Even though that scene was early in the film, it really cut deep. It's amazing how one minute these kids are having fun talking with each other in church and then boom; their lives gone in an instant. Very powerful scene that set the tone for the urgency of what transpired next.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham. htm
I agree. I do wish a bit of aftermath from that was included in the film however. I think it was an important scene that needed to be included in the film but without that context, it just felt tacked on.
shareThanks kyle-sharp. Agree. I would have like to see that incident expanded and linked more to Selma. The church bombing could be its own movie quite frankly.
shareThat's the thing though---i guess the assumption was that anyone watching this film would already know the history of the real event that scene was about---just shows that this film needed to be made to remind us today that there were a lot of casualties on the road to the civil rights fight, and that it was nether smooth OR easy most of the time. And yeah, definitely see 4 LITTLE GIRLS---one of Spike's better films,definitely.
I already knew what was going to happen when they showed that scene, but it was still horrible to watch---all those innocent lives gone in an instant, and for what? Just because they were black, and some racist bastards hated them for no other reason than that? That made it even more worse to see,especially since they were children.
When they were walking down the church stairwell I instantly knew what was coming. It still made me jump though.
shareThat was me too. .....I had a feeling that that's what that scene was about and I still jumped
shareHaving seen the fine Film "Woodlawn",also based on a true story, I felt that the bombing had a good probability of happening. That occurred on September 15, 1963 at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL.
The bombing by the KKK of the four victims were, four young girls — Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Addie Mae Collins. The bombing came less than a month after the landmark March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
One survivor is Addie Mae’s sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph, who is often referred to as the bombing’s "fifth victim." Just 12 years old when the church was attacked, Collins Rudolph was hit with shards of glass, lost an eye and was hospitalized for months. Today, she continues to live in Birmingham, suffering from the physical, mental and emotional effects of the bombing.
Can you fly this plane?
Surely u cant be serious
I am serious,and dont call me Shirley
I'm definitely looking for Spike's documentary!
shareThat was hard to watch. It's really sad how little the terrorism aimed at black Americans is acknowledged, it's as if racism officially ended in the eyes of certain white people as soon as slavery was abolished.
It was incredibly hard to watch but very powerful.
Slavery has never ended. It goes on a round the world. The Sex Slave industry is thriving by accounts in the media. Pornography needs to be eliminated. It is highly destructive to communities and to Societies.
Can you fly this plane?
Surely u cant be serious
I am serious,and dont call me Shirley
I thought it was a good inclusion (introduction) as well, although I wish the 5th surviving girl had somehow been at least shown in the scene as well. In a way, her story is even more tragic than those who died.
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170279226/long-forgotten-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing-survivor-speaks-out
I thought it was a good inclusion (introduction) as well, although I wish the 5th surviving girl had somehow been at least shown in the scene as well. In a way, her story is even more tragic than those who died.
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170279226/long-forgotten-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing-survivor-speaks-out
That bombing was shocking. Myself and others in the cinema jumped.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.share
Me too. I wasn't prepared for it. Imagine what it must have been like for those kids.
shareThe scene was made effective by the normalcy of the girls' conversation and the beautiful framing of the scene as they walk down the staircase.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.share
Agree. They were just living their lives and then it was over instantly. The fact that someone could bomb a church, let alone not even care for the lives they killed...
shareAnd here is another jarring event that occurred in just a few hours in the aftermath of the March.
Viola Fauver Gregg Liuzzo (April 11, 1925 – March 25, 1965). She drove from Michigan to assist with the March.
Killed in her car, after she was shuttling marchers back forth from Montgomery to Selma. Just a few hours after the March ended, shot by Klansmen. Leaving behind a husband and a family.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Liuzzo
Can you fly this plane?
Surely u cant be serious
I am serious,and dont call me Shirley
The scene was made effective by the normalcy of the girls' conversation and the beautiful framing of the scene as they walk down the staircase
t was incredibly jarringVery effective photography and editing. I read some criticisms about how the film conveyed the physical violence but I did not share the criticisms.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.share
This was the "best" scene in the film. So horrific and shocking, yet also beautifully shot. An immensely unsettling scene. I didn't see it in a theater, but I'll bet you could have heard a pin drop in its aftermath.
All this machine does is swim, and eat, and make little sharks. -- Matt Hooper, JAWS
I agree!
share