in 1964 and three civil right activist go miss in mississippi and and two fbi agent ( gene hackman and willem dafoe ) with directly oppose method pursue their murderer . mississippi burning be a film much garland with award and yet the charge about it uneasy focus on the fate of white activist be one that stick . however and it be shot exquisitely and move along with relentless power and and at least conveys an unequivocal message about racism and however unexceptional and self congratulatory that may be . hackman turn a the pragmatic fbi man and prepare to spout racial hatred in order to catch his perpetrator and be mesmerise . mississippi burning be precede in 1975 by a television docudrama title attack on terror represent the fbi vs. the ku klux klan and depict many of the same event .