Art House (Every Other) Tuesday #164
Eve's Bayou (1997)
Hey all,
I hope some of you got to enjoy Eve's Bayou. In her Southern Gothic coming-of-age story, director Kasi Lemmons interrogates the fallibility and malleability of memory. When characters recall pivotal moments in Eve's Bayou, they do so as active participants rather than passive viewers. So alive are these recollections, they allow the listener to step inside them and influence the telling. When Eve recalls a traumatic event to her older sister Cisely, she refuses to accept Eve's telling so she steps inside Eve's memory and narrates a new version of the event. Eve watches these new ideas materialize in front of her, supplanting her original telling. Similarly, when Cisely later recalls her own painful memory, the visualization is choppy and fractured. Lemmons' jump cuts and broken continuity, hinting at the emotional confusion the events stir in Cisely. The past is very much a living document for each of them, as shapeable as it is unreliable.
As with most films from a child's perspective, there is a nostalgic sheen through which everything is filtered. Here the viewpoint is literalized with bookended voice overs that plant the events of the film in the past. Director Lemmons mingles this perspective with the dark mysticism of Southern Gothic storytelling, creating a unique and exciting language. Throughout the film, Lemmons creates strange, indelible moments that take hold in our memory. When Harry leaves the opening party drunk and disgruntled, Lemmon cuts to a slow motion shot of him waving goodbye as his head falls backwards into his seat. The moment is haunting. It breaks us from the naturalistic editing and visual compositions of the scene and therefore we remember it. Is this an element of memory we're seeing, one of the images that makes up Eve's adult memories as the opening voice over suggests? Or is this a moment of premonition, an aspect of Eve's mystical lineage? Excitingly, it appears to be both. When we're children, the world is more magical, filled with grand fears and unexplainable events. To dip into memory is to exist once again in those spaces, living in an ambiguity that adulthood can never resolve. So if you're into making house calls this one's for you.
"Memory is a selection of images."
Short Ends
Normcore Double Feature
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Further Research
Talk to Me (2007)This week we're heading back to that comfort spot of 90's Iranian cinema. This week we're watching Mohsen Makhmalbaf's '97 offering: Salam Cinema
You can see the film: here or ask me or a link
I was completely unaware of this film until @laurenguiteras on our Discord suggested it! Sharing our favorites and talking about the hidden gems we've found on our film journey is one of the best parts about loving movies and having a place to talk about it. This film was an easy sell for me. I love this era of Iranian cinema. We've watched four Abbas Kiarostami films around this time and I'm really excited to take a look at the other filmmakers who were doing great work around him. So watch along with us, then go on our Discord and tell us what other films you think we should watch!
As always, if you want to join me to chat Tuesday after watching the film you can't, no one has the time for that. But you can join the Discord conversation here at your own convenience here:
https://discord.gg/nf2qxDdv9t
You can find a complete list of our Art House Films here.
If you’ve gotten this far you’re probably pretty into movies. Think about subscribing!
Sincerely,
Jesse Sperling
jessesperling.com
@sperlingsilver
***We do not encourage any illegal pirating of media or any illegal activity of any kind. Probably should have always had this disclaimer...