Mississippi Burning (1988)

Rating: 6/10

Set in the 1960's, two FBI agents are sent to a small town in Mississippi to investigate the murder of three civil rights activists. The town's people are set in their ways and see segregation as a healthy way of life. Anderson and Ward must overcome their differences and fight the town's resistance to solve the case.

I have to start with a simple disclaimer as I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. Mississippi Burning is incredibly well made, the score is intense and gives this drama some thriller elements, the dialogue is best described as poetry, and the performances we have on display...man, oh man, they are good. After all, with Gene Hackman, a young Williem Dafoe, and a captivity Frances McDormand how could they not be? So why the low score? Well, I have three words for you, White. Saviour. Complex.

This is a film about the civil rights movement told from the perspective of two white FBI agents. One is an idealist and a firm believer in the movement, while the other has a stroke of racial hate in his family tree yet isn't outwardly a racist person. I have a problem with this film because there isn't a single well-rounded and fully developed black character on-screen. That's a pretty big problem when it comes to a movie about civil rights.

We are exploring a difficult topic, it was difficult in 1988, and it’s difficult today. While I was watching this, I was deeply saddened because the life of black people during this area was so incredibly upsetting, and as someone from a different generation, I can never honestly know what it was like. However, as a minority growing up in the UK, I am very familiar with racial hate and know firsthand that extremist right-wing politics can make the world a very scary place for people of colour. That’s my perspective on the world, so when I watch a film about the civil rights movement, and all the prominent characters are white, that just doesn’t sit well with me.

The themes explored in this film are oddly unsettling and just as relevant today. We are introduced to the idea that the murder of these three activists was a hoax stirred up by Martin Luther King as a publicity stunt to deceive the general public as to what life in the south is truly like, now is it just me, or is the idea of the "hoax" oddly familiar? Replace the word hoax with fake news, and this could be the average Trump supporter going off about how immigrants are ruining America. The fact that a film coming out in 1988 explores these ideas is definitely interesting, and I would say it's worth your time for this reason alone. To be clear, I need to express how much I admire the filmmaking here, but I simply can't look past the points I've mentioned and enjoy the incredible cinematography, acting, and directing because of what it fails to do for me.

What Alan Parker (Director) and the rest of the crew have nailed to perfection here is making you feel utterly disgusted and uncomfortable with the way characters in the film talk about the black community. The racism is so crass, degrading, and dehumanizing that it genuinely makes you feel ashamed of humanity. Because at the end of the day, people said, think and say these things. The opening scene is so powerful, a wide shot on two water fountains on either side of a wall, a white man walks up to one to take a drink, and then moments later, a black man walks up to the other to do the same. The two men are the same, but different rules apply. The shot lingers a little too long, making it so uncomfortable and so powerful.

Conclusion

Mississippi Burning feels like a fantasy. It’s based on a true story, but the way it’s been put together leaves a bad taste in my mouth. However, you could also say that this film has paved the way for the real stories of the civil rights movement to be told, so I guess in all my negativity, there is a very bright silver lining.