Selma (2014)

*** out of ****

Some years ago Spike Lee did his biopic “X” on Malcolm X, which many liked but I thought was merely okay. My biggest issue with it was that Malcolm was a truly historic figure and the movie, in attempting to show his entire life, did justice to very little of it. “Selma” is a story about Martin Luther King Jr. and it doesn't make the same mistake – it focuses on a very specific time in King's life, and as such tells the story much more effectively.

King is played by David Oyelowo, who despite being the same age as King during the events of the Selma to Montgomery March seemed to me to be much too young to play Dr. King. Perhaps it was King's stateliness, but he always seemed to me to be far older than his years and Oyelowo doesn't possess the same presence. Beyond that he does an admirable job in the role, displaying King's “calm fire” throughout, and the film itself tells the tale extremely effectively.

Oprah Winfrey plays Annie Lee Cooper, a woman who is prevented from registering to vote in Selma, Alabama. At the same time in America there were thousands of similar race-related inequalities happening, as well as incredible acts of violence in the wake of the increasing power of the civil rights movement. Dr. King and his team decide that Selma is the perfect battleground to bring the fight to greater national prominence, and after a meeting with President Johnson (where Johnson attempts to dissuade him from inciting unrest) he heads to Selma to lead the protest.

Selma was the perfect battleground for several reasons. It was in the deep south, was governed by notorious segregationist George Wallace and it still had a deeply racist population determined to keep people of colour “in their place”. The film displays King's intention to basically allow his followers (as well as himself, if it came to that) to be beaten and brutalized during the protests on national TV to increase awareness of the fight. He knew that their peaceful protests would be met with heavy-handed retaliation from the white authorities, and being weary of trying to fight the battle only through diplomatic channels, this was the place and time for action.

In retrospect this sometimes seems (and is displayed as such in the film) excessive – sending people out to be beaten or killed. However, virtually everyone involved understood what was at stake and willing to risk their own lives for the greater good. I loved the way the movie simply accepted this fact and played it as such instead of make martyrs of the Selma protestors, which would have been easy but disingenuous. The marches themselves are also well portrayed – the senseless violence and brutality of the authorities against the protestors leaves you with an appropriate sick feeling. I think it would be vital for young people to see this film in order to understand the importance of their humanity and the evil of racism, because even as foul as the violence is shown on screen it is nothing really compared to what the real protesters suffered. I believe the film-makers didn't want to go too far in showing it, and while their approach was right for the film, the knowledge that it was even worse nearly brought me to tears at points while watching it.

The ongoing backroom politics being played on a state-wide and national scale are also very interesting. President Johnson was always known as a champion of the civil rights movement, but I personally always viewed that as a continuation of Kennedy's policies rather than something he felt strongly about personally. Whether that is true or not I am not sure, but that is certainly how the movie plays it out. Tim Roth is outstanding as George Wallace, though I think they went a hair overboard with his character – I don't think of Wallace as an evil man, just as a badly uninformed one that started down a road he eventually wanted to abandon but carried too much momentum to stop it. But for the purposes of the movie, he needed to be shown simply as a terrible racist, which is effectively done.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most important figures of the 20^th century, whether you are discussing American history or world history. Selma is an effective tribute to his importance, and how he was not only a statesman but a grass-roots leader that knew the right thing to do wasn't always the easy thing to do.  He was a true leader of men.  I'm glad that they were able to do him justice with this film, which a full biopic would have been unlikely to do.

History teachers take note – this is an important movie about the most important movement post-WWII in the 20^th century. Watch it. Show it to your students. It is another example of why intolerance must continue to be defined, recognized and crushed out.

I will descend from the soapbox now..... good movie. Go see it.