Mississippi Burning - Plot

Plot

The story is loosely based on the real-life murders of civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. After the three are reported missing, two FBI agents are sent to investigate the incident in rural Jessup County, Mississippi (modeled after Neshoba County where the real murders took place). The two agents take completely different approaches: Agent Alan Ward (Dafoe), a young liberal northerner, takes a direct approach to the investigation; Agent Rupert Anderson (Hackman), a former Mississippi sheriff who understands the intricacies of race relations in the South, takes a more subtle tack.

It is very hard for the two to work in the town, as the local sheriff's office is linked to a major branch of the Ku Klux Klan, and the agents cannot talk to the local black community, due to their fear of Klan retaliation. Slowly but steadily, relations between the FBI and the local Jessup County sheriff's office deteriorate, as do relations between Ward and Anderson. Things boil over when the bodies are found and the deputy sheriff, Clinton Pell (Brad Dourif), realizes that his wife gave their locations to Anderson, and he assaults her. When Anderson sees her in the hospital, he storms off to confront Pell but is stopped by Ward. After a brief scuffle, the two agree that they will work together and bring down the Jessup County branch of the Ku Klux Klan using Anderson's as yet untried approach.

The new tactics begin when the mayor is abducted. He is taken to a remote shack and left on his own with a black man (played by Badja Djola) wearing a rudimentary mask, similar to those used by KKK members in the film. Relating a story of how a young black man was castrated by the KKK, he implies that the mayor will likewise be disfigured unless he talks by wielding a razor blade while relating the tale. In reality, the abductor is an FBI operative specially flown in to intimidate the mayor. The mayor gives the operative a comprehensive description of the killings, including the names of those involved; although not admissible in court, this information proves invaluable to Anderson and Ward and moves the investigation forward.

Anderson uses the new information to send fake invitations to the involved KKK parties, who turn up for a meeting. They soon realize it's a set up and leave without discussing the murders. The FBI, who are eavesdropping, home in on Lester Cowens, a junior member of the outfit, as being particularly nervous and unable to stop talking. He is later picked up by the FBI and driven prominently around town to make it appear that he may be cooperating with them. He then is dropped off in the black side of the segregated community to "think" about his position.

Anderson pays a visit to the barbershop where Deputy Sheriff Pell is getting a shave with a straight razor. Anderson slips in the place of the barber allowing him to ensure that Pell stays still while Anderson threatens him, nicking him with the razor. Anderson then brutally beats Pell, both for his role in the murders and his assault of his wife. Ward, waiting outside and able to bear the ongoing beating, attempts to go in; he is stopped by the other FBI men Anderson has called in, and he silently remembers his pledge to do things Anderson's way. Pell is left spinning in a barber's chair, unconscious, as Anderson leaves.

A nervous Lester Cowens is at home when his window is shot out. On the lawn is a burning cross. Cowens tries to flee in his truck but is caught by three hooded men who begin to hang him. The FBI arrive, rescue Cowens, and chase the thugs to the sound of gunshots. Out of sight, the abductors stop running away and remove their masks to reveal that they are also FBI agents. The ruse works. Cowens, believing his life is in danger because his KKK co-conspirators think he'll talk, does just that. The FBI now has evidence admissible in court and can prosecute the culprits. They charge them with civil rights violations to ensure they will be tried at the federal level; four of them had previously been convicted in a state court of firebombing a black man's home, only to receive five-year suspended sentences. Most are found guilty and receive sentences from three to ten years. Sheriff Stuckey is acquitted. The mayor, who was not charged with anything, hangs himself. Pell's wife returns to her home, which has been completely ransacked. She resolves to stay and rebuild her life, free of her wicked husband.

The film concludes with a Sunday morning service on the site of a destroyed house of worship, attended by both white and black churchgoers singing in unison. Ward addresses Anderson as "Rupert" suggesting they are now on first name terms.