‘MLK/FBI’ is a documentary by Sam Pollard about the life of Martin Luther King. Its contents are taken from sources including secret documents and tape recordings. He also draws from the book, “The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From ‘Solo’ to Memphis”. There is even footage from movies like ‘Big Jim Mclain’ and ‘The FBI Story’. 

During his political life, the Federal Investigation Bureau made it their mission to track and record every single work or action that MLK said or did. This was all done with great interest from J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI. Needless to say, the FBI is not being looked at in a good light. 

The documentary’s overall goal is to reveal the amount and intensity of surveillance that one man had been under. This just goes to show how important MLK was. It is quite rich due to its drawing on various sources. This causes it to have various viewpoints that are quite different from each other. 

The surveillance into the life of an american is understood by the FBI, not as a breach of personal liberties, but as a caution against socialst activities in the U.S.  Hoover wanted to find a way to somehow diminish the influence of MLK. He went about this using tapes and recordings of MLK’s private life. 

One of the interesting things about the documentary is that it has done away with traditional video followed by expert format, and instead lets the experts voiceover the video. This gives more time for the visual aspect while at the same time, the experts also get more time to express themselves. 

Overall, the movie is very promising and an information gold mine. It explores intricacies that existed in a time of great civil unrest and how the FBI was working to combat the unrest, rather than the reasons for the unrest.