Selma (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
'Selma' (directed by Ava DuVernay) takes a powerful & thoughtful look back on a tumultuous time for America in the Deep South; particularly during the weeks leading up to Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for African-American voting rights. Rather than try to paint an all-encompassing portrait of the man or of the Civil Rights movement, DuVernay instead makes the case that this particular march (there winds up being 3 attempts of it) was one of many smaller battles in a long political struggle that took place on hushed phone calls, in church halls, in the Oval Office, living rooms, and the like.
MLK Jr. 1st appears in mid-speech as director DuVernay pulls her camera back to show him (a superb David Oyelowo) speaking into a mirror, rehearsing an acceptance speech for his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize with the help of his wife Coretta Scott King (a regal Carmen Ejogo). It's a quiet, down-to-earth scene played by Oyelowo & Ejogo with warm ease. One would think that the Nobel Peace Prize (an award which was a culmination of MLK Jr.'s amazing life work up ‘til that point) would impress everyone -- not the South. While trying to check in to a white hotel in Selma, MLK Jr. is punched by a random white man enraged by the mere presence of an outside (and black) agitator.
'Selma' celebrates MLK Jr. & other 'like' leaders in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) who were passive agitators, including their role in the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination in schools & employment. Afterwards, President Lyndon Johnson (a stalwart Tom Wilkinson) meets with King several times, trying to slowww the rolling energy of the movement. He tells our protagonist, "This voting rights thing is just going to have to wait". And this movie shows the problem that 'waiting' presents in a scene where respectable healthcare worker Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey, who also helped producing this film), trying to register to vote, is humiliated & denied her right by a sneering white county clerk in Selma.
Pres. Johnson, like many white leaders of the time, sees MLK Jr. as a nuisance/bother but, because of his vehement dedication to non-violence, a useful ally to have for subduing black violence, as well as warding off "militant Malcolm X types". And yet, even when Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch) shows up in a brief appearance, he's willing to play the 'passive' route that could help push white opinion towards King. In a further surprise, MLK Jr. and his SCLC decide that a publicized clash in Selma is still needed to force the issue.
What I admire so much about this movie is that King is not portrayed as this saint and we see him making no apologies for stirring up trouble. His black detractors (including a young John Lewis, played by impressive Stephan James), initially resent the SCLC for showing up in Selma where they've been diligently, but unsuccessfully working on black voter issues for years. So yeah, the movie shows him as the man WE know him to be, but DuVernay also shows him multi-dimensionally as persistent (if passive) troublemaker, as well as a loving, but flawed family man. We see moments of the latter when Coretta King must deal with FBI-supplied evidence of her husband's infidelities.
For MLK Jr., the big march from Selma is purely tactical, particularly after Oprah Winfrey's character becomes a movement heroine when she slugs the loathsome, racist sheriff Jim Clark (Stan Houston). King knows that blood will be spilled and, we see in several small scenes that this tears him up inside (particularly when he speaks to an 82 yr. old black man who promised his now-slain grandson that he would be able to vote before he died). But then again, King also knows that a less-racist sheriff couldn't be counted on to overreact in a violent way that would make dramatic news. So in some twisted way, while King doesn't ACT with violence, and while he doesn't want death (which hangs over him, his family, & his followers like a dense fog -- as noted by his wife, Coretta), he kinda realizes that the horrific reactionary violence that's occurring to his people is sadly needed for long-term change.
The 3 attempts by MLK Jr. and/or his followers to cross the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge en route from Selma to Montgomery are executed with great tension by director Ava DuVernay. In the 1st attempt, we see the blacks being greeted by ranks of white, gas-masked troopers bearing clubs & whips. What unfolds is a full-out assault on those blacks that some 70 million people bared witness to on their black-&-white television sets. In the 2nd attempt (with MLK Jr. front & center), we see their leader kneel down to pray and then retreat in the face of a potential trap. And in the 3rd attempt (finally blessed by Lyndon Johnson and condemned by vile Alabama governor George Wallace, played by Tim Roth), we finally see MLK Jr., his wife, his entourage, the Selma supporters (including an effective Lorraine Touissant), as well as hundreds of white supporters and clergy from all religious denominations, cross the bridge towards progress and a stirring speech at the steps of Montgomery's Capitol.
Of course, this all looks & sounds great. Powerful. Moving. Inspiring. And yet, fast forward 50 yrs. to today, and we see an eerie relevance & timelessness to those 1965 events; what with the recent atrocities in Ferguson & NYC. MLK Jr.'s fervent efforts have not been in vain, but 2014 shows us that we still have a long way to go if we are EVER to have peace & understanding among the races. 'Selma' is an excellent motion picture. There are a few stodgy, stolid patches throughout. But on the whole, I was both riveted & transported (thanks to DuVernay's astute evocation of the time & place, Bradford Young's gorgeous camerawork, Ruth Carter's period costumes).
And the performances, led by David Oyelowo's towering portrayal of MLK Jr., are fantastic. Though 'Selma' is more about what King DID, rather than a movie ABOUT the man himself, Oyelowo - a British actor - stands tall as our hero; nailing the BIG speeches (that were slightly re-written by director DuVernay, herself), as well as many smaller moments of quiet reflection. Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, & Tim Roth are other British thespians who nail their American roles, here. Overall, while 'Selma' may not technically be one of the very best films of the year (some controversy over the veracity of political events, those stodgy sections) ... it's a strong movie that makes quite an emotional impact. Very few movies brought me to tears in their closing moments, but this film had the power to do that.
