Mississippi Burning (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
In 1964, 2 white civil rights activists and 1 black companion from the North disappear in a small Mississippi town & a pair of FBI agents are sent to investigate in 'Mississippi Burning', a fictionalized version of a based-on-a-true story directed by Alan Parker. Agent Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) was a sheriff in Mississippi before joining the FBI & understands the locals; willing to bend the rules with unethical/illegal methods if it'll help their investigation. But his younger partner, Agent Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe), one of Bobby Kennedy's best young men from the Justice Department ... does everything by the book. To say that their investigatory styles are different would be an understatement; and they clash because so. They don't care for each other; and both feel they should be in charge.
In this very hostile environment (segregation divides whites & blacks), Anderson wants to lay low, mingle with the townsfolk, & smell out the bad guy(s) behind the disappearance (and likely killings). Ward, however, calls in hundreds of agents (event the National Guard) to search for the missing activists. Anderson & Ward must face a formidable challenge from a conspiracy of hatred, silence, & bigotry from opposed perspectives & backgrounds amid the small town. And the 2 agents start to respect each other for what they individually lend to the investigation. As they both go their own ways, we meet some of the townsfolk. There's the Mayor. There's the sheriff - who thinks he can intimidate the FBI duo. And there's Clinton Pell (Brad Dourif), a deputy who has an alibi for the time the 3 missing men vanished. But why would he harbor such a precise alibi?
Said alibi's veracity depends on the word of Pell's wife (Frances McDormand), a woman who deals with her self-loathing racist husband, who wears a KKK cloak by night. Anderson thinks she's the key to this case. And he milks her for every scrap of info that she's got. One problem: he may also be falling for her; wanting to rescue her from her fleabag husband. And so, Pell appears to be the weak link in the conspiracy. But who knows? Perhaps the authorities delivered the 3 missing men to the KKK to be murdered. A series of attacks follow as the KKK target the local blacks. Interrogations, searches, & tip-offs heat up. And due to the fear, even if they might know who is behind the conspiracy of the civil rights activists, no one in the black community is willing to step forward.
'Mississippi Burning' shows that it was only a couple of decades ago that this kind of craziness occurred. And I'm sure it still occurs (to some degree) in the South, today. Apart from imparting that knowledge to us, the film also succeeds as entertainment. The direction is assured. The acting is amazing. The setting & mood of the film is great. The film moves at a quick pace. The cinematography is ace. And it's one of the best crime movies I've seen in quite a while. Just to touch on the setting again: the director, here, is British. And I've always felt that British filmmakers have an innate ability to nail depictions of America's South. I don't know why. But it is what it is. Alan Parker 'gets' the humid, grittiness of the South. He gets the lifestyle. The people. The small-town racial hatred, etc.
As mentioned, the acting is superb across the board. Willem Dafoe is electric. Gene Hackman is so damn likeable as the elder Agent Anderson. All I can say is that everything Hackman's character says & does felt incredibly authentic. Great portrayal. And his scenes with McDormand are great, too. Hers is a small role, but McDormand shows us a quiet, shy, fearful woman who'd been trained to be submissive to her husband; and tries to break-free from his racist ways. In some ways, her role represents the new generation of Southerners who actually realize that what they think/feel is a bad thing - and wants to change that. You know, the ending of 'MB' is a bit fanciful. But on the whole, I found the film to be impactful, probing, dramatic, fascinating (and sad) portrait of racism.
In this very hostile environment (segregation divides whites & blacks), Anderson wants to lay low, mingle with the townsfolk, & smell out the bad guy(s) behind the disappearance (and likely killings). Ward, however, calls in hundreds of agents (event the National Guard) to search for the missing activists. Anderson & Ward must face a formidable challenge from a conspiracy of hatred, silence, & bigotry from opposed perspectives & backgrounds amid the small town. And the 2 agents start to respect each other for what they individually lend to the investigation. As they both go their own ways, we meet some of the townsfolk. There's the Mayor. There's the sheriff - who thinks he can intimidate the FBI duo. And there's Clinton Pell (Brad Dourif), a deputy who has an alibi for the time the 3 missing men vanished. But why would he harbor such a precise alibi?
Said alibi's veracity depends on the word of Pell's wife (Frances McDormand), a woman who deals with her self-loathing racist husband, who wears a KKK cloak by night. Anderson thinks she's the key to this case. And he milks her for every scrap of info that she's got. One problem: he may also be falling for her; wanting to rescue her from her fleabag husband. And so, Pell appears to be the weak link in the conspiracy. But who knows? Perhaps the authorities delivered the 3 missing men to the KKK to be murdered. A series of attacks follow as the KKK target the local blacks. Interrogations, searches, & tip-offs heat up. And due to the fear, even if they might know who is behind the conspiracy of the civil rights activists, no one in the black community is willing to step forward.
'Mississippi Burning' shows that it was only a couple of decades ago that this kind of craziness occurred. And I'm sure it still occurs (to some degree) in the South, today. Apart from imparting that knowledge to us, the film also succeeds as entertainment. The direction is assured. The acting is amazing. The setting & mood of the film is great. The film moves at a quick pace. The cinematography is ace. And it's one of the best crime movies I've seen in quite a while. Just to touch on the setting again: the director, here, is British. And I've always felt that British filmmakers have an innate ability to nail depictions of America's South. I don't know why. But it is what it is. Alan Parker 'gets' the humid, grittiness of the South. He gets the lifestyle. The people. The small-town racial hatred, etc.
As mentioned, the acting is superb across the board. Willem Dafoe is electric. Gene Hackman is so damn likeable as the elder Agent Anderson. All I can say is that everything Hackman's character says & does felt incredibly authentic. Great portrayal. And his scenes with McDormand are great, too. Hers is a small role, but McDormand shows us a quiet, shy, fearful woman who'd been trained to be submissive to her husband; and tries to break-free from his racist ways. In some ways, her role represents the new generation of Southerners who actually realize that what they think/feel is a bad thing - and wants to change that. You know, the ending of 'MB' is a bit fanciful. But on the whole, I found the film to be impactful, probing, dramatic, fascinating (and sad) portrait of racism.