Excellent movie, if very disturbing at times.

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2009)

Mississippi Burning is a very good movie, with its focus of racism, a very sensitive subject, in the Civil Rights Movement cleverly handled. I will say, some scenes because the violence was very intense to the maximum, were rather upsetting to watch, like any scene when someone was attacked, the nature of the violence was very upsetting. The gunshot at the beginning was unbelievably loud, and made me jump quite violently. However, it is a very powerful and tense film, helped by a well-written script and an atmospheric music score. The dark brooding cinematography helped considerably to the film's proceedings, and the performances were excellent, with Gene Hackman mesmerising in the lead, and Willem Dafoe perfectly matching him. The story is a powerful one, and rarely slips in tension. Overall, a very tense and powerful film, long and quite violent, but a very good film, all the same. 8/10 Bethany Cox