Review: Selma (2014) - A Stunning Biopic For The Ages

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2015)

"White, Black and otherwise..come to Selma."
Selma has taken America by storm. Ava DuVernay directs a film that proves both pivotal and timely to our nation. In typicality, I try to stay away from other opinions on a film before viewing it or composing my own opinions. I hate to borrow from people, and verbiage is no exception. However, with Selma, I found my usual mode of cinematic sequestering difficult in this instance, as the film is consistently lauded as the best film of the year across the internet and all of social media. For the week or so prior to me composing this review, it held a "100% Certified Fresh" accolade on Rotten Tomatoes. My hopes for this film were quite high, indeed, and I am pleased to share that I was not, in the least bit, let down.
We open on Martin Luther King Jr., played by British actor David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Interstellar), speaking with his wife Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) prior to his December 10, 1964 reception of the Nobel Prize at the University of Oslo in Norway. We follow him to Norway as he receives his award. As his acceptance speech is given (more on this film's depiction of Martin Luther King Jr.'s public speeches later) we view a portrayal of the gut-wrenching events of September 15th, 1963, in which four small children were killed when a bomb was detonated in Birmingham, Alabama's 16th St. Baptist Church. A sobering opening to a beautiful and important film.
In years past, the King family has been said to make depictions of Martin Luther King Jr. virtually a nightmare to pursue. King's speeches are copyrighted works and property of the King Estate, who have not been openly supportive of Ava DuVernay's production. Reason being that they already licensed the spoken works of MLK to Dreamworks and Warner Bros. in 2009 for a yet-produced, yet-to-be-titled biopic (Source: The Hollywood Reporter), and the studios were unable to make a deal providing a shared use of Dr. Martin Luther King's words. Stingy much? But I digress, the lack of cooperation or support from any of the aforementioned has obviously not stopped this train. The words in the speeches and sermons we see in Selma are made specifically for the film. This is a positive! They took what they had to work with and created sharp dialog; both poignant and uplifting moments in Dr. King's speeches. The sermons are exquisitely crafted to run parallel to King's actual speeches, whilst avoiding infringement upon the copyrighted works, themselves.
David Oyelowo delivers every line with a vigor and passion that should launch him into, at the very least, a category nomination for Best Actor, come the Oscars (if not the win). The supporting cast, while often outshone by Oyelowo, is great here too. To name only a few: Tom Wilkinson as Lyndon B. Johnson, Giovanni Ribisi as Lee White, Oprah as Annie Lee Cooper, and Tim Roth as Governor George Wallace. The story's scope is much too large to truly spend a substantial amount of time with all of the supporting cast. Fortunately, there's so much authentic talent in the film, that there is never a lull on the screen.
This film comes at a time when our nation is struggling with understanding and peace, and for that matter, understanding peace itself. Selma endeavors to show us our error as a nation during the Civil Rights Movement, lest we not repeat it. Some sequences are an exposition of 1960's American Brutality, and thankfully, DuVernay pulls no punches here. The violence is visceral and true to the nature of the era. It is revolting, as it should be. Personally, I was sickened by the depictions, all of which occur within the confines of the PG-13 rating. Well done. Ava DuVernay has, with the help of her astounding cast, created a powerful and incredible biopic with Selma. It succeeds in it's goals, and in the end, it calls for unification and peace. Much like Dr. King would have wanted.