Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

kaischammakhi This film takes place in the 60s, in the state of Mississipi, known for its ruthless discrimination suffered by the black people. Two FBI officers investigtate the mysterious disappearance of three civil rights activists, one is a young idealistic college kid (played by Willem Dafoe) under whom works a middle-aged man who's an ex-sheriff and was born and raised in a small Mississippi town (played by Gene Hackman). Now this plot may seem a bit ordinary these days even back in the day with many films addressing the same subject like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and the beloved To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), but this film takes it to another level with its incredible acting, good writing and beautiful directing. The actors made me enjoy this movie, especially Gene Hackman, seriously this man is a legend, supported by a promising Dafoe and a young Frances McDormand. The contast between the leading actors made the film pleasant to watch as they gave satisfying performances. The film itself was intense but touching and the story was effective, this is thanks to the director Alan Parker that has done a beautiful job.

DeuceWild_77 One year after his misunderstood masterpiece, "Angel Heart", the English director Alan Parker returns to the South for filming "Mississippi Burning", a crime / thriller drama about 2 F.B.I. agents sent to Jessup County, Mississippi in 1964 to investigate the disappearance of 3 civil rights activists. Led by the younger agent, Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe), a yankee 'crusader' and a symbol of Kennedy's administration, who follow the Bureau's rules by the book & his older and savvy partner, Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman), a former Mississippi Sheriff, who knows the behavior, mentality, traditions & way of life of his fellow countrymen. When they suspect that the Ku Klux Klan may be operating there and responsible for the disappearance of the 3 activists with the support of the local law, Ward & Anderson start a war against the "phantom' killers in searching for the truth, clashing with the town people that don't want them there... Superbly directed motion picture from an engaging screenplay penned by Chris Gerolmo, based on actual facts and visually stunning, shot by the cinematographer Peter Biziou, who won a well deserved Academy Award, "Mississippi Burning" is a gritty, realistic & sweaty movie experience, filmed on location near where the actual murders took place with even some scenes shot in a documentary style which enhanced the straight tone of the film. It moves at a thrilling pace, involving the viewer in the sordid ways of racism at his worst, stereotyping that (almost) all of the white southern characters are evil and preaches the audience about the innocent victims of the intolerance and the deserved punishment of their executioners, guided by the eyes of two different lawmen, the liberal moralist - Willem Dafoe and the conservative 'vigilante' , Gene Hackman. Hackman delivers maybe his best performance since his brilliant turn in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" ('74), he's determined, reckless & sarcastic, showy, but commanding the screen with gravitas proving why he's one of the best (still sadly, underrated) north American actors ever. Willem Dafoe, fresh from his Academy Award nomination for "Platoon", co-stars in a less prominent role, but equal effective, especially in his "boy scout" antagonism with the Hackman character. Frances McDormand, who scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, is the stand-out / revelation as the disgruntled & fragile wife of the local Deputy. She shines in a role that could have been underplayed if performed by a less capable actress. The supporting players are top notch (kudos to the casting department & Parker's skillful direction of actors) from the always remarkable as the hateful 'usual suspects": Brad Dourif & Michael Rooker to R. Lee Ermey; Gailard Sartain; Badja Djola in an intense cameo appearance; Tobin Bell, making here his feature film debut, years before his breakthrough role in the "Saw" franchise and Stephen Tobolowsky, among others. In short, "Mississippi Burning" was one of the best films of 1988, nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director & Best Leading Actor for Hackman, winning 1 and perhaps only lost the Best Picture Oscar, due to the Academy's emotional vote in favor of Barry Levinson's sympathetic drama, "Rain Man". Highly recommended !!

jimbo-53-186511 When three civil rights workers disappear FBI Agents Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) and Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) are tasked with investigating their disappearances. What starts out as a routine missing persons investigation quickly escalates into something much more serious especially when Ward (who isn't from Mississippi) starts to learn more about its townsfolk and about how those in charge choose to 'run' their town.I suppose it was kind of inevitable that a film like Mississippi Burning is going to be met with a rather mixed reception particularly as it apparently plays very 'loose' with the facts. In all fairness though anyone who watches a film and expects it to be 100% faithful or true to the story is somewhat naïve. What you get with Mississippi Burning is an interesting and fairly entertaining film which provides an insight into racial segregation in 1960's America - at least that's how I saw it!!!Although a lot of what we see may be fictional director Alan Parker works well with scriptwriter Chris Gerolmo in creating a powerful and somewhat terrifying look at the devastation that can be caused through bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Parker doesn't hold back and manages to stage some excellent scenes (the scene with Gene Hackman in the barber shop is particularly chilling as well as being memorable). The brutality continues throughout the film, which, admittedly, can make it hard to watch, but for me, this adds to the realism and Parker really engages with the viewer by drawing them into this appalling period of history.The strong performances compliment Parker's brutal direction well and the likes of Hackman and Dafoe are both good here (even though they are a rather clichéd pair of mismatched cops) Despite this though there's still an interesting and rather uneasy dynamic between the two men and the script occasionally affords them some amusing exchanges. The villains of the piece (Ermey, Dourif, Rooker, and Sartain) are excellent and all give rather sneering and cold-hearted performances.Aside from the cops and procedural elements being a tad clichéd one other aspect of this film that I found slightly problematic was the character of Mrs Pell (Frances McDormand). Her character is one of the few 'white' people who disagrees with segregation and is against how the Klu Klux Klan and the majority of white people treat the black people. This made her an interesting character who really should have had a more active role in the film. Instead of that, she is little more than window dressing and a bit on the side for Anderson (which is a tad frustrating and a waste of McDormand's acting talent). I personally felt that the film would have been slightly better if it had have at least given us some insight into what things were like on the other side of the fence.So yes there are some flaws with this film and rather ironically the narrative does suffer from being a bit 'black and white' However, it is a powerful drama that takes us back to an appalling time period, and although some of its brutality makes it hard to watch, I did find it to be a relatively engaging story.

Irishchatter I'm not saying it's the worst out there but, I just think the movie needed to be shorten a little bit. I kept seeing rather boring bits so that caused me to skip much of the film.Anyways let's move onto something positive, I thought Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman were excellent at playing the FBI agents. I loved how Dafoe's character Agent Alan Ward was a sarcastic yet let's-get-onto-the point type of guy. He really is a charmer and I began to have a little crush on him right from the beginning. I know, totally weird, right?I even loved how Hackman made his character Agent Rupert Anderson, a really humorous guy. Well he is a legend so, we can't complain,right?It is a really dark film with seeing the abuse of the African Americans during the 1960s. It does make you glad that nowadays, we all accept one another!