4 Little Girls

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Director Spike Lee made his first feature-length documentary with this powerful story of the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, AL, in 1963, which took the lives of four girls, ages 11 through 14. The shocking incident received national press attention and became a rallying point in the ongoing struggle for civil rights, but while Lee's film examines the crime, the perpetrators, and the long struggle to bring them to justice, it also offers a close look at the four girls themselves as their friends and families recall, in moving detail, who they were and how they lived. A variety of civil rights activists, politicians, journalists, and lawyers are interviewed onscreen, including Walter Cronkite and a brief but disturbing meeting with former Alabama governor George Wallace. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital
• Subtitle: Spanish, French, English
• Features:
  • Interactive menus
  • Spike Lee biography
  • "Making of 4 Little Girls" featurette
  • Weblinks

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Documentary Feature - 1997 (Sam Pollard, Spike Lee)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Documentary - 1997

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Spike Lee

• Producer:

  Spike Lee, Sam Pollard

• Cinematographer:

  Ellen Kuras

• Composer (Music Score):

  Terence Blanchard

• Editor:

  Sam Pollard

• Associate Producer:

  Michele Forman

• Executive Producer:

  Sheila Nevins

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Rolf Pardula, J.T. Takagi

• Coordinator:

  Jacqueline Glover

REVIEW:

• A great subject gets the filmmaker it deserves. Spike Lee had long wanted to make a film about the horrific September 1963 bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, and perhaps it was best that he had to wait. Reportedly, many of the victims' relatives were not prepared to discuss on camera the events of that day until some time had passed. What is gained is not only their participation but also a sense of perspective. In a time when you can read almost daily of terrorist bombings in other areas of the world, as well as reflect on the events of September 11, 2001, 4 Little Girls returns to an era you thought was much more innocent and reveals that the evil that would attack innocent children in the name of racial (or ethnic or religious) superiority has been and still is in this country. Wisely, Lee lets the subject matter do the talking here and does not resort to stylistic tricks to embellish his presentation. The film's most jarring sequence is an interview with former Gov. George Wallace, who clearly is struggling to understand the legacy of hatred his political career nourished and encouraged. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi