4 LITTLE GIRLS Reviewed by Chuck Dowling Copyright 1998 - Chuck's Movie Reviews http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/
4 Little Girls (1997) **** out of ***** - Produced and Directed by: Spike Lee. Running Time: 102 minutes.
It was 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. A blast ripped apart a Baptist church, killing four young black girls. That's the story told in "4 Little Girls", the latest film by Spike Lee. Unlike Lee's other films, "4 Little Girls" is a documentary, told only through old news footage and the recollections of family and friends of the victims.
The story told is a compelling and emotional one, and for the most part it is well presented. A couple of times the subject does seem to wander into broader areas, as other events in Birmingham are discussed. This isn't such a horrible complaint, but the film is called "4 Little Girls" and not "Birmingham in the '60s". I would have rather seen more stories and memories from the friends and family.
Also on hand to deliver their thoughts are Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, and Green Bay Packer Reggie White. Thankfully, these "outsider" interviews are kept to a minimum, leaving more time for the family members to speak. However, there are a few seconds of interviews with former Alabama governor George Wallace that are oddly fascinating, and almost deserve their own film.
I understand that all revenue from the theatrical run of the film will be donated to a college scholarship fund in Birmingham. So if it's playing in your area, you can go help out a good cause and get a fine documentary for your troubles. This would also be an excellent film for students and teachers studying/teaching the civil rights movement. [NR]
-- Chuck Dowling --
Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,600 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, film related links, and reader's reviews.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews