Mississippi Burning

The next Alan Parker film I'll look at is Mississippi Burning, released in 1988 (I have to go out of order because of the inexplicable unavailability of Angel Heart on Netflix). In some ways it was Parker's greatest critical success, as it earned a passel of Oscar nominations. On the other hand, it was despised by many, on both sides of the civil rights movement.

Loosely based on the murders of civil rights workers Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman in Mississippi in 1964, it follows two very different FBI agents investigating the case. Willem Dafoe plays a by-the-book agent, while Gene Hackman plays a good-old-boy, a former sheriff in a small town in Mississippi. It isn't stated, but it's obvious he was assigned to the case because he is familiar with the people.

The two clash often, as Dafoe is ignorant of Southern codes of conduct, such as interviewing a black man in front of white people, which only gets the young man beaten up. Hackman's Southern charm doesn't work much, either, as he has abandoned the South and represents the hated FBI. He does insinuate himself into the life of the wife of one of the suspects, Frances McDormand. She gives him key information, but she is put into the hospital by a beating from that husband, Brad Dourif.

Ultimately, after getting nowhere, Dafoe agrees to let Hackman do it his way, with intimidation and violence. When we watch him beat Dourif up, we may momentarily feel good, but really, is that how we want law enforcement to behave?

Mississippi Burning is certainly a well-made and well-intentioned film, but it received brickbats from many civil rights icons, as well as relatives of the three murdered boys. The primary complaint was that it was fictionalized, a common complaint about historical dramas, but I don't know of a narrative film that doesn't alter the truth. The county in Mississippi is fictional, but a sheriff who was involved sued, stating it was obvious it was him. He lost. 

Perhaps more of an accurate criticism is that it's another example of a film showing white men coming to the rescue of black people. The blacks in the film are portrayed as cowardly, unwilling to talk. That's for good reason, but there's very little black heroism shown here. It came on the heels of Cry Freedom, a film about Steven Biko that was dominated by a white character.

So, Mississiuppi Burning is a film worth seeing for its cinematic qualities, but might make you mad, especially in this day and age.