements. Whereas some films might go over-the-top with mumbo-jumbo like voodoo curses and psychic readings, through the lens of a child -- and presented matter-of-factly -- they end up being an essential part of its original story.

Almost perfectly paced at 108 minutes and featuring too many great performances to count (along with fantastic cinematography by Amy Vincent and outstanding music by Terence Blanchard), Eve's Bayou lives and breathes in its own world... and the director's cut, which debuted for most on Lionsgate's 2002 "Signature Series" DVD linked above, doesn't really change that much. In fact, it mainly just reinstates one removed character: Uncle Tomy, a deaf and mute older relative who lives with the Batiste family; reportedly, one of the film's original financiers wanted him wiped away completely for unknown reasons. (He can be seen in a few theatrical cut scenes if you squint, but is never mentioned by name.) While his sporadic appearances -- as well as other incidental dramatic moments here and there, which only add up to about seven minutes in all -- don't affect the plot to a significant degree (except for kinda-sorta the finale), director Lemmons always felt his on-screen inclusion was critical to her film and even based the character on her own great uncle, just one of many semi-autobiographical elements decorating this extremely personal film.

Luckily, Criterion includes both versions -- and on separate dual-layered discs, no less -- on their new Blu-ray edition, which serves as the high-definition debut of Eve's Bayou and thankfully gives this film most of the support it deserves. Featuring a new director and cinematographer-supervised 1080p transfer on both cuts, lossless audio, and a decent collection of bonus features, it's a well-rounded release for one of the decade's most underrated dramas.

Eve's Bayou Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Supervised by director Kasi Lemmons and director of photography Amy Vincent, this new digital restoration of the director's cut of the film was created in 4K resolution on Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative and a 35mm interpositive". These A/V notes in Criterion's booklet paint an almost inarguable picture, and it's certainly hard to objectively critique this 1080p transfer of Eve's Bayou for those reasons as well as two more: most audiences did not see this film theatrically and DVD-era transfers, which marked its last appearance on home video, frequently leaned on warmer tones that rarely replicated a film's original color palette.

Still, it's hard to ignore the dominant teals and occasional pinks that give certain scenes a lightly filtered appearance, which I'd normally chalk up to the director/cinematographer's original intent if that type of palette weren't so trendy today. Revision? Maybe. Yet most other elements of this 4K-sourced transfer aren't nearly as potentially offensive, and luckily preserve what I'd consider a more purist-friendly-presentation: outstanding image detail, visible textures, strong film grain, and good contrast levels that are somewhat limited by what looks to be a bit of artificial brightening.

Yet Eve's Bayou looks exceedingly great in-motion and still casts a timeless and hypnotic visual spell, with lots of filtered natural light and interesting set decorations that give its backgrounds plenty of appeal. The high-contrast, black-and-white flashbacks and psychic visions (seen in screenshot #30) look as crisp as ever, with likewise dominant film grain, bright whites, and deep blacks with intentional crush. Stray scenes taken from a 35mm interpositive -- about seven minutes or so, originally trimmed for reasons outlined above -- blend in almost seamlessly during the director's cut, showing a very slight dip in quality that your eyes will quickly adjust to... if you even notice it.

This means that the theatrical cut, obviously sourced entirely from the negative, is the more consistent of the two but not by much. It also shows marginally fewer compression artifacts -- not that they're prevalent to begin with -- because it gets the entire second dual-layered disc to itself. (Just one of a few small oddities regarding how this material was organized). Add in the lack of a true 4K option and you've got a slightly less than definitive presentation of Eve's Bayou but, considering its last home video release was 20 years ago (and the theatrical cut never even got an anamorphic DVD release), Criterion's Blu-ray still marks a leap forward in video quality for this beautifully-shot film.

