Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Short description
A magazine reporter from New York, John Kelso, travels to Savannah, Georgia, to write about the lavish Christmas party thrown by Jim Williams, an antiques dealer and prominent local social figure. Kelso meets the city's colorful residents at the gathering, including Williams's young companion Billy Hanson. The celebration ends with Hanson's death, and Williams is charged with the killing, saying he acted in self-defense. Fascinated by the case and the reactions it provokes in Savannah society, Kelso stays on to cover the trial and grows close to the man accused.
Clint Eastwood directed the film, the twentieth of the forty features he has directed, following Absolute Power and preceding True Crime. John Lee Hancock wrote the screenplay, adapting John Berendt's book about real events. John Cusack plays Kelso and Kevin Spacey plays Williams, with Jude Law as Hanson, Alison Eastwood, Jack Thompson and Irma P. Hall in supporting roles. The production involved 54 credited cast members and 117 credited crew.
Released in November 1997, the film runs 155 minutes. Made for about 35 million dollars, it took in roughly 25 million worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from around 44,000 votes, while on TMDB it averages 6.4 from about 650 votes, so viewers are mildly positive. A critics' rating of 6.2 from 38 reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Luther Driggers, played by Jeffrey Lewis (1935-2015), was based on a real Savannah resident, Mo Fetzner. He was depicted in an unflattering light in the novel. He remained indignant until the end of his days about how he was portrayed in the novel and how Lewis played him.
- A significant portion of the characters shown in the film are based on real residents of Savannah, but some details were changed for greater dramatic effect. Joe Odom was a real person, a former lawyer who opened a bar. He died of AIDS in 1991. The character of John Kelso is a portrayal of Berendt himself, but his personal life is described inaccurately. In reality, Berendt is homosexual.
- Screenwriter John Berendt, author of the novel on which the screenplay was based, provided Kevin Spacey with recordings of a speech by Jim Williams, who was accused of murder, so that he could listen to how Williams spoke. Spacey replied that he had already heard Williams’ statement in court and didn't need to. During filming, however, Spacey spoke in a way that didn’t resemble Williams’ speech at all. It was only later that Berendt realized Spacey was actually speaking the way Williams did – but only during the fourth court session, when Williams himself was under the influence of Valium (a drug with sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, and amnesic effects).
- The film was shot in a genuine old mansion, but before filming began, the filmmakers were unable to find an insurance company willing to insure all the property inside. Therefore, all the original items had to be removed to storage for the duration of filming, and specially made replicas were used instead.
- Many people who had previously attended receptions at the mansion were invited to film the Christmas celebration, as well as several relatives of James Arthur Williams. These extras later unanimously stated that everything was very realistic, including how Spacey portrayed Williams.
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