Selma
Director: Ava DuVernay
Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth
128 mins; Class 12;
KRS Releasing Ltd
Fuelled by a committed, intense and emotional performance by David Oyelowo as Dr Martin Luther King Jr., Selma takes a look at the struggles faced by the civil rights hero.
In the spring of 1965, he attempted to lead a group of courageous protesters and activists on a march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama to demand the basic human right to vote.
It was a march that was jump-started three times; each time the participants had to face verbal, emotional and physical abuse from those – including those in power – who would stop at nothing to halt the inevitable advance of the civil rights movement.
The film opens with scenes of Martin Luther King receiving the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, this important milestone did not signify an end to the struggle, as we witness soon after when a bomb goes off in a Baptist church, killing four young black girls.
In the meantime, Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey in a powerful cameo role) wants to register to vote but is prevented doing so.
It is this combination of little and tragic occurrences that eggs King on, as he meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to press for legislation to allow black citizens to register to vote unencumbered.
A powerful study of the struggle for racial equality
Director Ava DuVernay seems to take a leaf out of Dr King’s book in her intelligent and methodical approach to the story and is very much concerned with the motivations and ultimate aims of her protagonists.
Much like Dr King’s approach, she eschews violence for a rational, measured approach to the cause.
Not that DuVernay shies away from depicting violence – it is impossible to recreate the scenes of the struggle; and the march itself was the flashpoint of some horrific scenes of police brutality as the authorities lashed out their full force on the marchers.
The scenes that were witnessed on TV on millions of homes across America galvanised the nation, leading to many white people to join the cause.
Although the film covers just a few crucial months in Dr King’s rich and important history, so great is British actor Oyelowo’s performance is that he presents a complete and intimate portrait of the man.
Like last year’s 12 Years a Slave, Selma is a powerful study of the struggle for racial equality. Whereas the former wore its emotions on its sleeve as it depicted the horrific treatment meted out to its protagonist, Selma relies on quiet dignity to get its equally powerful message across.