Selma (2014), PG-13, ★★★★

MLK and his wife.

Recount the history of how on Bloody Sunday that many protesters were beaten and struck down by many police officers. It is horrible to witness that tale of history. Reading about the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers and his fellow activists went through is one aspect and impacts me more intelligently and provoked me a lot more thought, but watching the event as it unfolds is truly one of the most intense scenes of any other film I have seen in a long time. This film is not afraid to show us how MLK defined and changed history and the psychological and physical violence that impacted the African-Americans in their civil rights. It is a great film.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) is giving a speech in Oslo in 1964 accepting the Nobel Peace Prize and is grateful to accept after his "I have a dream" speech in Washington. But, he is still upset on the lack of civil rights that is given to the African-American community. In another way to deal with this problem, he goes to Selma, Alabama where it is his next chance for African-Americans to vote freely.

King's leadership is a testament to all African-Americans in the beginning because he is a non-violent protestor and he is not a saint shown in the film. He is a man that is guttered with so much liberal voice but he was not always a smart figure nor he was a perfect husband to his wife, Coretta (Carmen Ejogo). However, he had faith on what he was doing to show that the system needs to be change. He tries to persuade Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), the president of the United States at the time, to help them and their voting rights. Johnson's response that it is one problem, but he has to deal with hundreds of problems. Selma was chosen for its brutal law rights and its racist governor, George Wallace (Tim Roth) and three brutal protest marches were set on that small ground to show to the media in America and in the White House.

MLK and Johnson (Wilkinson) having a discussion regarding the future of the country.

This is not a feel-good movie of the year and it is insulting to call this film that. First and foremost, it is not an entertaining movie because I define entertainment as a source to be awed and have a fun time. I was awed at some scenes but I was not having fun with the mature subject matter regarding this period of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Selma to Montgomery marches. It is an important movie to watch as a reflection of how cruel and hostile the nation was back then and we have to grieve at their only source and moment at the television and gasp in horror. It seemed that the general public did not care enough what they want until the media shows the horror to the nation. I was shocked and impressed by the three intense marches that seemed realistic on the screen that it almost felt like I was watching news footage.

David Oyelowo deserves an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. He does not imitate or do a mimicry of the historical figure. No, he produces quiet, some humor, but most of all, poise as he wants to restore faith to himself and to his community even bringing along some of the white community towards the end. It is fulfilling. He does not want to be a burden. I did mention Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper, who is trying repeatedly to register to vote and it infuriates her how the guy at the desk mistreats her and unfairly gives her real difficult questions. Tom Wilkinson, hopefully also needs to be nominated for Supporting Actor, I think, as a man who tries real hard to make the right decision to change the country. Tim Roth is evil and vital and Carmen Ejogo portrays the wife real well.

There are two sides of the coin in this film that I focused on. One is that the film shows us the importance of power amongst the men in the government where King and Johnson negotiate with each other, Gov. Wallace and Johnson discuss it and so on and so forth. They try hard but not hard enough to respect the laws and change it up a little bit, but not enough. The second is that it humanly evokes the perseverance of the Selma activists on the ground and the sacrifice they take to change its laws. It is rare to see that many people get hurt in a film and care for them because of a great matter. Many films try that common denominator and the director tries so hard to showcase the event because of its scope and size that sometimes we lose our thought as they why they are risking their lives.

Director Ava DuVernay centers the film with detail and spectacle and it is incredibly hard to balance it and she does it just right. Remember I said that the march sequences are like photos or video from news footage. That is praise, not criticism. She researched the events real well and knows from every shot of the movie what she is doing. It has great performances, big and small, across the map, the historical drama does not seem phony and the portrayal of that event is honest. When it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray or if you have a very liberal history teacher, high schoolers and maybe mature middle schoolers will need to see the movie. I have seen Spike Lee's Malcolm X and features a great performance by Denzel Washington but Lee's style sometimes gets in the way and is distracting, but it is a good movie. This movie depicts the events and historical figures very well.

****