MLK Jr. 1st appears in mid-speech as director DuVernay pulls her camera back to show him (a superb David Oyelowo) speaking into a mirror, rehearsing an acceptance speech for his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize with the help of his wife Coretta Scott King (a regal Carmen Ejogo). It's a quiet, down-to-earth scene played by Oyelowo & Ejogo with warm ease. One would think that the Nobel Peace Prize (an award which was a culmination of MLK Jr.'s amazing life work up ‘til that point) would impress everyone -- not the South. While trying to check in to a white hotel in Selma, MLK Jr. is punched by a random white man enraged by the mere presence of an outside (and black) agitator.
'Selma' celebrates MLK Jr. & other 'like' leaders in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) who were passive agitators, including their role in the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination in schools & employment. Afterwards, President Lyndon Johnson (a stalwart Tom Wilkinson) meets with King several times, trying to slowww the rolling energy of the movement. He tells our protagonist, "This voting rights thing is just going to have to wait". And this movie shows the problem that 'waiting' presents in a scene where respectable healthcare worker Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey, who also helped producing this film), trying to register to vote, is humiliated & denied her right by a sneering white county clerk in Selma.
Pres. Johnson, like many white leaders of the time, sees MLK Jr. as a nuisance/bother but, because of his vehement dedication to non-violence, a useful ally to have for subduing black violence, as well as warding off "militant Malcolm X types". And yet, even when Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch) shows up in a brief appearance, he's willing to play the 'passive' route that could help push white opinion towards King. In a further surprise, MLK Jr. and his SCLC decide that a publicized clash in Selma is still needed to force the issue.
What I admire so much about this movie is that King is not portrayed as this saint and we see him making no apologies for stirring up trouble. His black detractors (including a young John Lewis, played by impressive Stephan James), initially resent the SCLC for showing up in Selma where they've been diligently, but unsuccessfully working on black voter issues for years. So yeah, the movie shows him as the man WE know him to be, but DuVernay also shows him multi-dimensionally as persistent (if passive) troublemaker, as well as a loving, but flawed family man. We see moments of the latter when Coretta King must deal with FBI-supplied evidence of her husband's infidelities.
For MLK Jr., the big march from Selma is purely tactical, particularly after Oprah Winfrey's character becomes a movement heroine when she slugs the loathsome, racist sheriff Jim Clark (Stan Houston). King knows that blood will be spilled and, we see in several small scenes that this tears him up inside (particularly when he speaks to an 82 yr. old black man who promised his now-slain grandson that he would be able to vote before he died). But then again, King also knows that a less-racist sheriff couldn't be counted on to overreact in a violent way that would make dramatic news. So in some twisted way, while King doesn't ACT with violence, and while he doesn't want death (which hangs over him, his family, & his followers like a dense fog -- as noted by his wife, Coretta), he kinda realizes that the horrific reactionary violence that's occurring to his people is sadly needed for long-term change.
The 3 attempts by MLK Jr. and/or his followers to cross the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge en route from Selma to Montgomery are executed with great tension by director Ava DuVernay. In the 1st attempt, we see the blacks being greeted by ranks of white, gas-masked troopers bearing clubs & whips. What unfolds is a full-out assault on those blacks that some 70 million people bared witness to on their black-&-white television sets. In the 2nd attempt (with MLK Jr. front & center), we see their leader kneel down to pray and then retreat in the face of a potential trap. And in the 3rd attempt (finally blessed by Lyndon Johnson and condemned by vile Alabama governor George Wallace, played by Tim Roth), we finally see MLK Jr., his wife, his entourage, the Selma supporters (including an effective Lorraine Touissant), as well as hundreds of white supporters and clergy from all religious denominations, cross the bridge towards progress and a stirring speech at the steps of Montgomery's Capitol.
Of course, this all looks & sounds great. Powerful. Moving. Inspiring. And yet, fast forward 50 yrs. to today, and we see an eerie relevance & timelessness to those 1965 events; what with the recent atrocities in Ferguson & NYC. MLK Jr.'s fervent efforts have not been in vain, but 2014 shows us that we still have a long way to go if we are EVER to have peace & understanding among the races. 'Selma' is an excellent motion picture. There are a few stodgy, stolid patches throughout. But on the whole, I was both riveted & transported (thanks to DuVernay's astute evocation of the time & place, Bradford Young's gorgeous camerawork, Ruth Carter's period costumes).
And the performances, led by David Oyelowo's towering portrayal of MLK Jr., are fantastic. Though 'Selma' is more about what King DID, rather than a movie ABOUT the man himself, Oyelowo - a British actor - stands tall as our hero; nailing the BIG speeches (that were slightly re-written by director DuVernay, herself), as well as many smaller moments of quiet reflection. Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, & Tim Roth are other British thespians who nail their American roles, here. Overall, while 'Selma' may not technically be one of the very best films of the year (some controversy over the veracity of political events, those stodgy sections) ... it's a strong movie that makes quite an emotional impact. Very few movies brought me to tears in their closing moments, but this film had the power to do that.