Mississippi Burning

Analysis of Opening Scene

Opening scene in 3 parts

• Water fountains • Church on fire• Empty road (then cars)

Scene begins with silence and black screen before changing to shaded view of water fountains. The setting is clear: before desegregation in the USA.

Notice how white fountain is cooled (switch on wall). A slow hymn is being sung.

Contrasting colours

Now we cut to title card in reverse print. White in foreground, just as whites in person. Black in background.

Background fades in - cemetery

Camera pans. A church is burning

Burning to the ground, but no one comes

Camera pans up – like vision of hell

Cut to car w/three people on deserted road late at night.Hymn is still being sung, but volume increases. We hear only crickets and low car sound.

This long shot takes some time, emphasising the emptyness; aloneness

Still alone – they’ve come quite a way

MS - Clearly they are tired

Alone in backseat – pensive?

Sound change – military drum intro (rat-a-tat-tat) as we see cars coming. Also, low bass sound

at just over 4/4 time.

ELS – boys car driving, still very secluded

LS – 3 other cars, no lights, moving fast (sound of cars is different). Drum sounds

become louder, more insistent

LS – we can see the cars are full of white men – background still empty

Clearly they have moved fast and have no lights

The image of the car in the background is like a spector rising (dialogue: “They ain’t playin’, you

better believe it.”)

The middle passenger holds a gun

*We* see it is a cop car – better or worse?

LS – behind bushes, emphasises desertedness; countryside

ELS – Sudden turn into forest – uh oh

Lights come on in a blinding blaze. Crickets and frogs.

Cop lights come on – relief? Or terror?

Light again – think of old fashioned spy movie – questions in spotlight blinds the questionee. (Door slams sounded final.)

Michael Rooker’s character looks very Aryan/Stormtrooper (Nazi)

CU – a new feature, but boys aren’t truly scared yet – a threat only

But then there is an ECU on the revolver, which tells us death is coming

Final shot – death (this is passenger, not driver). Fade to black, with voiceover

“Oh shit, we into it now, boys!” 3 more gunshots. Laughing.

With this structure, the director has first lulled the audience into passivity with length of shots and slow hymn. However, we become anxious with the appearance of the cars with the concurrent drum sounds.

Once the boys are speaking with the police, we hear the dreaded words: “It don’t make no difference now.” We understand, before the characters, that he means to kill them. The ECU on the revolver, combined with the clear sound of the gun being cocked, sets our nerves on edge. The combination of the driver’s brains and the horrified reaction of the passenger reinforce our fears. The incongruity of the laughter and shouting following the shooting only serves to disconcert us. If the police don’t protect us, who will?