Mississippi Burning

Composite Score: 83.43

Starring: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Gailard Sartain, Stephen Tobolowsky, Michael Rooker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Kevin Dunn, Darius McCrary, and Lou Walker

Director: Alan Parker

Writer: Chris Gerolmo

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

MPAA Rating: R

Box Office: $34.60 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Mississippi Burning is the film based on the 1964 murders of three civil rights activists in rural Mississippi and the subsequent FBI investigation to uncover the truth about what happened and bring the perpetrators to justice. The film stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as Agents Anderson and Ward, two men with starkly different approaches to gleaning the truth from the small town in Mississippi where the sheriff’s department contains some of the key suspects. The film received numerous Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Actor for Gene Hackman and for Best Supporting Actress for Frances McDormand, and a win for Best Cinematography for its iconic visuals of Klan violence and civil rights protests.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Some of the biggest criticisms levelled against Mississippi Burning have to do with its historical inaccuracies, but they get the gist of the story right – members of the KKK, including government employees, in a small Mississippi town killed three civil rights activists who were advocating for voting rights for black people in the county and worked very hard to cover it up. For me, the bigger issue with the film has to do with its lack of representation. In a film about racism in the South, only two black characters play any kind of impactful role in the film at all (which might also be true to the notes on the investigation). It focuses almost entirely on the work of white FBI agents to investigate and interview white people in the town, treating the town’s black population often as more of a set piece than individual characters. If you want a film about taking down and exposing members of the Klan that features an equal amount of historicity and a larger number of individual black performers, I’d personally recommend Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman as a superior alternative to this film.

The film also doesn’t do a whole lot to engage with the modern racism of its day, allowing the statements of the past to feel so rooted in the past that they couldn’t possibly be true anymore. The resolution of the case doesn’t actually bring any closure to the racist culture present in the town in Mississippi or even the nation as a whole, and it certainly doesn’t entertain the possibility that the end of the Civil Rights Era didn’t bring closure to the issue of racism in America. Ultimately, this leaves the film feeling tragically incomplete, with more that it could say or offer to give its audience a bit more to chew on than just, “Dang, people in Mississippi were racist in the 1960s weren’t they?”

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Even though the film doesn’t necessarily go far enough in indicting modern audience’s complacency regarding civil rights and racism, it does do a good job of dealing with the concept of racism in the abstract. It showcases how ingrained in the culture racism was (and at times continues to be) in the U.S. through its portrayal of the characters in the town, Anderson’s stories about his childhood growing up in Mississippi, and even through the mock news interviews that it shows as the reporters begin to show up. This idea of indoctrination culminates in a juxtaposed scene where the leader of the KKK is shown speaking to a crowd of locals, full of poor families with children throughout; and simultaneously, Frances McDormand’s Mrs. Pell is meeting with Anderson to discuss the case and makes the truth that much more obvious – speaking about how racism isn’t inherently present but taught and indoctrinated through school and families. This scene remains incredibly true and powerful despite some of the film’s other shortcomings.

                As already mentioned, Hackman and McDormand both received Oscar nominations for their performances in this film – and deservedly so. Willem Dafoe, Brad Dourif, and Michael Rooker also do their part in bringing the world of the FBI case to life. Rooker is playing according to type in this film, as a local, angry, racist, Klan member, he comes across as the most overtly villainous, insecure in his own power, lashing out at anyone and everyone as the case wears on – holding his own as the foil to Hackman’s Anderson in one particular scene at a local speakeasy. Dourif plays the film’s true antagonist with all the squirreliness that he so often brings to roles, this time just a bit more overt with his villainy. I personally think Dafoe does a great job acting across from Hackman as his partner, and holds his own as the more reserved of the two FBI agents, doing more than just shouting in anger and frustration at the situation where they find themselves – it’s a more nuanced performance than Hackman’s but no less praiseworthy. McDormand received her first of six Oscar nominations for acting for her performance as the wife of Deputy Pell, seemingly the only white person in the entire town who isn’t wholeheartedly racist. Her tormented performance of a wife who knows the truth but fears a life without the security of a husband is undoubtedly a solid one that helps carry the film. Hackman, as he so often does, plays the larger-than-life Mississippi sheriff turned FBI agent in this film, sauntering around the town with an air of casual confidence that helps the audience, and eventually Agent Ward, come to recognize the importance of his way of investigating. Is it his best? Probably not, I think that still goes to his role in Unforgiven, but it’s a solid top-5 for the actor.

                The film’s plethora of solid performances, highlighted by two Oscar nominees, go a long way in helping deliver the film’s undeniable message about the indoctrinated nature of racism in America, earning it a spot among the greats. The film’s historical inaccuracies, minimal black characters, and inability to provide more satisfactory solutions or challenges to modern racism hold it back a bit, but the film remains one worth watching. It is currently available to stream with an AMC+ subscription on Amazon Prime or to rent on most streaming services if you’d like to watch it.