Review of In the Heat of the Night (1967) by Monsieur R — 22 Aug 2010

A well-made police procedural film that tackles two different dichotomies that has inadvertently clashed throughout: The racists and the ethnic minority, and the small town police methods clashing with the uptown cop's.

Though the film focused on the latter one in terms of character development, which is very much important for a film, it's the first that has, without a doubt, left a lasting mark for audiences, and how unforgettably brave the film has took these issue to the forefronts of cinema, especially in a time where it's on its most crucial stage.

I like how the film has not used the usual "paranoid" style of filmmaking used in a lot of "whodunit" films. Here in "In the Heat of the Night", though it's as tense and revelatory as all murder mystery films, it has able to incorporate some picturesque images of the South.

Such examples was the people working in cotton farms, calmly accompanied by Quincy Jones' music. Who would have thought that such place would contain grisly murders and racist clashes? Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger gave great performances that represents the paradox of their races, yet on the other hand, could have indirectly stirred up the productive motion of the "buddy cop" sub-genre.

Like "To Kill a Mockingbird", "In the Heat of the Night" is one of the most recognizable films that has dealt with the sensitive issue of racial inequality, and has still remained potent and capable even after all these years.