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.