Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a book by John Berendt, and a movie, directed by Clint Eastwood based loosely on that story.
The book is atmospheric in tone, depicting eccentric Savannah personalities ; the plot propelled by the investigation of the shooting of hustler Danny Hansford (characterized as "a good time not yet had by all") by his boyfriend, respected art dealer Jim Williams (which culminated in four murder trials). What makes the story all the more amazing, in addition to author John Berendt's pleasing writing, is the fact that it was non-fiction.
The text was among the most popular non-fiction books of all time and appeared in one form or another on the NY Times bestseller list for over two years.
The title alludes to midnight, the time between the time for good magic and the time for evil magic, in "the garden of good and evil'': in this particular case, the Bonaventure Cemetery.
A common image from it features the famous bird-girl statue, a scuplture originally designed objectively as art, as well as a place to hold birdseed. The original statue has since been moved to a local museum so that all may enjoy it.
Featured characters include The Lady Chablis, who plays herself in the film. There are noteworthy and alas common differences between the book and the movie version, including censoring out much of the gay content and the creation of a non-existent main character (as well as pairing him with another female character).
The movie stars John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, Jack Thompson, Kim Hunter, Dorothy Loudon and Jude Law in one of his earlier roles. Several smaller roles, such as the party guests and Jerry the hairdresser, were played by the people actually involved in the original real-life story. The judge in the courtroom scenes is in fact Sonny, Jim William's real-life lawyer.
