Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping look at 1960s race relations, May 1, 2005
Mississippi Burning captures the American South of the 1960s and its turbulent race relations by telling a story that, while technically fictional, is inspired by actual events that took place. It succeeds by all at once being gripping, emotional, and contemplative. Despite being made in 1988 and taking place in 1964, the film holds up to this day quite well.
The story begins with the murder of three young civil rights activists--two of them white and one of them black--in a small town in Mississippi. Two FBI agents are soon assigned to this as a missing persons case; these are, as they formally refer one another, Mr. Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Mr. Ward (Willem Dafoe). Ward is the younger of the two, and also the agent in charge of the case. The local law enforcement and the town in general is hesitant to accept these big shots from up north, and their views don't much change when Ward decides they need a lot more men, and that this is more than just a simple missing persons case.
The Ku Klux Klan factors prominently into the case, but Anderson and Ward don't have much means for proving that they had any involvement, let alone which members, if any, contributed to the crime. It doesn't help much that nobody in town seems to want to help out--white or black. The FBI men are a little surprised to see such segregation and bigotry still taking place, but trying to explain it to some of the people in town is like trying to sell a newspaper to a dog. Ward's by-the-book style of gathering information isn't exactly producing the results he had hoped, and as a last resort, he decides to allow Anderson to use his more unconventional ways to get some answers out of some suspects.
The film is filled with a veritable who's who of That Guys, actors whose faces you recognize, but whose names you don't always know: R. Lee Ermey, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brad Dourif, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Michael Rooker, and Kevin Dunn. All of these men deliver consistently solid supporting work, as does the always-perfect Frances McDormand as the benevolent wife of a Klansman deputy.
Mississippi Burning, while a compelling thriller, drives for something deeper-seeded than a whodunit mystery. In fact, it pretty much gives away the mystery in the first scene. Instead, we get a study on race relations, and director Alan Parker explores the motivations and mentality of white people who persecute others based solely on the color of their skin. For some reason, these people have it burned into their minds that color of skin dictates social rank and intelligence, when nothing could be further from the truth. It would be nice to say that this sort of thinking has been abolished in our country, but that's still not the case. It has died down considerably, but it is not completely gone, and that's a real shame.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the greatest movies of all time, October 2, 2002
I remember watching this movie in a Florida movie theater when it first came out (I was stationed at Orlando Naval Base back then). Watching the movie was an overwhelming emotional experience, and many scenes shook me to the core with their raw emotional power. Mississippi Burning is THE definitive movie about the atmosphere of racism and violence that pervaded the Civil Rights era, with its dead on accurate portrayal and recreation of a small 60's Southern town. We get to intimately know the kinds of places where 3 young men, or any individuals interested in the plight of the oppressed, might disappear or get killed in the 60's South. We understand what it was like to be Black and live in such a divided society. Most important, we know that evil racism has no logical explanation save for the fact that it is taught and learned from one generation to the next.This movie has been unfairly and recklessly attacked by overeager movie critics and experts on social affairs, all of whom feel guilty about praising such an important and powerful piece of film making (they don't DARE want to be called racist for praising the film!). The most common criticism is that this movie doesn't have any strong Black characters. This is absolutely false. There are several strong Black characters in this movie. There is a scene where a Black preacher gives a strong condemnation about the killings of the young men. There are several scenes with a brave young Black child, deeply religious, who somehow manages to find courage amongst his tears and fright (in one exceptional scene, he doesn't run away during a Klan disruption of a church gathering, instead, he kneels and prays). And in the most controversial and powerful scene in the entire movie, a strong Black father (father of the previously mentioned young boy), fed up with the racists, goes out into the night with a shotgun shouting that he will not take this abuse anymore. The other major criticism is that the movie focuses on White characters. This is not valid. I do certainly agree that many Hollywood movies tend to center the action around White actors, even if the story is about minorities (i.e., Come See the Paradise, Windtalkers, etc. etc.) However, this is one case where it was absolutely necessary for the story to be seen through the eyes of two White FBI agents. The two White agents (Gene Hackman in one of the greatest movie performances of all time) represent the opposite spectrum of the evil Southern racists. Just as the Southerners see the world in their segregated view, the two FBI agents see the world in their enlightened and open view, and in fact they stand for many White people that not only gave their lives for the cause of Civil Rights, but made their voices heard and actions seen so that segregation would one day end. The Civil Rights era is as much a story about White Americans as it is Black Americans, so I applaud the filmmakers for being courageous about this. I recently watched the DVD version and it affected me as much as when I first saw it, and I make it a point to see several times a year. There are scenes that are so heartbreaking they will leave you in tears, and moments of beauty and power so self assured that you know you are watching a masterpiece that will one day stand the test of time. This movie is required viewing for all of the youth in America today, many of whom are clueless as to the Civil Rights period (and others simply do not care).
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
FBI romanticized ...but still great, February 9, 2006
This is a great movie on the grounds that Jim Crow Mississippi was a fascist state, where Blacks were subjected to second-class "citizenship" (or, as Malcolm X rightfully called "20th Century Slaves"). THAT historical viewpoint was correct. However, like nearly all Hollywood films depicting historical events (Like Nixon, JFK, Malcolm X, etc), the writers and directors can't help but to add Hollywood in the films. The way Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman died was way off. They weren't simply shot (as if THAT'S not bad enough), the three kids were dragged out the car, and beat with chains, pistol whipped, and the scum who carried out the murder made them beg for their lives...then shot them. This movie totally romanticized the role the FBI played in their forced "fight" against the Klan. When the FBI witnessed crimes, and police brutality, all they did was take notes, and did nothing else. Also, the Black people were so impersonal. Though the movie revolved around their treatment, they just stood in the background as impersonal objects. Don't get me wrong now; I think EVERYONE should see this movie. Just know that Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney were not at all protected by the FBI, and that it took a mass movement for the government to finally cave in (or there REALLY would have been trouble in the streets) and pass a so-called "Civil Rights Bill" that took only 100 years to sign. The actors in the movie were excellent. Hackman was great. Dafoe was great. It made you mad, sad and happy. Definitely see the movie. Just don't take it as a historical reference. Watch Murder in Mississippi to find out the lives of the three, and what they did. Also, read Three Lives for Mississippi.
One last thing, I hope that SOB Edgar Ray Killen faces a death squad. In case you don't know, Killen was the one who orchestrated the murder of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner, and was conviced exactly 41 years after the act committed on June 21st, 1964.
Anton Batey
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