Review of Mississippi Burning (1988) by Aaron R — 01 Mar 2009

For all of its flaws, "Mississippi Burning" is a tour de force of powerful acting set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement. Gene Hackman especially shines in this movie as a native Mississippian who must use his knowledge of the local culture to find out who killed three civil rights workers.

Willem Dafoe is Hackman's opposite, and his by-the-book character can't make headway in the midst of a strange culture that simultaneously condones, conceals, and abhors the racially motivated terrorism.

This was probably a reality during the real life murder investigations of the civil rights era, and the messy situation brings to mind current counterinsurgency tactics going on in the Middle East. That said, the film does border on the melodramatic, and actually marginalizes the role of many blacks in the film, which I considered unusual given that the film's genre usually finds powerful roles for black actors such as Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington.

In addition, Mississippi obviously isn't shown in a good light (although Jessup County is a fictitious place). The film does a great job though in showing the complicated and contradictory views that some Southerners felt on racial issues.

While many had bigoted attitudes toward blacks, they were also simultaneously against murdering them. Their resentment of federal influence in the region on racial issues shows that, on some level, the Civil War was still going on 100 years after its conclusion.

This portrayal creates a more nuanced view of white Southern civil rights era culture than is usually present in Hollywood films. The characters' use of vigilante tactics, however, does take something away from the civil rights movement's taking of the moral high ground, but again, this was probably the reality of the situation, assuming that the agents assigned to the cases were not themselves indifferent to the region's problems.

The quick pace of the film never lets up, and it feels more like an action movie than a drama. It drags a bit in a couple of places, and feels like it goes on about 15-20 minutes too long. In the end though, despite its mixed and questionable message, "Mississippi Burning" is a great film.

Hopefully future examinations of the civil rights era will take as unconventional an approach.