SELMA
DIRECTOR: Ava Duvernay
CAST: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson, Giovanni Ribisi
CLASSIFICATION: 13 LPV
RUNNING TIME: 122 minutes
RATING: 4 stars (out of 5)
THERESA SMITH
Stirring, confident and inspiring, Selma is a powerful retelling of the build-up to a 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.
It is also a welcome character sketch of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. He is presented not only as the canny politician and hypnotic orator, but also as an imperfect man. His relationship with wife Coretta (Ejogo) and the difficulty they had in maintaining a regular family life when everyone wanted a piece of him, makes of him someone to empathise with.
We see King the firebrand who was tired of compromise and wanted change, and also the idealist who really believed we could be better people. British actor David Oyelowo nails the accent and is compelling.
A lot of the emotion stirring comes courtesy of the speeches, but these are presented as part of the story and you are swept up by the power of his conviction.
While the film concentrates on the Civil Rights Movement leader and the historical event that gives the movie its name, it successfully humanises the people of Selma.
Their fight to be able to vote is presented as a fight to assert their humanity and it is in the little scenes that we see their soul destructive quotidian struggles.
This being 60s Alabama, anyone familiar with US history knows it is only a matter of time before things turn violent. When it does, director Ava Duvernay slows the action down and this slow mo effect does much to heighten your shock and revulsion.
The divide between black and white is stark and cannot be ignored. This is not a “let us build a bonfire and sing kumbaya” kind of drama; any hinted-at fire here is for lynching that troublesome black man, or the sympathiser to his cause.
More than 50 years after the fact, people who deride the director (who rewrote the script to emphasise the black experience, rather than the ‘white man who saved them’ version first presented to her) for presenting her view, seem to forget that she is doing exactly what every preceding director of a Civil Rights movie has done.
She presents us with her vision of a moment in history, the only difference here is these black people are proud of who they are and assert it. So how is that a bad thing?
The film never shies away from controversy and serves to highlight how far the US still has to go in terms of reconciling race relations in their country.
It also feature strong ensemble acting, spot-on editing that heightens tension in all the right moments and a killer soundtrack.
For the most part the songs chosen are from the correct time period, with the exception of the Fink track (Yesterday was Hard on All of Us) and the new John Legend song playing over the end credits.
If you liked 12 Years a Slave or Amistad, you will like this.