Mississippi Burning

Great production values overall, but this film is still racist. The previous poster doesn't have all the facts. In reality, the FBI showed very little interest in this case. They didn't care that two whites were killed. It is a fact that civil rights organizers, both whites and blacks, begged and pleaded with the federal government to step in. From watching this film you'd think that the FBI came in and had to talk people into getting involved! It was the other way around! This film paints the US government as giving a damn when in fact it didn't. It does belittle blacks and it certainly belittles the work of all civil rights activists from that period, both black and white.

I never understood why this movie was never on the Top 250. If American History X can make the Top 250 why not Mississippi Burning? Even Crash made the top 250 and this movie is way more powerful than Crash will ever be. Incredible. Mississippi Burning is a very hard film to look at but a very truthful and gritty look at racism in southern Mississippi during the Civil Rights era. The story details FBI agents Rupert Anderson(Gene Hackman)and Alan Ward(Willem Dafoe) search for the killers an African-American male and two Jewish males. Their search takes them to the heart of Mississippi where the racism is deep-seated and the police are inflexible to a fault. They later realize how deep the police involvement in the killings were. No other movie about race relations has moved me like Mississippi Burning has. American History X is phenomenal but it didn't make me as angry as this movie did. I wish I had the power to stop these psychos from doing what they did. Mississippi Burning was the movie that made me question my faith in organized religion. I couldn't fathom that I was believing in the same belief system that these racist lunatics were believing in. I dumped belief in organized religions after extensive research at the age of 20 but this movie sparked my curiosity. Gene Hackman is wonderful as Agent Rupert. He steals every scene he is in. Willem Dafoe is great as his partner Alan Ward. Agent Anderson(Hackman) handles things in an unconventional manner while Agent Ward(Dafoe) is by the book. This is where Dafoe showed his true potential before he started screwing up his career by appearing in raw sewage like Speed 2, Boondock Saints, Body Of Evidence and XXX: State Of The Union. Also great in this movie is Brad Dourif as the racist Deputy Clinton Pell and R. Lee Ermey as the racist mayor. I also like how they showed the views of the average ignorant Mississippian and how the cops either participated in the killing and terrorizing of Blacks in Mississippi or sat back and watched it happen. Conclusion: Mississippi Burning is the best movie of 1989 hands down and is definitely required viewing. But be forewarned that this is not an easy movie to watch. But if you can stomach the racial violence and slurs you have a gem on your hands. I find it sad that the director Alan Parker didn't have many movies after this one.

I cannot comment on how closely this film tracked to the real life events that it supposedly follows. But as a movie, it falls short of it's potential by lapsing into the preachy and stereotypical Hollywood style which has become so commonplace in today's cinema. I doubt there are many souls left today who would deny that the KKK did some horrific things, or that there wasn't a pervasive racist culture in the South in the early 60's. But if there are, this movie tries to dispel all remaining skeptics with the subtlety of a lead balloon. By trying to tie up hatred and bigotry into one neat little package (by compartmentalizing and homogenizing groups of people), the movie fails in a rather big way. I mean, how many times have we been fed the message that all southerners are ignorant racists, that all blacks are innocent bystanders barely capable of controlling their own destinies, or that liberal educated whites are the saviors of the human race. Hardly original (or truthful). Beyond the problem of the "message", the movie has other faults. William Dafoe just isn't, in my opinion, believable at all. From his overly done "Kennedy-esque" appearance to his constant idealistic waning (the obvious target being the "uneducated audience"), his authenticity never rings true. And did dozens upon dozens of FBI agents really wade into the Mississippi swamps without regard for their expensive suits? Well, if they did, perhaps it just shows that educated Northern white boys aren't that smart after all! Finally, if director Alan Parker's intent was to leave us in the lurch regarding Anderson's and Mrs. Pell's "relationship", he succeeded with flying colors. On a positive note, Gene Hackman's performance is excellent. He holds it all together....well, he IS the movie. His delivery, mannerisms and character make Mississippi Burning quite enjoyable to watch from a cinematic point of view. Also top notch was Brad Dourif as Deputy Pell. Their performances almost make up for a mediocre and all-too-often condescending film

Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning is an unflinching look at racism in the South. This is a very difficult movie to watch, but it is well worth it, and a reminder of past events -- events that should never be forgotten. Gene Hackman gives a power-house of a performance, ripping up the screen in every scene. The film has a strong supporting cast as well, including the always dynamic Michael Rooker. Many have complained about the death-wish like final act, but the final results are completely called for and necessary.

Probably one of my all-time favorite films; led by two great performances, especially on Willem Dafoe's account. I have no clue as to whether all of the historical accuracy is indeed correct, but the film is a masterpiece. 5/5.

The recent belated conviction of Edgar Ray Killen (wouldn't you say that it's appropriate that he has "kill" in his last name?) brings to mind the story that inspired "Mississippi Burning". It's the story of how a group of Ku Klux Klan members murdered civil rights activists James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in the summer of 1964. The movie portrays the murders, but FBI agents Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) are made up. It turns out that the FBI bribed one of the murderers to rat on the other two, and all the while the FBI was tapping Schwerner's father's phone to see if he was a Communist. So, they played with the facts. Hollywood often does that. Either way, "Mississippi Burning" still is a good movie, reminding us of a time in our country's history when we were about to explode.

