Spike Lee’s ‘4 Little Girls’ examines church bombing in Birmingham, Ala.

Spike Lee is one of the most important American filmmakers of the last few decades. His fictional films are raw looks at modern-day society with a fine focus on the African-American community. His documentaries are equally worthy of celebration. From When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts to 4 Little Girls, a touching film about a horrific bombing at the height of the civil rights movement, Lee is a master storyteller who knows how to let his subjects open up on screen with little interruption by over-the-top directorial flourishes. He lets his stories be told.

4 Little Girls has taken on a new meaning in recent months, thanks to the 50th anniversary of many historical events in the civil rights movement. It was five decades ago when a Birmingham, Ala., church on 16th Street was bombed, killing four little girls and sending the nation into a self-realization of the violence and segregation permeating the South.

Lee’s film stitches together interviews from family, friends and neighborhood voices who knew the girls. The documentary examines the crime from all sides, and the director never shies away from the inherent emotion tied up in the tragic loss of life. Lee seems equally interested in learning about the facts behind the case and giving testimony to the grieving sobs of those who remember this unfortunate day for deeply personal reasons.

The bombing of the 16th Street Church, together with the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others during 1963, helped turn the tide on the civil rights movement. The tragedy did not go unnoticed by the American populace, although, in some ways, their newfound attention was too little too late. Change eventually did come, but these four little girls lost their lives because of the hatred engulfing Alabama at the time.

Hearing these stories and learning how the police reacted to the movements in the South are important lessons for today’s society. The story of these four little girls, now preserved by Lee for future generations, needs to be understood, analyzed and never, never forgotten. As the country was embroiled in a fight for equality and justice, these girls headed to their church, supposedly a beacon of safety and strength, and they paid the ultimate price for their innocence.

4 Little Girls is one of the most moving civil rights films of all time, and it stands as a high mark on the wonderful resume of an important American filmmaker. It’s too bad this was a story that needed to be told in the first place.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• 4 Little Girls

• 1997

• Directed by Spike Lee

• 100 minutes

• Rating: