The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2005) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Strong documentary taking a look at the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy from Chicago who was in Mississippi with relatives when he was kidnapped and brutally murdered after whistling at a white woman. The documentary runs 70-minutes and features interviews with Till's mother, many of his friends and cousins who witnessed the kidnapping as well as a journalist who was covering the trial. This is the second documentary I've seen on the Till killing and it always catches me off guard when I see his mother as well as people who witnessed the crime. This type of event was just so shocking and unbelievable that it's really hard to imagine that this took place not so long ago and it's especially recent when you see so many people from its story are still with us. It's always sad when certain bits of history are forgotten by so many and while I'm far from a history expert I do think that certain stuff (Pearl Harbor, 9/11) are such important events that they need to be remembered. This is such a case because it's not only a matter of Civil Rights but it's also the horrifying fact that a 14-year-old could be beaten and tortured so badly and no one ever paid for it. The recounting of the events are still chilling no matter how many times you hear them and especially the stuff with the mother talking about opening the coffin box and seeing how mutilated her son's face and body was. Graphic photos are shown of the body so people should be warned as the images are just ghastly and it's hard to believe that something like that could happen. THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL is a very good documentary taking a look at one of the ugliest crimes in American history. It's certainly worth watching.

Tremendously powerful, straightforward documentary about the horrific lynching of a black teen in 1955 Mississippi for whistling at a white woman, and the pathetic lack of justice that followed. The incident itself helped launch the modern civil rights movement.The film is mostly simple interviews with Till's surviving family and friends, and a few other witnesses to the events , interspersed with some stills and bits of news footage from the time. But a story this strong doesn't need a lot of gloss, and if the film feels almost amateurish at moments, that pales before its heartrending, infuriating, and terrifying story, made real by the memories of those who were there. The film was responsible for re-opening a federal investigation of the crime, 50 some odd years after the fact, with the hope of finally bring some justice and closure to the noble and brave Till family, and to all African-Americans, for whom this crime represents the worst of America. An important moment in recent history that should never be forgotten

Emmett Till, a spirited and happy 14-year-old, left Chicago in 1955 to visit his relatives in northern Mississippi. He never returned. He made the terrible mistake of believing he had the right to behave as a human being, and for that he was ritually slaughtered.The events in Keith Beauchamp's outstanding film, which took nine years to complete, give a terrifying view of barbaric racism in the American deep south. But we must remind ourselves that this was not some distant 19th-century crime, but one that happened a mere 50 years ago. We also must remind ourselves that this was the rule rather than the isolated exception: Emmett's killing was but one of countless atrocities committed against people who happened to be born with a pigmentation that wasn't white, or pink, or beige.We are exposed to ghastly pictures of Emmett in death, and he is no longer human: he resembles instead a butchered animal. The two white men responsible cut out his tongue, chopped off his private parts, split his skull in half with an axe, ripped his eyes out, and, perhaps to ensure over-kill, shot him in the head. This was not mere murder, but pure barbarism carried out amid all the trappings of 'civilized' white society. While the Emmett Tills were being routinely lynched and murdered, white folks gathered over genteel servings of mint juleps. They knew what was happening, did nothing, and in fact deemed it somehow part of 'God's design'.The 'star' of this film is the courageous and noble Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett's mother, who offers profound insights into the grisly details of this case. Rather than bury Emmett quickly in Mississippi, as she was advised to do, Mobley insisted on taking him back to Chicago, and refused to have him 'cosmeticized' in any way by a mortician. She opened his casket to show funeral home visitors the inhuman savagery inflicted on her son. Later, she courageously went to Mississippi for the absurd show trial (the killers were fully exonerated), and she faced a barrage of death threats every step of the way. I'm not sure if they make human beings like Mamie Till-Mobley any more.This film offers close-ups of great human courage. Medger Evers, who was pre-determined for doom (he was to be assassinated eight years later), served as a catalyst for some semblance of justice, and protected Mamie Till-Mobley at the trial in Sumner, Mississippi. Emmett's uncle, the valiant Moses Wright, astonishingly identified the killers in the courtroom, something that meant almost certain death for him. He defiantly did it anyway, and left Mississippi shortly after, vowing never to return. This was a very moving film. I only wish Mamie Till-Mobley had lived long enough to see it. She died of heart and kidney failure in 2002, at the age of 81. When I realized it, I was stunned and saddened. That's how powerful this woman comes through on the screen.This is a superb and necessary film. Be prepared to be shocked, disturbed and outraged.

We remember the generalized imagery of the pre-integration South, but as a person pretty well educated in such matters (or so I like to think) it was still horrifying to be confronted not only by the viciousness of the lynching and murder of Emmett Till but of the Mississippi attitudes that resulted in the acquittal of his killers. Truly, my jaw was open.Some details received short shrift. Perhaps that is because the film was about the emotional impact of the murder, and the political outcome from it. But if Beauchamp wanted to also cover the "whodunnit" details as he suggested, there were some interesting omissions. Gone was any discussion of the forensic evidence, and although a mention was made that a "confession" was published a year later, why did Beauchamp not tell us what it said? It would have also been interesting to know what the assailants (and the accuser, the woman in the store/wife of a killer) had to say, if anything, before they passed away.But setting aside what was "missing," what was there is really worth seeing, even if you think you know the story.