A truly great movie about a terrible time

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2015)

Selma (2014) was directed by Ava DuVernay. It stars David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King. The story of the film is based on reality--50 years ago thousands of brave people attempted to walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and were terrorized by local and state police before they finally succeeded.
A disclaimer at the end of the film tells us that, although the movie is based on actual events, it isn't a documentary. Fair enough-- Shakespeare's History plays aren't based on strict facts and chronology either. What we want from this film is fact that is portrayed dramatically, and "Selma" delivers.
It's probably hard for young people to believe that segregation and race hatred were the norm in our nation just 50 years ago. (Yes, the South was worse than other parts of the country, but segregation was everywhere.) We now take it for granted that everyone has the right to vote, and that we can have an African-American President.
"Selma" shows us how this progress came about. It came about because of the incredible bravery of African-American people, and because of the astute tactics of the leaders of the civil rights movement.
Both Oyelowo and Ejogo are superb actors, and very believable in their roles. Oyelowo looks something like Dr. King, so we can say, "close enough." Ejogo looks exactly like Coretta Scott King--I found the resemblance uncanny.
This movie will repay your time by providing both history and drama. The story needs to be heard by young people, but, in my opinion, the violence is so terrible, and so realistic, that young children shouldn't be in the audience. That's too bad, because--aside from that caveat-- I think everyone should be in the audience. We need to hold on to this part of our history to remember where we were, where we are, and how we got from there to here.
The movie will probably work better on the large screen, but, if you can't see it in a theater, see it on DVD. Just be sure to see it!
Note on the IMDb rating: As I'm writing this review, "Selma" has an excellent rating of 7.7. However, the distribution of votes is strange. 68% of reviewers gave it an 8, 9, or 10. However, 424 people--almost 9%--rated the film as 1. I'm going to start a thread asking, "Why did you give this film a rating of 1?" People who gave it a rating of 1 must have had their reasons. What were those reasons? We'll see who answers, and what they say.