One could argue
that Selma would have been relevant if it was released anytime in the
past ten years, but when it opened in 2014 the feeling was truly bittersweet.
Bittersweet to know that history can actually repeat itself. Selma takes
a look at the racial profiling and brutality enforced by officers of the law
towards African Americans in the 1960s. The unjust police brutality seen on the
big screen mirrors what you may have been seeing on your Tv during the time of
its release. Although the movie does stand alone, the timing only helps towards
its message.
Director and former journalist, Ava
DuVernay navigates through Paul Webb's script like it’s a stack of old files
that needs investigating. The script is a memoir (of sorts), following Martin
Luther King Jr., as he leads the march to secure equal voting rights for
African Americans. DuVernay approaches the film with what is fact, by focusing
on moments that were documented by the U.S. government. It is an appeal to
logos clearly but pathos as well. It allows the audience to invest themselves
more into the actions of the characters when they know them to be true, it
opens a door for sympathy, hate, and rejoice. Whether or not audience members
step into this door, well that is up to them.
Although it is hard not to step into
this door when David Oyelowo is playing Martin Luther King Jr. Apparently he
had been preparing to play a role as MLK for years, and it certainly shows.
Oyelowo is able to emulate MLK’s godly like charisma and spirit but at the same
time bring him back down to level that shows him as a human being, with flaws
and inner conflicts. Although I mentioned earlier that this movie follows MLK,
the film has an extremely extensive and notable supporting cast that delivers
performances right in par with Oyelowo.
One notable performance worth mentioning out of the bunch, was Tom
Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson. Wilkinson stands toe to toe with
Oyelowo and it's an epitome of watching masters of their craft clash. The
scenes are so riveting to watch one may wonder if they could make a movie just
about MLK and LBJ's’ meetings together. LBJ is shown in the film as man in opposition
to MLK but who is not trying to be, and Wilkinson is able to portray this inner
struggle with expertise.
The true expertise of
film comes from the directing of Duvernay though. She navigates through larger
than life moments with small, simple, and intimate shots. Yes, she does use a
few establishing shots but it is a historical piece and that is to be expected.
She chooses these moments wisely though, like when she films the the first
march to Montgomery she uses a distant aerial shot in order to establish the
sheer magnitude of the moment. But when she films the police using violence to
disrupt the march, all the shots are taken on the bridge, they focus on
individual moments of police brutality instead of the larger picture happening.
This is what makes this movie resonate as much as it does with audiences today,
the film is intimate to it’s the viewers. This intimacy is what allows the film
to bring up questions of how far our society has actually come.
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