'Selma' shows Martin Luther King, Jr. was flawed, yet focused
A blot on Hollywood is that, until now, with 鈥淪elma,鈥� no feature-length dramatic film has ever been made about Martin Luther King, Jr.聽Was he not incendiary enough? Was his audience not demographically聽acceptable? For whatever reason, 鈥淪elma鈥� is, historically, an event. I only聽wish the film, which charts the 1965 march through Alabama that led to聽the passage of the Voting Rights Act, was as wonderful as it is worthy.
Director Ava DuVernay and screenwriter Paul Webb have chosen a聽middle course between the standard historical waxworks biopic and an聽intimate depiction of the public politician as private man. The film makes聽it clear that King was not the sole guiding force in the march, that he聽had doubts about its effectiveness, that he had affairs that threatened his聽marriage 鈥� in short, that he was human and not a marble statue.
The best thing about the movie is David Oyelowo鈥檚 performance as聽King. He doesn鈥檛 simply portray King; he inhabits him. We can see聽how King, in his public appearances, or in his pressurized White House聽meetings with LBJ (Tom Wilkinson) to push voting rights legislation,聽deliberately maintains the statesmanlike aura. But because we also see the doubts and disputes聽that are the backstory to this stance, his dignity in the national arena聽does not seem like mere posturing. It鈥檚 extremely difficult to portray a聽legendary historical figure in a way that does justice to both that figure鈥檚聽momentousness and his humanity, but Oyelowo has found a way to do it.
Too much else about 鈥淪elma,鈥� however, is in the stiff historical biopic tradition. DuVernay, whose previous directorial efforts were small-scale domestic dramas, is one of the very few black women making聽Hollywood movies. Except for a well-staged scene depicting the attack聽on the marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the best scenes in 鈥淪elma鈥澛燼re the small-scale ones: Oprah Winfrey (also one of the film鈥檚 producers)聽as an bedraggled activist denied the opportunity to vote; a scene where聽King鈥檚 wife, Coretta (Carmen Ejogo), confronts him about his philandering; a cameo聽involving the father (portrayed by that marvelous actor Henry G. Sanders)聽of a murdered man in Selma. But whenever the movie, which is all too聽often, veers into backroom political machination mode, especially in the聽scenes involving LBJ or with George Wallace (Tim Roth), the movie鈥檚聽molten core cools and it loses its intimacy.
The filmmakers behind聽鈥淪elma鈥� wanted to break out of the talking-heads-history-lesson syndrome, but they only succeed halfway.聽That鈥檚 still halfway more than anyone else ever attempted. Grade:聽B (Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material including violence, a suggestive moment, and brief strong language.)
