| Spike Lee makes an impressive transition from fictional feature filmmaking to nonfiction with this powerful Oscar-nominated documentary. 4 LITTLE GIRLS tells the tragic story of the bombing of a basement in a black Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963, which killed four young girls: Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Addie May Collins. Interviews with the children's family members set up the scenario, and their memories of the explosion and aftermath provide the film with its most emotional moments. Lee uses this personal tragedy to better study the racial attitudes of America during that era and goes on to describe the impact this incident had on the civil rights movement of the 1960s and beyond. The film also features interviews with notable celebrities and historians, including Bill Cosby, Walter Cronkite, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, and a rare candid appearance by former Alabama governor George Wallace. With 4 LITTLE GIRLS, Lee proves that he is once again one of America's most important chroniclers of the African-American experience. |
