Directed by Alan Parker Mississippi Burning was released in 1988 and is classified as a crime thriller and was filmed in various locations in Alabama. The script was written by Chris Gerolmo and is based on a murder investigation that took place in Mississippi in 1964.

The cast includes Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe who work for the FBI and they are assigned to investigate the disappearance of civil rights workers in Jessup County, a fictional county in Mississippi.  Their investigation is not welcomed and the residents of the town are hostile towards them and they also receive hostility from the local police and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

When the film was released there was controversy and it was criticised by civil rights activists but the performances by Hackman and Dafoe were praised and the film did well at the box office and grossed $34.6 million and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, which included a nomination for Best Picture.

The Plot

The two FBI agents are very different and their investigation methods are very different but they join together with the common goal of finding out what happened to the boys.  Anderson grew up in Mississippi and he interacts differently with the locals while Ward is a more by the book agent.

As the investigation progresses more reinforcements are brought in and the agents soon realise that the locals are not happy to have them around.  The locals are very racist and some are very outspoken about it and many belong to the KKK.

The film portrays just how severe racial violence and segregation really was, and shows how an African-American home or church is being burnt by the KKK and their supporters while the local whites of the town are going about their day as if nothing is wrong with it.

The agents encounter many difficulties, but continue to persevere much like you’d do for a win in real money Blackjack! They search for justice for the deaths of the three activists and although they encounter many obstacles there are a few locals who can see the wrongs committed by the racially driven murders.

The agents become desperate and devise a plan to get justice.  They arrange a fake kidnapping of the Mayor whom they scare and who subsequently reveals various details to them.

One of the KKK members is nervous and they use this to scare him into submission by letting him believe that the KKK are out to get him because he spoke to the FBI about what had happened.

The sheriff’s wife also shows sympathy and tells the agents what she knows, but her abusive husband finds a way to keep her quiet.

Not for Sensitive Viewers

There are violent scenes between the KKK and African-American locals and the scenes are filmed in such a way that they give insight into each character and their personal experiences.

This film is not for sensitive viewers or children, not only because of the violence but there is also quite a bit of bad language.