Two FBI agents face racism while investigating the disappearance of three civil rights activists in 1964... (Learn more)
Starring: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand (View All)
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Starring: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand
Mississippi Burning is an all-names-changed dramatization of the Ku Klux Klan's murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. Investigating the mysterious disappearances of the three activists are FBI agents Gene Hackman (older, wiser) and Willem Dafoe (younger, idealistic). A Southerner himself, Hackman charms and cajoles his way through the tight-lipped residents of a dusty Mississippi town while Dafoe acts upon the evidence gleaned by his partner. Hackman solves the case by exerting his influence upon beauty-parlor worker Frances McDormand, who wishes to exact revenge for the beatings inflicted upon her by her Klan-connected husband Brad Dourif. Many critics took the film to task for its implication that the Civil Rights movement might never have gained momentum without its white participants; nor were the critics happy that the FBI was shown to utilize tactics as brutal as the Klan's. The title Mississippi Burning is certainly appropriate: nearly half the film is taken up with scenes of smoke and flame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
12/9/88
MPAA Rating
Rated R
Running Time
125 mins.
Locations
- Jackson, Mississippi, USA
- Lafayette, Alabama, USA
Language
- English
Box Office Total
$33,665,872
Awards
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1988 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1988 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Actor award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Sound award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or award at the 1988 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1988 Directors Guild of America [Festival/A Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Supporting Actress award at the 1988 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the Sound Award award at the 1990 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Cinematography award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Editing award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Editing Award award at the 1989 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Cinematography award at the 1988 American Society of Cinematographers [ Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture - Drama award at the 1988 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Sound Award award at the 1989 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Screenplay award at the 1988 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1988 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 1988 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the Best Cinematography award at the 1989 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actor award at the 1989 Berlin International Film Festival [Fe Awards.
Distributor
- Orion
- Orion Home Video
- Orion Pictures
