On the eve of International Women’s Day, She Society headed to New Farm Cinemas to see an important film. This film was Till, the story of the life and death of fourteen year old Emmet Till.
It shared the atrocity and racial hatred of some of the privileged white folk of Mississippi in the 1950’s. Yet, Till is ultimately a story of love, of the love shared by a mother and son. Being a mother of three sons this was a difficult movie for me to watch. It tapped into a mother’s greatest fear.
It is a terrible story, but one that we should never forget as vicious racism is still rampant in many parts of the world. Even though the subject matter is dire it shares the story of a mother’s undying love and her fight for justice. Director Chinonye Chukwu has created a cinematically beautiful film which honours Emmet Till and his courageous family and friends.
The Till family had long ago left their Mississippi background for Chicago where Emmet Till (Jalyn Hall) was raised by his single mother to be a happy, thriving teenager. Overcoming a stutter he is a charming, confident boy. When he is invited to visit his cousins in Mississippi for a holiday his Mum (Danielle Deadwylder) is concerned, but his Grandma (Whoopi Goldberg) thinks it’ll be good for him. His Mum Mamie warns him that they don’t think like us, and counsels her son to ‘ Be small down there.’
But Emmet’s cheeky personality is big and when he offends shopkeeper, Carolyn, his uncle Moses’s home is invaded by angry, gun toting white men. Emmet is carted away never to be seen again alive. This child was kidnapped, tortured and lynched before his body was dumped in the Tallahatchie River. Mercifully this is not shown in detail.
We watch the heartbreaking funeral where Mamie insisted on an open coffin so that America would know what had been done to her boy. Mamie is traumatised but determined that her only child has not died in vain. She accepts the support of the NAACP ( National Association For the Advancement of Coloured People). Here we meet some history making activists.
The acting from Danielle Deadwyler is quite extraordinary and a highlight of the film. Her performance is at the heart of the film. We watch the trial which further shows the segregation and massive divide. Once we see the make up of the jury and meet the unsympathetic, even bored judge, we know their efforts will be in vain.
Mamie has done all she could and the name of Emmet Till to this day has not been forgotten. As the credits roll you cheer silently as you realise several of the perpetrators were eventually brought to justice. But you also shake your head in shame as you see it took 67 years for the Emmet Till Anti-Lynching Act to be signed into law. It became a federal hate crime only last year, in 2022.
This movie isn’t an easy watch, but it is an important story told in a cinematically beautiful and superbly acted way. The costuming and settings give you a sense of the time in which these people lived. You realise that sometimes it is only by brave people speaking out and making a stand that things will ever change. Till is in cinemas now. Take a bunch of tissues and learn about a history which will inform the future for us all.
Michelle Beesley is a Brisbane born and bred former primary school teacher. A wife, proud grandma and mother of three grown sons, Michelle is thrilled to have recently published her debut contemporary romance novel, It Happened in Paris, with Serenade Publishing. Her novella – Escape to D’ Amour was published in 2019. Michelle’s work can be found in the anthologies – Destination Romance and Short & Sweet. When not reading or writing Michelle can be found at a coffee shop chatting with friends, front row at a fashion show, or beside a rugby union field cheering on her favourite teams.
Michelle is a reluctant traveller, Francophile, keen walker and avid yoga enthusiast plus a book, film and theatre lover who loves everything pink and sparkly (including champagne). You can find Michelle on instagram @michellebeesley_writer and her website: michellebeesley.com.
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