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Nov 10, 2012akirakato rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in a Klan-dominated town of the state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents (portrayed by Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe) who investigate the murders. Hackman's character (Agent Rupert Anderson) and Dafoe's character (Agent Alan Ward) are loosely based on the partnership of FBI agent John Proctor and agent Joseph Sullivan. The film has been criticized by many for its fictionalization of history. In an often-quoted review in Time Magazine, Jack E. White referred to the film as a "cinematic lynching of the truth". Parker defended his film by reminding critics that it was a dramatization, not a documentary. In reality, according to Howard Zinn (who had taught at a black-dominated school for 7 years at the time), the FBI agents were not particularly interested in the similar cases. Mary King, the author of "Freedom Song," actually reported to the Department of Justice on the above case, but no actions were taken. In the film, a black FBI agent showed up to coerce the mayor to disclose the names of the murderers. In reality, however, there were no black FBI agents at the time. In any case, the film adequately explain the intricacies of race relations in the South.