It's now a well documented fact that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was convinced that the Civil Rights movement was somehow being directed from Moscow as part of the Communist conspiracy. As if anyone's struggle for equality needed outside direction. Hoover's bugging of Martin Luther King is legendary both for its lack of useful information to prove that thesis and for the titillation that King's indiscretions provided for certain people in power courtesy of J. Edgar. But when the murders of those two outside civil rights workers from New York City Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman happened the nation was shocked. First it was a missing persons case, then a homicide when the bodies were discovered. Public opinion forced the FBI and its director to take this seriously. And I have to say that when they did, the job was done. The names of the civil rights workers were not mentioned nor was the name of the young black kid who here was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. In real life James Morton was a voter registrar working with Goodman and Schwerner. That gave some dramatic license to the producers of Mississippi Burning to spin their own version of events. Given the redneck wall of silence that federal investigators had to deal with I'm not sure the spinning was too far from the truth. Willem Dafoe's portrayal of a button down FBI agent of the Hoover era rings real true. Hoover's own standards regarding appearance and behavior of his agents somewhat hampered law enforcement in certain fields. He had other foibles that have come down to us since his death in 1972, some real, some speculative. Dafoe just isn't getting the job done. Which brings us to Gene Hackman who is a former Mississippi sheriff and wise in the ways and mores of Dixie. When Dafoe gives him a free hand Hackman gets results even though like in real life these Ku Klux Klansmen could only be tried in federal court as no Mississippi state jury would have convicted these creatures. Hackman got a well deserved Oscar nomination for his performance. And it's a good thing that the ACLU wasn't looking to hard at Hackman's methods. It was like what Sean Connery taught Kevin Costner about bringing down Al Capone in The Untouchables. It probably did take the FBI bending Hoover's precious rules to get justice in real life. Frances McDormand plays a truly sad role as the wife of one of the sheriff's deputies who was in on the killing. She's a caring and compassionate woman and indiscreet about her husband's activities. She pays for that. It is restrained, understated, but very powerful performance that netted her a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Mississippi Burning won for Best Cinematography and got a number of other nominations including Best Picture. Sad to say it was up against Rain Man that year and I'd hate to split the difference between what Hackman and what Dustin Hoffman did in his classic. It's ironic that I saw this film and between seeing it and writing about it I attended one of many marriage equality rallies throughout the nation as the Supreme Court hears arguments about same sex marriage. The same people who could not comprehend the mixing of races are in the forefront of a fight against marriage equality because their minds can't comprehend that either. A seismic cultural shift against racial segregation took place just as a seismic cultural shift is occurring now toward the acceptance of the LGBT lives and lifestyles. It's been a privilege to live in these interesting times. Mississippi Burning with a bit of literary license remains a fine dramatic film and should be required viewing for those who want to study those times and get an idea what the civil rights struggle was about. Books will not give you as good an idea as Mississippi Burning will.

source: Mississippi Burning

Alan Parker's volatile attack on good ol' fashioned Southern racism is meant to be a controversial film, and it is, but for all the wrong reasons. The idea (one hopes) was to make a powerful, topical docudrama, but the result is an ugly, artificial, irresponsible exploitation of an actual civil rights crisis, condescending to blacks (condemning their treatment at their expense) and elevated out of all proportion by a false sense of prestige. This is true tabloid cinema, not far removed from one of Chuck Bronson's 'Death Wish' scenarios, with enough burnings, beatings and lynchings to satisfy even the most unrepentant redneck, and with the gall to suggest that the most effective answer to bigotry is to adopt attitudes and methods even more violent than those of the Klan. A first-rate cast is totally wasted by Chris Gerolmo's one-dimensional screenplay (and not for the first time: see 'Miles From Home'). If a film insists on asking questions like, "where does it come from, all this hatred?" the least it can do is attempt to provide a legitimate answer.

When three young civil rights workers (two white and one black) going missing in the deep south of America, the FBI send two agents in to investigate. Liberal young agent Ward and cynical local agent Anderson both approach the case in different ways, however both come up against a wall of silence and racism which seems to go all the way through the community, making their task near impossible. What do I mean when I say this is a bit too much of a film? Well, the issues, history and settings here are all semi-factual and therefore should be quite an interesting film that attacks the heart. Instead however, it is a thriller type film – and this becomes more and more evident as it goes on. The final 30 minutes set aside themes and discussion and go right for a thriller climax with enjoyable touches. However it does lose sight of the issues, although, in fairness, it didn't have too good a grasp on them in the first place. The film never really sets out to do much more than paint the community as racist – and it does it rather too easily. All the white racists are painted as inbred and monstrous (I'm not complaining!) while the black characters are all pretty much a silent group of extras. I understand why the film did it this way, as to allow development of characters on both sides would have caused the thriller side of it to become baggier and less effective. As it is, the broad strokes still work because I don't think many of us need to really be convinced that such racism is tolerable: it's easier just to cut out the debate in a thriller. The plot is pretty good and does paint the black situation pretty well. It works best as a thriller though and early attempts to show the divide and so on are slowly moved to the back burner in favour of thriller touches. Aside from a total lack of black characters and a tendency just to pigeon hole the white characters, the cast do a reasonable job, with plenty of well known faces. Dafoe is good in the lead, despite being a little too wide-eyed for a FBI agent in charge of a major case. Also, watching it now, it's funny at times because he sounds very like Agent Smith when he says `Mr Anderson'. Hackman overplays to good effect and he steals almost every scene he is in, although his romancing of McDormand is a little drawn out. The support cast includes some reasonable turns from well-known faces including Dourif, Ermey and Tobolowsky. Overall this film has a reputation for being a quite powerful issue film. However it reality it is more a thriller which uses this setting of racial hatred as it's background and driver, rather than looking into it as a debate. In fairness, it doesn't suffer for this and is actually an enjoyable film, which also serves as a reminder of a very common situation only a few short years ago.