Storytelling Through Costuming in Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Image sourced from Eve's Bayou (1997)
David Bordwell identifies four stylistic functions of film: expressive, denotative, symbolic, and decorative. Each of these functions serves a purpose within the film. The expressive function communicates emotion, the denotative function demonstrates technical aspects of filmmaking, the symbolic style acts as a visual metaphor, and the decorative function establishes stylistic patterns. These functions could be observed in any film, such as Eve’s Bayou (1997), which uses expressive style to craft a visual narrative that explores Black girlhood through the themes of memory and time.
Eve’s Bayou is an expression of Black girlhood set against the backdrop of Louisiana Bayou. The mysterious bayou is irreplaceable, acting as a character that frames various symbols such as snakes, spiders, trains, and apples for the duration of the film. The isolated setting provides an intimate look into the world of the Batiste family, allowing the viewer to connect to or identify with experiences of joy and hardship. The film also embraces Black hairstyles and fashion as beautiful, presenting African American rituals and traditions are relevant and enriching elements of Louisiana culture. The omission of comparisons between Blackness to Whiteness or Black girlhood to White girlhood empowers the characters to exist within the context of their complex humanity.
That complexity is not exclusive to the Batiste family but extends to vibrant community bonds that many Blacks can relate to. The nuanced portrayal of love, hate, relationships, youth, infidelity, loneliness, insecurity, and longing contradict mainstream narratives about Black families and communities. Instead of relying on tropes that revolve around gang violence, police brutality, and drugs, or the prevailing stereotype of the broken Black family, Eve’s Bayou unveils humanity through the preservation of the nuanced relationships of the Batiste family.
While the film does not shy away from violence, it is not a fixture of the film that drives the plot. The narrative centers on the internal journey of the young protagonist, Eve, and her family. Through this, the viewer watches as Eve grapples with the discomfort of youth, the passage of time, and the acknowledgment of memory as a malleable product of perception. The film encourages the audience to reflect on how perception impacts our understanding of events, relationships, and people. It punctuates the concept of memory as subject to emotions and experience – something that is constantly changing and revealing unforeseen truths or lies with time.
The themes of memory and time are presented through expressive stylistic functions proposed by Bordwell. The expressive function is evident in the Mise-en-scène, which encompasses the actors, location, set design, lighting, blocking, composition, camera placement, and costumes. One way that expressive elements are demonstrated in Eve’s Bayou is through costumes, creating a visual contrast between girlhood and womanhood. Softer, more girlish, colors like white, orange, sky blue, pastel pink, and green are reserved for younger characters such as Eve and her older sister Cisely, whereas darker shades such as black, red, royal blue, and purple are used for older characters like Roz and Mozelle. This pattern is only disrupted during moments of emotional distress.
For example, throughout the film, Cisely desires to be treated as an adult, but when confronted with the changes in her body she feels overwhelmed and afraid. Her signature wardrobe of girly dresses with fuller circle skirts or A-line skirts in soft colors such as white, pink, and purple shifts after two events: when she menstruates for the first time and when her father, Louis, violates her.
Image sourced from Eve's Bayou (1997)
When Eve announces to the family that Cisely has started her period, Cisely reacts with anger and embarrassment, even attempting to beat up her younger sister for disclosing the news. Her tear-filled silence in the aftermath of her humiliation reflects the complex emotions she experiences as she transitions from girlhood to womanhood. These complex emotions are only exacerbated after Louis kisses and then slaps her. Cisely idolizes her father, viewing him as a hero, but her father’s unexpected display of violence causes her to become reclusive. She refuses to eat, speak, or accept his offer of help when she gets her first period.
Cisely’s changing physical and mental state is represented in her shorter hair and blue A-line dress that is more mature in style and silhouette, contrasting with the playful styles of her youth, highlighting how she was forced to grow up too quickly. Yet, she still clings to pink – perhaps her signature color – to hold on to her girlhood. Pink, often associated with youth and femininity, is a comforting reminder of a simpler time filled with innocence. The darker shade, however, is reminiscent of colors typically worn by older women, subtly indicating a loss of innocence.
The juxtaposition between her shifting perception of the world clashes with her evolving appearance, caught in a space where childhood conflicts when her expectations of adulthood. Her changing body coupled with her tarnished memory of a father she used to idolize shook her to the core. The change in her costuming signifies not only the passage of time but also a mental transition from childhood to unexpected maturity. Cisely’s narrative demonstrates the expressive style through costume, showing the bittersweet reality of growing up. This evolution expresses to the audience that time cannot be controlled and that new challenges will arise whether they are expected or unexpected. Nor can our memories of our greatest heroes – those we once idolized, like her father – are fragile and susceptible to change.
Image sourced from Eve's Bayou (1997)