Mississippi Burning review

 Number 470 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1988 crime-thriller 'Mississippi Burning.'

Mississippi Burning is based on the true story of three civil rights activists going missing in a small Mississippi town. When FBI agents Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Alan Ward (Wilhelm Dafoe) start investigating, they are met with hostility from the town's racist locals. Soon they suspect the three activists were killed by the KKK. Frances Mcdormand, Brad Dourif, Michael Rooker, R. Lee Erney and Stephen Tobolowsky co-star.

I recently wrote a listicle about films too traumatic to watch again. If I were to write another list, surely Mississippi Burning would be at the top of the list. This is a film that does not shy away from the United States' racist past. Rather, it tackles it head-on. And there's no other way you can depict such horrible subject matter.

Mississippi Burning is a harrowing and brutal portrayal of the ugly discrimination that the black community was forced to endure. Yes, it does show it through the perspective of white men, and it would be have been more interesting if the black men were put more front-and-centre, but it was still a powerful watch all the same.

The relationship between Anderson and Ward underpinned the film. Anderson, the older and more maverick of the two, has to follow the orders of the younger, but more senior in rank, Ward, who is a stickler for the rules. Despite their differences, they learn to work together.  Dafoe and Hackman had great chemistry, which shone through.

As Dafoe is a character actor, he usually plays larger-than-life oddballs, usually leading, to over-the-top, exaggerated performances *cough cough* the the Boondock Saints, but he was incredibly measured and controlled in this.

Hackman was also great. Anderson has a romantic subplot with the wife of one of the Mississippi police officers played by Frances Mcdormand. she showed why she is one of the few actors to have won three Best Acting Oscars. Their relationship was wonderfully understated. Originally, the pair were supposed to have a sex-scene, but this was dropped in favour of the two characters standing in the shadows. And that's all we needed to see. Props to the lighting department.

And all the supporting cast were good too: Brad Dourif, Michael Rooker, and, especially, Stephen Tobolowsky were chilling ass the abhorrent KKK members.

Sure there might be some who criticise Mississippi Burning for distorting history, but the key message is clear enough: the black community was subject to terrible, racist abuse. And that's a true we should never forget.

Glory review

 Number 353 on the top 1000 films of all time is Edward Zwick's 1989 US civil-war drama 'Glory.'

Glory tells the true story of 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment - one of the earliest African-American regiments within the Union army. It is commanded by the white officers Colonel Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) and Major Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes.) Some of its troops include the hot-headed Silas Trip (Denzel Washington,) the older and wiser John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) and the well-educated Thomas Sears (Andre Braugher.)

I certainly cannot attest to the historical aspect of Glory, but it was a thrilling warm film that gave a well-rounded review that the 54th infantry faced. Its black soldiers suffered racism from their white counterparts and weren't paid as much as them either, while their white officers were constantly left lacking vital supplies needed by their men. It also highlights the interpersonal differences between the black soldiers - notably between Sears and Trip. The two initially clash on their radically different upbringings and perspectives. Trip resents how Sears acts and talks like a white man, while Sears rails against Trip's accusations of him not being truly black.

Both actors were great, but Washington especially so. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and I think his win was more deserving than his one in Training Day. Silas Trip was a far more nuanced character than Alonzo Harris. And Washington played him with a lot of vulnerability. Morgan Freeman was also good as the wise and calming John Rawlins. And I particularly liked Andre Braugher. He and Washington were great together.

The black actors were superior to their white counterparts. I do think Matthew Broderick was miscast. He was just too young for such a role. This was only three years after he starred in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and it was difficult seeing him as anything other than the high-school slacker. He just looked scared all the time; whenever he spoke it was like he was trying to convince both himself and the audience that he was mature enough for such a role. I understand this is partly the character. Shaw is supposed to be young, inexperienced and unsure of himself, but Broderick did little to persuade me that he was the right man for the job.

Honestly, I think his co-star Cary Elwes would have made a better lead. Elwes had already proved himself a capable leading man in the Princess Bride. Although he wasn't great here either. He had a strange accent that varied between American and his native English accent.

Glory strayed into melodrama at times. I could have done without the grandiose, instrumental score and characters dying in slow motion. Where it shone was its quieter moments; particularly when the black soldiers are singing a gospel song on the eve of their first big fight. This was a brilliant scene that highlighted the camaraderie and close relationship between these men.

Glory is certainly a good film. Yes, it is cheesy at times and Matthew Broderick was dreadfully miscast, but it was still a noble attempt to bring the efforts of the 54th infantry to the big screen.