In the Heat of the Night (1967)

A provocative film exploring racial tension in the South (tm), In the Heat of the Night has moved to the top of my list of favorite movies from this project so far.  It was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture in addition to several other categories, and it wins a pair of thumbs from this guy.  The movie stars Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs, a Philidelphian (and black) detective who not-so-serendipiditously gets recruited to help gum-smacking Sheriff Gillespie (Rod Steiger) with a murder investigation in a racially hostile small Mississippi town.  Poitier and Gillespie deliver convincing performances in one of the most stylistic films we've watched so far.  The screenplay is wonderfully-engrossing and the movie could be enjoyed just for its crime mystery plot alone, not considering its artistic depth.

As mentioned, this movie is one of the first to demonstrate a style.  I don't know if I'm using that term appropriately in a film context, but it goes beyond creating a mood and has a definite stamp of artistry by director, Norman Jewison.  From difficult-to-shoot nighttime scenes to awesome 70's disco zoom shots to mobile shots with the camera moving along a moving train, car, and a chased man in the woods, the camera dudes had some work cut out for them.  The culture of the time is well-encapsulated with music by Quincy Jones, authentic vernacular (you dig?), and nostalgic scenes of the South like the juke-box cafe, railyards, abandoned factories, and a cotton plantation.

What I find super great about this film is that it goes beyond a "typical" racial tension story and explores the consequences of human darkness.  Many scenes occur at night, and one of the first character developments involves a policeman, who is supposed to be protector, plays peeping Tom on who we discover later is a teenage girl well-known for flaunting her wares.  The obvious and expected racism takes place early and frequently as Poitier's character is falsely accused, threatened, attacked, ignored, etc.    However, a powerful moment takes place in which Poitier himself is caught up in his own false assumptions about a suspect and his erroneous thinking is ironically called out by Gillespie.  Using a crime drama is a great vehicle for pushing along a story like this; bringing to light what is in the dark for the sake of truth and justice.  The story shows us the negative ramifications of not knowing the truth and how one iniquity performed "in the heat of the night" leads to more transgressions and further depth of depravity.

"...God is light; in him there is no darkness at all...But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another..." I John 1: 5, 7 (emphasis mine)