Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Clint Eastwood, 1997)

[Michael]

As a gay Yankee who spent the most part of his life in the South - Alabama and Georgia to be specific, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil brings me back to many moments of that part of life. It beautifully depicts the decaying of the contemporary South and its sleazy side. The South may be a swarm of Republican conservatives but I've traveled all over the country and I've never seen such an abundance of drag queens and hustlers in the South as much as the rest of the country, even counting NY and California. The film shows that people from every walk of life - drag queens, lawyers, witches, Yankees, murderers, Christians, hustlers etc - are part of our everyday life no matter what our beliefs and prejudices are. Midnight doesn't rush.. it moves lazily which I think is perfect for a film taking place in the South. The film doesn't push anything or any statement or morals down your throat. It simply takes us into the flow with those very humane characters trying to deal with the hot murder case surrounding their everyday life. Kevin Spacey is wonderful and I find it utterly impossible to take my eyes off him. I really love the touch in the end after Kevin's character falls down on the rug and sees his lover - two spirits haunting together for one more moment.

Midnight is Eastwood's best film and I'm sure most of you don't agree with me.

[flyonthewall2983]

One of his best, definitely. They've been showing it on the HBO/Cinemax channels alot lately, and I've come to appreciate more and more the pace at which the film goes.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Yeah, I dig this film too. I remember going to see it in the theaters when it came out and really enjoyed the deliberate slow pace of the film and how it takes its time to allow you to get to know the characters and sets everything up. I also thought the cinematography was superb... very rich and atmospheric, really conveying the lushness of the region.

I also enjoyed the little details, like how John Cusack's character can't get to sleep unless he has an audio recording of New York City streets sounds playing near his bed. Heh.

[In Heaven]

Just to..brag, I guess...the man murdered in this movie is an uncle of a friend of mine.

[life_boy]

Just to..brag, I guess...the man murdered in this movie is an uncle of a friend of mine.

And I live only a handful of blocks from the Mercer House.

[Michael]

The changing of the Cusack character doesn't bother me a bit too.

You're absolutely right about the film begging to be revaluated and of all the Eastwood films I've seen, this one is the most rewatchable.

davidhare, wouldn't you love if you were invited to Spacey's Christmas "bachelor" party? I know I would.

[David Ehrenstein]

D'ya think Kevin will ever properly come out?

When Brian Boitano does a Triple Lutz in the Ninth Circle.

An excellent film, with La Spacey playing the role of his life. The invention of the Cusack character to replace the book's omniscient narrator is an excellent conceit. Being a sophisticated New Yorker he isn't "shocked" by the gayness. He's charmed by it all. Eastwood's ability to direct The Lady Chablis is commendable. That plus Jude Law as the juiciest piece of rough trade ever put on screen.

The DVD has a lot of extras including interviews with several of the real people who became characters in the book, plus a map of Savannah and tour of the locations.

[Lino]

Midnight is Eastwood's best film and I'm sure most of you don't agree with me.

I would have thought that Bridges of Madison County would be the one for you, Michael. Meryl playing an italian emmigrant and all. By the way, how do you find her performance: believable or not so?

[Michael]

Brides of Madison County = eeeewwww

Meryl Streep playing an Italian immigrant = eeeeewwwww

[Lino]

Brides of Madison County = eeeewwww

Meryl Streep playing an Italian immigrant = eeeeewwwww

Ok, I got the message!

[Michael]

So Lino, have you seen Midnight?

[Lino]

Yes, I have and I do have fond memories of it. But, I don't know, apart from loving the way they recreated that South vibe, it all sounded kind of phony to me, I guess...

Still, I haven't seen it in a long time and maybe I'm kind of tired of the Hollywood kind of filmmaking (bleaching and hiding, their biggest sins; oh, how I long for a movie that goes all the way and doesn't look back) but I guess I'm not that of an Eastwood fan, really. His last one with Hillary Swank, I found so manipulative (and I don't mind being manipulated, having just watched Haneke's Funny Games for the first time since catching it at the theatre) in a wrong kind of way that it put me off completely.

I just basically have conflicting feelings towards it, that's all. I like parts of it. Not as a whole.

[tryavna]

But, I don't know, apart from loving the way they recreated that South vibe, it all sounded kind of phony to me, I guess...

