description Mississippi Burning Overview
Mississippi Burning depicts a 1964 investigation involving two FBI agents searching for missing civil rights activists in a Mississippi county. The film portrays a community resistant to law enforcement and marked by conflict between federal agents and local authorities, including Klan members. It is based on the disappearance of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
info Mississippi Burning Specifications
| Country | United States |
| Year | 1988 |
help Mississippi Burning FAQ
Which real case inspired Mississippi Burning?
The film was inspired by the 1964 murders of civil-rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in Mississippi. Its agents and many investigative events are fictionalized.
Who are the two FBI agents in Mississippi Burning?
Gene Hackman plays former Southern sheriff Rupert Anderson, and Willem Dafoe plays the more procedural agent Alan Ward. Their conflicting investigative methods drive much of Alan Parker's 1988 film.
How historically accurate is Mississippi Burning?
The film accurately invokes the violence and intimidation surrounding Freedom Summer, but it greatly dramatizes the FBI's role and uses fictional central agents. It also gives limited narrative agency to the Black activists and local organizers who drove the real civil-rights struggle.
Who plays Mrs. Pell in Mississippi Burning?
Frances McDormand plays Mrs. Pell, the abused wife of a deputy involved with the local Ku Klux Klan. Her conversations with Anderson provide information that changes the direction of the investigation.
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