Movies: Selma

Score:  ****1/2 out of ***** (A)

Long Story Short:  At long last, Martin Luther King, Jr., is in a movie - the Oscar contender focused on the famed march leading to passage of the Voting Rights Act - Selma.  Though many were likely (and justifiably) worried about how Dr. King would appear on the big screen, David Oyelowo's outstanding performance hopefully eased those fears.  His acting and the script's nuanced treatment of the man, as well as the harrowing yet inspiring journey to victory, should make the film an instant classic.


The first film review for 2015 is an appropriate start - no throwaway entertainment, this is one of the main contenders for Best Picture at the Oscars.  And so the year overall seems destined to be an historic one for film with an absurd number of films I'm eagerly awaiting, from Star Wars to the latest James Bond episode.  And if, on the other side of the coin, there are more films like Selma as well?  Wow.  Buckle your seat belts.  As the first major motion picture (perhaps first of any kind?) to feature Martin Luther King, Jr., this film was obviously a must-see event provided that it had a wide release which it fortunately did.  Selma was directed by Ava DuVernay and stars David Oyelowo.

In late 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Oyelowo), is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; but, as he sadly tells his wife, Coretta (Ejogo), the civil rights effort he has led is far from over.  With yet more influence - from all around the world - he goes to President Johnson (Wilkinson) to demand legislation that will end all obstruction to voting.  When the President resists, a frustrated King returns to the very difficult but ultimately effective work that had made him into a source of hope for the movement:  nonviolent protest.  King understood that this not only galvanized his followers but also raised the consciousness, bit by bit, of white people through media coverage of racists' brutal retaliation against these protests.  The next stop was Selma, Alabama.

Through the early months of 1965, Dr. King, the SCLC and SNCC led an effort to organize a march from Selma to Montgomery.  In order to achieve perhaps his most important victory, passage of the Voting Rights Act, King would be forced not just to deal with highly reluctant supporters in Washington, but also with threats to his family and choices between the safety of many of his closest friends and followers and the hope for another step towards equality for his people.

The cast of Selma is quite good, and David Oyelowo's magnificent performance pays tribute to Dr. King.  I cannot imagine the pressure Oyelowo must have felt in trying to portray the civil rights legend - not to mention the fact that he is the first to do so.  But he succeeded incredibly well.  It feels like a cliche, but Oyelowo really does inhabit Dr. King as a man, not as some dream-like myth above it all.  Sure, Dr. King was not an ordinary person, and Oyelowo captures his presence, his quiet confidence and dignity that towered over any resistance to progress that he met; and he delivers several thundering speeches.  And yet Dr. King was also a worried husband and father, and even a leader who, while had faith in the philosophy of nonviolent resistance, also dealt with human doubts about it.  The film does a great job of showing how all eyes, loving and hateful, were on one man who shouldered the hopes of his people and - though it was but one battle in the struggle - that man triumphed.

The supporting cast has some fine performances as well.  Coretta (Carmen Ejogo) is neither ignored nor highlighted, and her role is both subtle but also important.  Although an impressive cast of civil rights leaders is involved, John Lewis (Stephan James) gets the most development as an SNCC leader who joins Dr. King's cause.  Many notable white actors are also involved, most of whom you will recognize if not be able to name.  Tom Wilkinson plays President Johnson (more on this later), Tim Roth plays oily, awful Governor Wallace, and Martin Sheen takes the bench as a judge.

Although I could analyze Selma much like I did The Imitation Game (both being historical dramas), I'll go a different direction.  The mission of Selma seems to be twofold:  to portray Martin Luther King, Jr., the man at perhaps the height of his power as a civil rights leader; and to show that though slavery was gone, black people were still imprisoned.  Both missions are accomplished exceedingly well.  I have already described Oyelowo's great performance, and it is given more meaning being parallel to the other mission.  Selma exposes the audience to white society's treatment of black people at an individual level, even women, from sneering denial of voter registration to horrific beatings with batons and whips.  Absent are the popular but "clean" portrayals of segregation in the form of whites-only water fountains and such - Selma shows how ingrained and intense the prejudice against black people was (still is...?) in many communities.  A particularly horrific attack at the beginning sets the stage for this, steeling the audience (but not numbing them) for what is to come.

Don't worry - the film is not all violence and hatred by a long shot.  The camaraderie, and disagreements, of the civil rights leaders are highlighted with many predictable elements but not cliche.  The film also takes time for plenty of quieter moments featuring Dr. King, with his family or just struggling with himself.  Plot-wise, the film is primarily a build up to the march itself, which required several direct attempts and even more behind-the-scenes efforts (side note: in a short but important scene, Dr. King also mentions the urgency of economic transformation, whose cause he would emphasize in just a few years).  Once the march itself does come, it is, essentially and appropriately, a victory lap, composed largely of archival footage of the historic event.

***

What a way to kick off 2015!  A few other notes on Selma.  The film reminds me quite a bit of Lincoln, and for much more than simply the historic struggles of African Americans.  They both center around legendary leaders but portray them as fallible (if extraordinary) people.  Both deal with a fairly limited historic scope, with legislative goals at that.  Of course, they are quite a bit different in many ways as well, but they are united by these structural elements as well as strong execution across the board (from writing to acting) to truly bring those pivotal events to life.  One of the main controversies about this film has been the portrayal of LBJ, and I'll address this briefly.  From a historic perspective, yes, his role in the film is misleading at best - but this is a work of art, and ultimately I feel that it's acceptable.  It could have been much "worse", and LBJ is far from the focus here, anyway.  Finally, I'll note that this film is timely in addition to being historic for its featuring of Dr. King.  I won't get into a full debate about it here, but in the last several years new threats have arisen to the right to vote in this country - and this film is an important reminder about the real dangers of that.  Anyway, in case you somehow missed it throughout this long review:  Selma is essential viewing.




"Selma (film) poster"  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Selma_poster.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Selma_poster.jpg