Ok. You
know how a lot of movie genres work right? There are a few “ancestral” films –
as it were – that come with a convention, a “something”. And they do it so well
that tons of other films try to copy it, and succeed to a greater or larger
extent, creating a “movie convention”. I have discovered one of these ancestral
movies ladies and gents. It is not much of a momentous discovery as such, as
the film is quite well known generally speaking. It’s just that I had never watched
it before.
So, if you
watch a lot of crime drama and thrillers (ehm), you will be aware of one
convention: the older versus younger cop. They are put together as a team to
solve a momentous crime. The young cop has passion, the older, more cynical cop
has the wisdom of years on his side. They clash at first, but then find a
common path and use their respective strengths to put baddies behind bars. Yeah.
I have a sneaking suspicion this is the film that others copied. If not the
ultimate original, it definitely “does it” so well that it sure deserves to be
counted among the great forefathers. I mean, to the point that, writing the
review a day later I am still “hot under the collar” about it. And the best
part? It was based on real life…
Our story
starts in a small town in Mississippi, in the year 1964. Segregation is still
very much a lifestyle in America, but the winds of change have finally begun to
blow. African-Americans have finally got the right to vote but unfortunately,
the battle does not end there. There is the whole matter of actually getting
people registered and voting, and if the bigots of the country have anything to
do with it, that won’t be happening any time soon… Luckily there are those more
than willing to stand up to these bullies and three civil rights workers, one black
and two white, are trying to work with the black community to get voter
registration complete. Until,
that is, they go missing. A team from the FBI is sent to investigate as the
area is known to be volatile, showing a strong presence of the KKK. The two
agents are the young and passionate Agent Alan Ward (a Willem Dafoe so young I
barely recognised him) and the older, more experienced Agent Rupert Anderson
(Gene Hackman) who used to be the sheriff of a small town just like this one. The personality clash between them kicks off
as early as on the drive down, but the moment they arrive it is very clear
indeed that all is not well in the town. Agent Ward, the lead investigator on
this case, is full of passion and is ready to move Heaven and earth to bring
the killers to justice. However, Agent Anderson knows that in this close-knit
and complex community, the strong-arm approach is simply not going to work. As
Agent Ward’s approach seems to be doing more harm than good, it is up to Agent
Anderson to rein him in, the question is can he? And more importantly, will
their powers combined be enough to uncover the dark secrets of this town?
Ok, first
of all, if you watch this film, keep an eye on Gene Hackman for what is, in my
opinion, one of the greatest “raaah” moments on television. To those of you
familiar with the movie I mean the scene where he goes to the social club on
his own. It’s like all the Clint Eastwood movies you can think of rolled
together and made ten times better. I’m not even a particular fan of Clint
Eastwood movies. But there you are. Powerful stuff.
That is not
the only thing powerful about the film however. I would go as far as claiming
you had a heart of stone if you didn’t become rather emotional and angry upon
watching this film. There are many famous reviews and articles about the film
and one of the main objections seems to be that
the events were very much distorted and exaggerated for dramatic effect.
A criticism to which the director responded by saying it was a work of fiction
not a documentary. And I must say, when you are able to (heck, if you are able
to) distance yourself from the emotions stirred up by this film you will find that
yes, some of the things that happened do seem a little OTT. There is that and
the second criticism that the black population is shown as mere passive victims
– which is also a fair comment in my view.
However another
thing to remember about this film is, I think, that it is more about emotions
than the exact representations of facts. It is about the terror the KKK spread
in certain areas and the hopelessness felt by the people fighting for their
civil rights and with the prejudices - that
were much more deeply set – even after the legal changes have been achieved. It
seems ridiculous to me that anyone should have ever thought segregation was a
good idea (and thankfully most of the world’s population now agrees with me)
but it is good to remember how bad things once were, especially since we live
in a world where prejudices of all sorts are still strong. Think gay rights for
example, and all the people around the world fighting for marriage equality to
name but one. Yes the world still has a good distance to go as far as peace and
harmony goes. But it is good to remember that we have come a good distance
already. And if we can do this while enjoying a good thriller of the
armchair-gripping variety, well… What more could one want, really?
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