2014 was the year of attempting biopics of larger than life people. Frankie Valli’s was terrible. Stephen Hawking’s and James Brown’s were ok. Alan Turing’s was good. Now, we have a spectacular one to end 2014. Selma is about Martin Luther King’s entrance into the Selma civil rights protests, and thanks to a fascinating screenplay and strong lead performance from David Oyelowo, the movie seamlessly praises and grounds the great work of an even greater man.
Selma starts after a brutal attack on a church in the Alabama city. Dr. King (Oyelowo) and his friends see Selma as the next stage for their public fight and head on down with the blessing of King’s wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo). In Selma, we see King’s interactions with the citizens, other protest groups, Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch), and obviously, the police/governor George Wallace (Tim Roth). In addition, King uses Selma to push President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to remove all the voting restrictions on African-Americans.
In American kids’ history textbooks, the Civil Rights movement is only studied at a high level, making the movement seem smooth and extremely well organized. Selma digs under the surface to show how complicated the movement was to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King’s popularity rubbed the local protestors in Selma the wrong way, causing divides between the founders James Forman (Trai Byers) and John Lewis (Stephan James) about whether to embrace or reject Dr. King. As violent as the police seemed on TV, they were more calculatingly violent when they knew King was not around (e.g. less cameras), openly killing protesters to send a message. The politics is shortchanged, but Johnson basically won’t act unless King forces him to, and even when King forces his hand, both conspire to make deals to get the act passed. Selma is great in showing strong use of tactics on all sides, humanizing some of the demonic police and elevating the preacher Dr. King to a new, more brilliant level of heroism.
Every major character in Selma gets some sort of arc that brings them to life instead of just being a name in a book. Carmen Ejogo’s Mrs. King successfully walks the tricky line of being supportive but worried, as her role can fall so easily into nag; I would probably be worried with all the death threats they get sent. The Lewis/Forman debate is complex and nicely nuanced, letting actions based on beliefs settle the arguments. King’s inner circle debate on who leads the more scary marches, and the fallout from mistakes made by King or other members of the team. The political debates between President Johnson and Governor Wallace don’t just paint Wallace as a racist; instead, the governor gives reasonable sounding excuses we hear even today, like the slippery slope argument (if we give them voting, they will want handouts and not work). Even the poor massacred whites that supported the civil rights movement get a scene or two to show why their participation mattered. With the complicated tactics at play, Selma’s use of interesting characters is necessary to paint a comprehensive picture of the events unfolding in Salem.
David Oyelowo is riveting as reverend and strategists Martin Luther King Jr. Oyelowo has lots of film to study how the reverend speaks in front of people, but Oyelowo bleeds King’s religion into his politics without coming off like an idealist or too frustrated. Oleyowo’s performance is nuanced, noble, with the right tinge of fear (especially with Coretta) to make Dr. King come off as a legendary man, not just a legend. Carmen Ejogo and Stephan James are great in supportive roles, giving what should be minor characters lots of depth and worth to the movement. Of King’s inner circle, Andre Holland and Wendell Pierce channel anger like Dr. King into a controlled, unstoppable rage and handle the fear of police force requisitely well. Also, many friendly African-American faces make appearances, including Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Giovanni Ribisi, Common, Tim Roth, and Oprah Winfrey.
Selma is Ava DuVernay’s first film, and I cannot imagine a more amazing start to a film director’s career. Her Selma is an engrossing tale about one of the 20th century’s greatest leaders that helps showcase how today’s protests are not that dissimilar from what the world was going through not 50 years ago. Selma proves that you can stand up for what you believe in and get things done if you have a clear head and plan on your shoulders. Amen to that.