Eve's Bayou Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, remastered from the original 35mm magnetic track, sounds spectacular during its most intense moments. Though much of the film features front-forward dialogue recorded indoors with a narrowed presence, other moments let the rear channels come alive with crowd ambiance, music cues by the supremely talented Terence Blanchard, weather-related effects, and built-in atmosphere provided by Louisiana's bustling insect population. This is a very dialed-in presentation that sometimes goes beyond what I'd consider normal territory for the genre, and it's presented here in a clean and robust track that honestly shows no real room for improvement. Simply put, those who have not watched Eve's Bayou in a decade or more will be surprised at how good it sounds here.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only (not the extras, unfortunately), and stray moments of burned-in subtitles translating French dialogue have been thankfully preserved.

Eve's Bayou Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in Criterion's typically thick keepcase with attractive design elements and overlapping disc hubs, along with a subtle inner print and a fold-out insert that features notes about the A/V presentation, cast/crew details, and a new essay by film scholar Kara Keeling titled "The Gift of Sight".

The extras are all found on Disc 1 (the Director's Cut); some are new and many have been ported over from earlier Lionsgate DVD editions, although two of those vintage extras -- a director/cast commentary featuring Kasi Lemmons, Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan, and Vondle Curtis-Hall, as well as an audio commentary for Lemmons' short film Dr. Hugo -- are unfortunately missing in action.

• Audio Commentary - This scene-specific track, recorded for Lionsgate in 2002, features writer/director Kasi Lemmons, producer Cotty Chubb, editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, and cinematographer Amy Vincent. It's a casual and somewhat dry conversation at times but expectedly covers a lot of ground including the original short film Dr. Hugo (also included on this release), development, casting, production design and location scouting, the cinematography, casting and on-set memories, post-production, and much more.

• Dr. Hugo (19:24) - Created a year before the main feature as a proof-of-concept piece for Trimark Films, this short film stars Vondie Curtis-Hall (who plays Julian Grayraven, Mozelle's latest lover, in Eve's Bayou) as a small-town doctor who makes house calls to beautiful but lonely housewives. Like the main feature, it's directed by Kasi Lemmons, produced by Caldecot Chubb, shot by Amy Vincent, and is presented here in a brand-new 4K-sourced transfer (albeit with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio) made from original film elements.

• Kasi Lemmons (36:02) - This exclusive interview, recorded for Criterion in New York in June 2022, features the writer-director speaking at length about her background, the creative process, and key collaborations, along with the path that led her to making Eve's Bayou, her first feature film. More than your average talking-head interview, it's a very personal piece that features plenty of family photos and other vintage material.

• Cast Reunion (59:22) - This 2021 virtual roundtable, recorded in February 2021 at the New Orleans Film Festival and moderated by filmmaker Zandashé Brown, features director Kasi Lemmons along with actors Lynn Whitfield, Meagan Good, Jurnee Smollett, and composer Terence Blanchard, who all speak about how the film impacted their respective careers. I'll be honest, I'm Zoomed out for a few years so I skimmed this one.

• Terence Blanchard (12:06) - More a pair of intertwining interviews than a one-man show, this piece features separate chats with composer Terence Blanchard and director Kasi Lemmons, who both speak about their fruitful teamwork on Eve's Bayou that led to collaborations on four more films and even an opera.

• Photo Albums - Two separate galleries showcasing black-and-white Polaroids taken during production by cinematographer Amy Vincent and color shots of the set by photographer William Eggleston.

• Amy Vincent - Self-playing, 3:32 total.
• William Eggleston - 21 photos with text intro by producer Cotty Chubb.

NOTE: The film's trailer is promised on the packaging but was nowhere to be found. Watch it here.

Eve's Bayou Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Writer-director Kasi Lemmons made a very strong debut behind the camera with Eve's Bayou, a striking coming-of-age tale with great characters, a strong narrative, and a memorable backdrop that makes it stand out in a crowded genre. It plays just as well today as it did 25 years ago when it was mostly ignored by the general public but adored by critics and art-house patrons. Criterion's two-disc Blu-ray set gives it the respect its deserves and a third life on home video, led by two cuts of the film sourced from a new 4K scan of the original negative and interpositive. Certain elements of its new color timing border on revisionism and several missing vintage extras keep this from being a truly definitive release, but it's still a fine effort worthy of adding to your collection. Firmly Recommended.