Actually, I think I'm with Lino on this one. I remember really liking this movie when it first came out, but on subsequent viewings, it just doesn't hold up -- for me, at least. I find that it tries waaay too hard to exoticize Southern culture. I know that Savannah has a culture all its own, and maybe the movie (and book) captured it more or less accurately. But it seems to hit a lot of the usual Southern stereotypes hard -- and the South that emerges in the film is one that hasn't really existed in decades. (But then again, the two "Southern" states I've lived in -- Kentucky and North Carolina -- aren't really the South, I suppose.) But it's still a fun movie.

[Michael]

A friend told me once that Savannah doesn't make a good representation of the South as a majority. It's a bubble loaded with wealth and snobbery. He also said that to experience the real South is to go anyplace that sells boiled peanuts. But I think what Midnight aims for is the Southern Gothic in order to create the mood, the flavor. Perfectly appropriate because the story is a mystery, taking place in ancient Southern homes and cemeteries where ghosts roam about.

tryavna, I think the contemporary South that you have in mind can be found in lovely movies Junebug and Loggerheads - both filmed in North Carolina.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I always felt that this film made an interesting double bill with Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man, which if I'm not mistaken, is also set in the same city but is shot a lot differently and presents a much different view of the place. Of course, having Kenneth Branagh sporting a Southern accent may be a turn off to some (okay, to many) but Robert Downey Jr. is so damn good in it!

[toiletduck!]

tryavna, I think the contemporary South that you have in mind can be found in lovely movies Junebug and Loggerheads - both filmed in North Carolina.

or All The Real Girls. David Gordon Green's love affair with his home would be tiresome if it wasn't so achingly gorgeous.

On topic: I tagged along with some friends to Savannah a couple of summers ago. They're big fans of the book and the film, so a large chunk of the trip was dedicated to Garden sights and sounds. (He also proposed to her while down there. Unrelated? Yes. The sweetest damn thing I've ever seen? Yes.) I haven't seen or read Midnight, but I loved Savannah (achingly gorgeous pops into mind) and have seen all the sights, so I might as well get it over with.

Fine, that was only slightly on topic.

-Toilet Dcuk

[Roger_Thornhill]

I know this thread is dead, but I just wanted to say how encouraging it is to read so many positive things about Midnight, since virtually everything I've heard about it is that it was a misfire for Eastwood. I'll have to add that to my netflix queue now. Thanks!

[Quot]

I owe this one a revisit. It's odd that Berendt did a much better job at conveying Chablis' persona than Eastwood (she did an ok job in the film, but really it was a very restrained performance, to say the least). Here in South Carolina, Lady Chablis was a staple in the 80s-90s and still maintains her home here although she still performs in Savannah frequently. I admire the fact that Eastwood featured Chablis in the film but it's too bad he wasn't able portray this larger-than-life character as effectively as the novel.

[David Ehrenstein]

Moreover while "everyone" know berndt is gay (just as the know the truth about Spacey) he's not up front about this in the text at all. The narrator is a shadow figure -- much like Willaim Alland's "Mr. Thompson" in Citizen Kane. The Cusack character in the film fills hinm out admirably and makes for a nice buffer between the film's ideal viewer --a "sophsiticated outsider" in need of a guided tour of Savannah.

I'm sure that in real life The Lady Chablis is much wilder than she appears before Eastwood's cameras. But the fact of the matter is her appearance in a "mainstream" film at all is quite without precedent. I found The Doll delightful.

[Quot]

Yeah, my quibbles are really minor and subjective to a fault. I agree with the comments applauding the filmmaker's decision to have her in the cast. I just never really got the feeling that she was playing herself but instead did a pretty commendable job at playing a screenwriter's idea of who she was.

Also, I'm glad to see the support for a reevaluation of this particular film. It was dismissed fairly quickly when it was first released. I still don't know why the prevalent thoughts at the time seemed to lament the fact that the leisurely, meandering pace of the film took away from the central murder mystery. It's almost as if those early critics had never read the source material. But in this regard, I think Eastwood did an outstanding job of transferring the mood and quirkiness of the book to the screen.

[Michael]

I met the Lady Chablis twice. She performed at the club where I work at. She's exactly like the Lady Chablis you see in the film.

[Gregory]

I thought I remembered seeing her in another film, Corndog Man. At the time, I was pretty sure it was her but now I can't find anything via Google, and it has been six years or so.