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145th review, 205th movie... bit of a Special Favourite of mine and in keeping with my 140th/200th Special...
Jessup County, Mississippi 1964, two white Civil Rights workers and an African American Civil Rights worker are murdered in cold blood by the Ku Klux Klan.
Brought in to investigate are two FBI Agents Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson.
Anderson in particular was a Mississippi Sheriff back in his younger days and has a rather heavy handed and hard-headed way of getting the truth out of his suspects. Ward however is a Liberal, and prefers to talk and use paperwork as a weapon.
When it appears that pretty much the entire town is part of the murder and are members of the KKK, the two FBI Agents must do everything they can... even if it means coming to loggerheads with one another, to get to the truth of the murders and bring an end to the racial tension and basic terrorism that is taking place in the rural areas of Southern America.
Based loosely on the real life murders of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi in 1964, albeit with a number of the facts changed around, Burning gives the viewer an incredibly exciting, disturbing and extremely well pieced together story of morality, drama, emotion and the odd hit of action too.
The other main part of the story is friendship and loyalty... whether it's the relationship between the FBI Agents, the KKK members and their families or even between the black/white divide of the populous... the movie is laced brilliantly with the torn relationships of all involved and plays on the feelings of the viewer wonderfully.
A lot of the action toward the end is also felt brilliantly by the audience. The viewer can't help but get behind the good guys and spurn them on in their heavy handed exploits at getting justice for the victims of race crime. The audience character connection is absolutely top notch, including the connection to the bad guys and it gives the louder and more exciting scenes a real lift.
The acting is also top drawer.
Gene Hackman as the heavy handed Anderson is an absolute mark of genius. His cool calm persona is second only to the harder scenes where Hackman really comes into his brutal element. He's one of the stand out roles... and certainly one of Hackman's best.
Willem Dafoe as Ward is also on top form. His pencil pushing Liberal is played perfectly and Dafoe is almost unrecognisable as the FBI Agent who changes his mentality toward violence as the film goes on.
Brad Dourif and Frances McDormand as Deputy Pell and wife respectively are also two more stand out roles... McDormand in particular has massive chemistry on screen with Hackman and Brad... and Dourif's character lives with the viewer even when he's not on screen.
Back up comes in the form of an ensemble cast of R Lee Ermey, Michael Rooker, Gailard Sartain, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Tobin Bell, Yaphet Koto and the brilliantly underrated Kevin Dunn.
Review #145: Mississippi Burning
Jessup County, Mississippi 1964, two white Civil Rights workers and an African American Civil Rights worker are murdered in cold blood by the Ku Klux Klan.
Brought in to investigate are two FBI Agents Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson.
Anderson in particular was a Mississippi Sheriff back in his younger days and has a rather heavy handed and hard-headed way of getting the truth out of his suspects. Ward however is a Liberal, and prefers to talk and use paperwork as a weapon.
When it appears that pretty much the entire town is part of the murder and are members of the KKK, the two FBI Agents must do everything they can... even if it means coming to loggerheads with one another, to get to the truth of the murders and bring an end to the racial tension and basic terrorism that is taking place in the rural areas of Southern America.
Based loosely on the real life murders of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi in 1964, albeit with a number of the facts changed around, Burning gives the viewer an incredibly exciting, disturbing and extremely well pieced together story of morality, drama, emotion and the odd hit of action too.
The other main part of the story is friendship and loyalty... whether it's the relationship between the FBI Agents, the KKK members and their families or even between the black/white divide of the populous... the movie is laced brilliantly with the torn relationships of all involved and plays on the feelings of the viewer wonderfully.
A lot of the action toward the end is also felt brilliantly by the audience. The viewer can't help but get behind the good guys and spurn them on in their heavy handed exploits at getting justice for the victims of race crime. The audience character connection is absolutely top notch, including the connection to the bad guys and it gives the louder and more exciting scenes a real lift.
The acting is also top drawer.
Gene Hackman as the heavy handed Anderson is an absolute mark of genius. His cool calm persona is second only to the harder scenes where Hackman really comes into his brutal element. He's one of the stand out roles... and certainly one of Hackman's best.
Willem Dafoe as Ward is also on top form. His pencil pushing Liberal is played perfectly and Dafoe is almost unrecognisable as the FBI Agent who changes his mentality toward violence as the film goes on.
Brad Dourif and Frances McDormand as Deputy Pell and wife respectively are also two more stand out roles... McDormand in particular has massive chemistry on screen with Hackman and Brad... and Dourif's character lives with the viewer even when he's not on screen.
Back up comes in the form of an ensemble cast of R Lee Ermey, Michael Rooker, Gailard Sartain, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Tobin Bell, Yaphet Koto and the brilliantly underrated Kevin Dunn.
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All in all, ok I compared it to American History X at the start of this review but Burning is really a different movie altogether based on the same premise of racial tension.
It's an incredibly well acted and written drama about the brutal sides of humanity and has a genuinely exciting screenplay on many levels that hits the viewer very very hard. The action, though it comes in smaller chunks, is well choreographed and exciting too.
It's an incredibly well acted and written drama about the brutal sides of humanity and has a genuinely exciting screenplay on many levels that hits the viewer very very hard. The action, though it comes in smaller chunks, is well choreographed and exciting too.
My Rating: 100%
