Product Description: Starring two-time Oscar® winner Gene Hackman* and Academy Award® nominee Willem Dafoe** Mississippi Burning ranks as one of the most potent and insightful views of racial turmoil yet produced (Variety). Nominated for six Oscars® and winner of an Academy Award® for Best Cinematography this emotionally charged film vividly captures a crucial chapter in American history (Time)! As three civil rights activists drive down a desolate stretch of highway headlights ominously draw near. Telling each other to stay calm they have no way of knowing that in minutes they will disappear into the night and spark one of the most explosive murder investigations in history. Enter straight-laced Ward (Dafoe) and deceptively easy-going Anderson (Hackman). Can these two philosophically opposed FBI agents overcome their differences and uncover the chilling mystery of a small Ku Klux Klan-ridden community before an entire town is torn apart by racism?System Requirements: Running Time 127 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616860996 Manufacturer No: 1001829
Amazon.com: Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe star in this well-intentioned and largely successful civil rights-era thriller. Mississippi Burning, using the real-life 1964 disappearance of three civil rights workers as its inspiration, tells the story of two FBI men (Hackman and Dafoe, entertainingly called "Hoover Boys" by the locals) who come in to try to solve the crime. Hackman is a former small-town Mississippi sheriff himself, while Dafoe is a by-the-numbers young hotshot. Yes, there is some tension between the two. The movie has an interesting fatalism, as all the FBI's best efforts incite more and more violence, which becomes disturbing--the film's message, perhaps inadvertently, seems to be that vigilantism is the only real way to get things done. The brilliant Frances McDormand, here early in her career, is not given enough to do but still does it well enough to have racked up an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress. (Hackman also received a nomination for Best Actor, and the film won an Academy Award for Cinematography). The story line of Mississippi Burning is ultimately unsatisfying--it is, after all, the story of white men coming in to rescue poor blacks--but it is beautifully shot and very watchable and features a terrific cast playing at the top of their games. --Ali Davis
So who do you hate? This is a story of hate, deception, violence, intimadation, trickery, and brutality. First of all by the KKK, and then by the agents of the FBI who stoop to the level of their adversaries to win their case. So do two wrongs make a right? According to this movie they do. We can only hope that this is not an accurate accouting of what actually occurred. Is this fact or fiction? We may never know for sure.
Mississippi Burning It is my understanding there were folks in Mississippi who resented this film, saying it unfairly portrayed their state. History knows better. Blacks in that state as in other southern states endured murder, lynching,and having their homes and churches bombed or burned. The KKK was made up of "respectable citizens" who lived one way during the day and donned their hoods at night. There is a book COMING OF AGE IN MISSISSIPPI that was written by a young black girl who grew up there. She tells about the murder of her father who was walking home after working all day. He was shotgunned to death. No investigation was done, and no arrests were made. This move is one of the most powerful commentaries the deal with the terror and injustice that went on for decades. The three civil rights workers were murdered and "disappeared" on my 22nd birthday. That was a very turbulent time in our history.
1960 Awesome plot, vulgar language may be excessive, not recommended for young viewers. Strong adult content.
Another Hackman Classic Gene Hackman is probably the most underrated actor in Hollywood. To every role he brings passion, humanity and believability. I can't imagine any other actor playing the role of "Mr. Anderson" (I can hear Willem Dafoe saying it) as effectively as he does.
As noted, the film is based on an actual event, the murders of Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Cheney, young civil rights activists trying to register blacks to vote. From what I know about the South in those days, it is a pretty accurate depiction. The hatred, the refusal to change (integrate), the two separate societies was all there. Little Rock, Univ. of Alabama, Central High School, these horrors could be watched on TV. The Southern racists in the movie are so beneath contempt that they risk becoming straw men, a possible weaknesses.
Certainly Mr. Anderson was right that the malefactors could never be charged with murder in a state court and be found guilty (unless somehow they obtained a change of venue, an unlikely event). Do the ends justify the means? When the FBI agents try to find the murderers the old-fashioned way, they meet solid walls of opposition: blacks afraid of retribution if they tell what they know, and whites who button up to protect themselves. So the DaFoe character finally takes Mr. Anderson's advice to "do whatever it takes" to put the murderers behind bars. Is Pauline Kael correct to dismiss this as "vigilantism"? Well, it is a legitimate objection (the DaFoe character reminds Mr. Anderson that the coerced confession he just obtained from the town's mayor violated his civil rights and will be inadmissible in court! Hot damn!). Mr. Anderson observes "These people crawled out of the gutter! Maybe it's time we got in there with them!" Well, they have more tricks up their sleeves, and obtain other evidence against them.
It is a wonderful script, with taut, exciting dialogue, and the conflict between Hackman and DaFoe is the stuff of powerful drama. This is a gut-wrenching film, not for the timid, with wonderful performances by all involved. I never tire of watching it.
mikeyp review's brilliant gripping movie. gene hackman at his finest. watched this movie probably 5-6 times and it never gets old. not sure of the director but kudo's to that individual. 5 stars
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