Symbolic Burning Crosses and Simplistic Storytelling

Rating: 8/10 (18 August 2002)

Three civil rights activists (2 blacks, 1 white) go missing & presumed murdered by white racists (the Klu Klux Klan) in some small town in the heart of Mississippi during the race protests of 1964 .
Enter two FBI men from the North - Hackman (the bad cop, who used to be a town sherrif in the area many years ago but now hunts bigger fish whether it be within the law or otherwise ) and Willem Defoe (the good cop trying to set the world to rights with the belief that even racists can't be all that evil to want to kill).
They investigate the case using the rules laid out by the pragmatic and by-the-book Defoe. But the townsfolk aren't quite so co-operative or helpful and the two agents seem to spend more time arguing with each other over tactics or visiting burnt out homes, farms & churches belonging to the oppressed blacks in the area than getting any nearer to solving the crime.
Even with a hundred other FBI agents brought in to help out both Defoe & Hackman find it hard to get witnesses to speak up and offer any leads regarding the three young missing persons.
Eventually Hackman befriends the wife of one of the town's police officers (and suspected KKK member), wonderfully played by the ever-dependable Frances McDormand (of Fargo and Blood Simple fame). Through her Hackman learns that most of the police officers and leading townsfolk are KKK members and that the 3 activists were murdered & buried in a nearby quarry pit.
With the bodies exhumed all Hackman & Defoe need to close the case are the murderers, but to get what they want they have to play by Hackman's rules this time.....
A highly controversial film for its day (1988). Initially it was a certainty to win a host of Academy Awards for its virtuous storytelling. But various black groups protested that the film was flawed,uneven and possibly even racist. They also argued that the film portrayed the black townsfolk as defenceless, ignorant & backward, having to rely on two white FBI agents from out of town to help them win them justice.
It is fair to say that they have a point. It struck me that for most of the time the blacks portrayed in the film were blatantly stereotyped as either churchgoers, gospel singers, cotton-pickers or ignorant illiterates.

This major complaint coupled with protests from white Southerners angry at being seeing as just a bunch of hick rednecks, ended any realistic chance the film had of winning any award at all.
British director, Alan Parker took a very simplistic view of some true events the film is supposedly based on. It is true to say that the acting from both Defoe and especially Hackman is top notch, the photography and film score excellent coupled with the overall pace of the film makes for a very entertaining viewing. However, it is to the content of the film that counts most and this is where Parker's limited knowledge of the civil rights protests in the Deep South during the early 60s is painfully obvious.
I would guess that if the film was remade today one of the leads would go to a black actor of the quality of Morgan Freeman (replacing Hackman's character) or Denzel Washington (replacing Defoe's preachy, peace-loving act). At least this would've added far more balance & realism to the film without making it too overtly politically correct. Afterall why should cynical black townsfolk ever want to co-operate with white FBI agents. In their eyes all whites are just the same and to be mistrusted in equal measure.
This film could have been better perhaps from an American director rather than from an "outsider" looking in. Parker is very much like Ridley Scott at times: all style over content without really understanding what it is he is trying to portray, which is a great shame.
If one can forgive these flaws Mississippi Burning is a very good drama. Special mention has to go to the ever-dependable Gene Hackman who returns to form as the no-nonsense former sherrif who knows how the locals tick and isn't about to be fobbed off in the same way as the rather naive & clean-cut Defoe.
Overall then, Mississippi Burning, fails to get its message across but entertains us nonetheless. The acting is good, the screenplay stilted and the characterizations are pigeon-holed. But for all that this film is worth a look because even though it is very uneven the main theme of apartheid, oppression & racism between black & white Americans is a good lesson for us all to think about and realise that over the last 30 years nothing much has changed.
***/*****