Mississippi Burning

On June 21, 1964 three young men drove a CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) station wagon from Meridian to Longview, Mississippi. On the return trip to Neshoba County Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price arrested them for speeding. He jailed them in Philadelphia, MS. Then finally released them a little after 10 p.m. And told them to leave town. A few miles outside of Philadelphia the deputy stopped their car again--this time after a wild chase--and turned them over to a group of Neshoba County Klansmen. Their bodies wouldn't be found until over a month later by FBI agents.

That's the real story. "Mississippi Burning" is a close dramatization of it.

I watched in both disgust and surprise. I was disgusted by the actions of the proud citizens of Mississippi and I was surprised to see actors that I knew nothing about when the movie came out in 1989--the likes of Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand (Three Billboards...), R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket), Michael Rooker (Merle from The Walking Dead), Frankie Faison (commissioner on The Wire), and Darius McCrary (Eddie Winslow on Family Matters). I was surprised, not in a bad way, but in a "Whoa! He's in this?!" way. Sure these names aren't A-listers but they are all familiar faces to me that I never knew culminated on a 1989 project.

As for the movie itself, there was some creative license taken but it was very close to the real events. In fact, the FBI knew so much about the murders because one of their informants was with the guilty party. The movie does evoke strong feelings and it is unavoidable. How do you depict 1960's deep south without raising the hairs on the back of someone's neck? Because this movie wasn't a through-and-through tragedy there was a modicum of justice served. I thought all the actors did a good job (too good in fact in some cases) and the script was well written. I still file this movie under "hard to watch".

With some certainty, Mississippi Burning was the best film of 1988. I watched it recently, as I do from time to time, and in reading other viewer comments, I was dismayed to read such unwarranted and unintelligent criticism of a film that has done so much to expose the realities of the Black experience in the Deep South during the 1960's. On more than one occasion, a viewer (usually anonymous) has pinpointed the film as racist, in that it offers a view of the Civil Rights movement involving whites and government agents as key instigators of change. They feel that it portrays blacks in a negative light, downplaying the roles blacks played in the acquisition of their own equality. These people are either unaware, or just plain ignorant. There is a reason that this film focuses on the efforts of White FBI agents to locate the three missing boys. To begin with, this film focuses on a true story (slightly fictionalized for cinematic effect). During Freedom Summer of 1964, many white college students and black students as well worked under the guidance of groups like the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, in an effort to set up voter registration drives for blacks that had been historically disenfranchised. The three missing boys (two white, one black) received much attention during that summer from a Federal standpoint. This is a fact. Yet the reason for governmental interest in the murder of these boys exemplifies the attitudes of the era. Historically, murdered civil rights workers did not garner much attention. Yet because this case involved two northern whites, suddenly The FBI took interest. This is the reason for FBI involvement in the story. The fact that blacks are shown quite often as scared and unwilling to cause a stir in this film also is historically accurate. While there were many blacks that made great inroads and took huge risks to their personal well-being, the citizenry of blacks in this film is an accurate portrayal of the times. How many of us today would be willing to talk, inform, and be seen attempting to use our constitutional rights if we knew that such actions might get us killed? The seeming disinterest of blacks in this film is a result of years of Jim Crow legislation, of lynch law, and of outright terror tactics brought upon the black population by racist whites.It is a picture of a population that wants to stand up and scream, but is reluctant for very justifiable reasons. To stay alive often meant keeping your mouth shut. To make a film in which all black citizens of Philadelphia, Mississippi stood collectively against the perpetrators of these murders would be historically incongruent. Try to look past the overriding white involvement in this film and understand that this is the way the events unfurled. Perhaps it is a sad commentary on white involvement in Civil rights that was too little, too late. It took the death of two whites to spark interest in the events in Phil. Mississippi. This much is obvious. But as the search for these boys made headlines daily, just remember that many blacks were pulled from rivers that summer, in the search for the three civil rights workers. Unfortunately, these discoveries never made the headlines. A murdered white was cause for alarm. But a lynched black pulled from a swamp was merely accepted. Take this film as a lesson, and be glad that many things have changed since 1964.

A highly charged box of fireworks is the best way to describe "Mississippi Burning". It is 1964 and the Civil Rights Movement is tearing apart many areas in the deep south. Mississippi is definitely the hottest spot of all as the entire state seems to be split between whites and African Americans. After some white Civil Rights activists disappear, the FBI is called in to investigate (Oscar-nominee Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe). Naturally the sheriff's department is difficult to say the least and it appears that it may have even had a part in the apparent murders. Frances McDormand (Oscar-nominated) proved that she was a truly gifted actress as the wife of one of the local deputies (an evil Brad Dourif). Alan Parker's smart Oscar-nominated direction and the Oscar-winning cinematography give the film a tense feel that leaves its audience visibly shaken during and after its running time. A great achievement. Easily one of the finest films of the 1980s. 5 stars out of 5.

What a great film. Hackman and dafoe amazing. Brilliant and moving story. Hasn't aged for me

Two FBI agents go to Mississippi in 1964 to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights activists. Based on true events, this is an absorbing drama about one of the most explosive chapters of American history. Hackman is terrific as an agent who doesn't condone the racism, but understands the culture of hatred, having grown up in the South himself. Dafoe is equally good as a young agent who struggles to reconcile his idealistic views about justice with the reality he confronts. McDormand is also fine as the good wife of a redneck sheriff. Parker wisely uses a documentary approach to infuse the events with a sense of authenticity.