The Untold Story of Emmet Louis Till (2005)
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:30
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Without sensationalism or flinching from the brutality of the crime, this documentary is an eye-opening call for justice.
Theatrical Release:Aug 17, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Social filmmaking at its most effective, Keith Beauchamp's documentary THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMET LOUIS TILL reconstructs the infamously brutal murder of the eponymous 14-year-old African-American... [More]
Director: Keith A. Beauchamp
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Reviews for The Untold Story of Emmet Louis Till
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 4/4 |
Features some sweet moments of reflection by the late Mamie Till during which she wistfully reminisces about the intelligent, curious and animated son taken away from her so brutally and senselessly. Full Review |
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In his retelling of the events, Beauchamp reconstructs the legacy of diaspora. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Beauchamp, who worked on his film for nine years, dutifully reinterviews the surviving witnesses, and more effectively than any previous documentary or return look at the case, re-creates the atmosphere of a 1950s Mississippi. Full Review |
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B |
uncovers additional evidence and becomes both a suitable memorial as well as a call to action Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
This well-focused, short (75 minute) film will be an eye opener for those who didn't live through the era. For those who did, it will be all too familiar. Full Review |
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B+ |
The film is only 70 minutes long, but it is nearly impossible to sit through, not only because of the lingering image at its center of Emmett Till's battered body but because of the visceral sense of outrage it can't help but provoke in you. Full Review |
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4/5 |
Untold Story is a documentary of compassion and urgency, a film that cries out, as virtually every film and story on this subject does, for justice, something that didn't happen in 1950s Mississippi. Full Review |
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Beauchamp reaches this point without exploitation or cheap foreshadowing; there are no dramatic music stings underlying the outwardly innocuous biography before it methodically descends into true American tragedy. Full Review |
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It seems all too easy nowadays to think this stuff is all ancient history...Beauchamp's bracing wake-up call shows otherwise. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Potent and searing. Full Review |
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3/4 |
The story has been told often in film and literature, but in The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till ... director Keith Beauchamp takes a rewarding approach. Full Review |
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You leave the theater feeling moved by a mother's courage, sickened by the crime and a little frustrated, wondering if this unquiet moment in our history will ever rest easy. Full Review |
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'3/4' |
Whatever power Keith Beauchamp's film possesses as a work of art has been superseded by its political impact... Full Review |
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Beauchamp expertly excerpts long stretches from the extensive television coverage of the 1955 events, juxtaposing them with present-day interviews with the people who lived though these traumatic happenings. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Beauchamp must be applauded for not only for his investigative daring but also for his unflinching courage. Full Review |
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A- |
A testament to the power of film. Full Review |
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3/4 |
[Beauchamp's film] has an earnest solemnity that is appropriate to the material. Full Review |
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3/4 |
A painful reminder that reparations still need to be made for what whites have done to blacks in this country. Full Review |
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 2.5/5 |
I expect more from a theatrical release, more than just information presented in an orderly fashion. Full Review |
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One of the most powerful, important things a documentary can do is bear witness to man's inhumanity to man, and document for posterity crimes that cry out for justice, however tardy. Full Review |
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