SELMA | Film Review (NO SPOILERS)

(Source: here)

Title: Selma
Director: Ava DuVerney
Starring: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Carmen Ejogo.
Originally Released: 2015 (UK)
Running Time: 127 mins / 2 hrs 7 mins

Premise. A documentation of the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, focusing heavily on King and those around him and the civil rights movement.

Thoughts going into the film: I had high hopes for this film. I study history at university, and within that I have a huge passion for the civil rights movement, I'm even doing my dissertation on one of the activists within the movement. I've seen the trailer, thought it looked well-made and would be a decent interpretation for a movement that has been fairly ignored by popular cinema. I was also very conscious at how the film appears to have been snubbed in virtually every other category other than Picture and Song.

Thoughts immediately after: A well-made film, that was a little slow in places, but still feels incredibly important.

The Film: The films starts and ends with our protagonist and civil rights hero, Martin Luther King Jr. His prolific life is one that is rooted within everyone's minds and this film further cements his role as this unambiguous leader. It adds to this idea that Martin Luther King was the centre of the movement, who without it could not achieve its final goal. Unlike many depictions of the movement, it doesn't solely depict King as this 'hero' but does enforce this 'tortured hero' mantra we see time and time again.

What I enjoyed was the chance to see the people surrounding Martin, even the women and the overlooked Bayard Rustin get small starring roles, though their work is still hugely marginalised. It sort of becomes acceptable because of the film's narrative wanting to solely focus on King, but King was not the only person of this movement, and it is important one remembers this.

The film's success lies within its grand crowd scenes depicting the sheer scale of the movement. These are some of the most impacting and horrifying scenes in the film and are documented with such taste and terror that it is chilling to watch knowing its reality.

In terms of style, the film oozes it from its finely dressed King and the men around him to the cinematography and editing. The march scenes were some of the most impacting scenes in the whole film (which they bloody well should be), but the way it was filmed conveyed just a fragment of the brutal reality that faced those people marching, and I think the film has a certain right to show more.

Oyelowo as King and the real Martin Luther King. 

(Source: slate.com - see here an interesting article on Selma and its historical accuracy).

The Cast: Why isn't Oyelowo nominated for Best Actor? He was a stand-out star. There were odd times when the camera would be at an awkward angle and you'd be forgiven for believing he was King, himself. His performance was not a parody, which it can sometimes come across as in biopics, but instead Oyelowo gave a fiercely authoritative performance. He commanded attention in his speeches and portrayed the spirit, tenacity and eloquence of King perfectly. Other performances were powerful and dignified, Carmen Ejogo was a defined Coretta Scott King, whilst Henry G. Sanders gave an emotional performance as Cager Lee.

Final Thoughts: The film was essentially a history lesson for the masses, yet I feel some background information was too presumed for an international audience. Whilst I understood all the references and events, people from countries other than the US could be forgiven for not understanding parts. The handling of the FBI was carried out fantastically. The film was not about the FBI, it was about Selma, but the FBI was a huge imposing force on the movement, and the audience were constantly and subtly reminded of that. The film didn't always set out its direction of events as well as it could have done. We knew the end goal, but how to get there seemed slightly lost, but maybe it did at the time? Elongated conversations were frequent, constantly trying to add to the humanity of King but steering us slightly away from Selma.

Overall, this is an important film. Finely made and edited with a great score, Selma serves to show us a piece of history that is so relevant to the time it was set, as it is now in the U.S. and across the world. Equal rights is still an issue and racism still lives on, we need more films like Selma that visualise the strength and bravery of those in the movement, and highlight the importance of the phrase "we shall overcome."

Rating below:


★★★★☆