Selma
Directed by: Ava DuVernay
Written by: Paul Webb
Starring: Daniel Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey, Tessa Thompson, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Sheen, Dylan Baker, Common, Keith Stanfield, Wendell Pierce, André Holland, Stephan James, Omar J. Dorsey
Drama/History - 127 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 24 Dec 2014
Written by: Paul Webb
Starring: Daniel Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey, Tessa Thompson, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Sheen, Dylan Baker, Common, Keith Stanfield, Wendell Pierce, André Holland, Stephan James, Omar J. Dorsey
Drama/History - 127 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 24 Dec 2014
Why no definitive biopic of Martin Luther King, Jr. until now? Would you raise your hand for such a responsibility? Millions still remember the man who continues to morph into legend. While Ava DuVernay’s Selma charts the events leading up to and the occasion of the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, it also takes us up close and personal to the Reverend, warts and all. In between his soaring philosophical rhetoric, Dr. King had a relationship to maintain with his spouse just like the rest of us. Balancing King’s role between his home life and his Nobel Peace Prize-winning life in the public sphere, DuVernay adeptly takes us from King’s living room to the White House and back again. Along the way, she exhibits gorgeous cinematography and some of the most effective framing of the year. In the end, Selma reminds the audience how far we’ve come and how arduous at times it was to get here.
Nowadays, Dr. King (Daniel Oyelowo, 2012’s Lincoln) is a statue down on the National Mall, a recording of the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, and an icon considered untouchable. Filmmakers most likely shied away from telling stories about his life because what if they get it wrong? What if the public decides they did not do the man justice or are associated with the feeling they are the director who had a chance to finally bring Dr. King’s story to the big screen, but failed to deliver? Ava DuVernay can relax. She crafted an honest film. King at once is idolized during his speeches and sermons and empathized with during his lesser moments as a mere mortal. He is confident when confronting President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson, 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel), weary and unsure when confined in a jail cell, and contrite when in front of his wife, Coretta (Carmen Ejogo).
Nowadays, Dr. King (Daniel Oyelowo, 2012’s Lincoln) is a statue down on the National Mall, a recording of the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, and an icon considered untouchable. Filmmakers most likely shied away from telling stories about his life because what if they get it wrong? What if the public decides they did not do the man justice or are associated with the feeling they are the director who had a chance to finally bring Dr. King’s story to the big screen, but failed to deliver? Ava DuVernay can relax. She crafted an honest film. King at once is idolized during his speeches and sermons and empathized with during his lesser moments as a mere mortal. He is confident when confronting President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson, 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel), weary and unsure when confined in a jail cell, and contrite when in front of his wife, Coretta (Carmen Ejogo).
Technologically, King was rarely alone. The FBI, led by a vengeful J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker, 2012’s 2 Days in New York), tapped King’s home phone, bugged his hotel rooms, and kept detailed surveillance logs of his every meeting and move. DuVernay splashes these entry logs in typewritten form onto the screen throughout the film serving a dual purpose: it shows the dogged pursuit of the feds against a man they called activist, agitator, and much worse and it lets the audience know when and where we are. Selma has an extensive number of characters shuttling on and off screen, sometimes it’s helpful for a reminder of who is who.
In a wise move by writer Paul Webb, some of the most memorable characters are not names you can pull from a history book. They are the civilians and Selma residents who asked for nothing more than the same dignity as everyone else. Selma opens with a powerful scene between an older black woman played by a near unrecognizable Oprah Winfrey attempting to register to vote and an obnoxious county registrar who frowns when she is able to recite the Preamble to the Constitution and denies her form when she is unable to name all 67 Alabama county judges. Consider the courage of this woman. We learn later all names and addresses of black people who tried to register to vote were published in the local paper.
Who was the man behind the oppression? Who kept his thumb on the scale? Most point fingers at Alabama Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth, 2012’s Arbitrage). Almost always filmed in front of the Confederate Battle Flag and shot from below to make him look 10 feet tall and that much more menacing, Wallace liked to claim how powerless he was to control local officials when harangued by the President, but would rail with seething ferociousness at the audacity of the civil rights marchers. Most of the key players at some point muse about where they will end up in the history books and whether or not they want to appear on the same page with this man or that man. Governor Wallace says he doesn’t care what the future thinks about him so long as Alabama may continue to do things as they always have done.
Back to the framing. Director of Photography Bradford Young (2013’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) executes a considerable amount of stirring shots. The camera is at the foot of a staircase watching Dr. King and President Johnson argue about legislation, timing, and motivations. These are two immensely powerful men charting the course of history and are made to look like gargantuan figures. At the same time, behind them, is a portrait of George Washington looking down on them from on high. If you’re just listening to the argument and ignoring the visuals, you will miss a brilliant set up and how much the film is telling you without words. To add suspense to one of the first times the marchers attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the camera stares at one of the bridge’s cross-spans and then peeks over the span to finally show us how many marchers lined up preparing for the beatings they were about to receive. This simple act of waiting and then slowly gliding over the span and down into the crowd provides so much more gravity and solemnity to the occasion than another stationary panoramic shot would.
Matching the camera’s sly yet perceptive showmanship is David Oyelowo’s performance as Dr. King. His sermons in front of church crowds and declarations on courthouse steps mere feet away from rifle and baton-toting policemen aching to bash his head in are phenomenal. His words sway not just the listeners but affect the contemporary audience absorbing them so many decades later. We know now where everyone ended up in the history books and who was on the right side of history and who did everything in their power to stand in its way. Bravo to Selma the film and director Ava DuVernay who finally stepped up to the plate to bring us such a pivotal moment in our history.
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