Ava DuVernay's Excellent Portrait of MLK, The Man

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2015)

It really is amazing that Selma is the very first theatrical biopic of one of the most important and famous figures in American history. Seems to me that Hollywood should have cranked out at least ten mediocre, Oscar-bait films by now...but I'm glad they waited. Selma is the silver screen debut that MLK deserved.
The story begins right as he receives his Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, which is thoughtfully cut with the 16th street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. From the get-go, the audience sees just how far African Americans have come and just how far they have left to go. From there, the focus turns to African American voting rights, and how although it is technically legal for them to vote, the strong prejudice against them in the south has made voting nearly impossible. MLK visits the White House to plea with LBJ, who essentially puts the issue on the back burner to concentrate on his 'War on Poverty' initiative. MLK then starts organizing black (and eventually white) protesters to march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol of Montgomery. Despite the brutal opposition of Alabama governor George Wallace and his posse of racist troopers/policeman, and despite a direct order from the president of the United States, MLK took to the streets with hundreds of marchers for the greater good. What immediately separates Selma from most other biopics is an almost complete lack of sentimentality. MLK is shown as a living, breathing man, one with marital issues, one who isn't perfect. There are no cloying tidbits to tug at the viewer's heart strings, just a sober, honest depiction of the facts. One aspect that really shocked me was how the screenwriter decided to portray President Johnson. At one point, he actually says, "Are you trying to *beep* over the president?" Again, these are the words of a flawed man, not something out of a high school text book. Johnson, despite being wrong, wasn't exactly depicted as a racist monster, just a powerful white man who was wary of change. Bold choice for Paul Webb. Regardless of how realistic and powerful the script is, Selma still has some of the typical failings of any film chronicling history. Among MLK's group of black protesters, Martin is the only character who receives any characterization whatsoever. His inside crew is merely a poorly defined group of black faces, most of whom are only mentioned by name maybe once or twice. Also, some of the drama with Martin's wife, Coretta Scott King, could have been made more compelling. There were just one too many quiet scenes of domestic discomfort.
Ava DuVernay, whose only other films are a couple of low-key dramas, explodes into the big-leagues with a beautifully shot-and-edited period piece. Characterized by dark interiors, fresh angles, loads of brilliant tracking shots, and absorbing slow-motion, Selma is an uncharacteristically artistic biopic, one that isn't afraid of being creative with such sacred material. The score and soundtrack are pretty underwhelming for the most part, except for a few powerful musical choices during the more violent sequences.
David Oyelowo is unbelievable as Martin Luther King. He looks just like him, he speaks just like him, and his screen presence is undeniably powerful. His is possibly my favorite lead male performance of the year, Academy be damned. The only other actor who comes close to his level is Tom Wilkinson as LBJ. Other notable actors include Tim Roth, Common, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Root, and Dylan Baker.
Selma, for better or worse, is probably the best MLK movie that will ever be made. I've never really liked the biopic genre because of its sanitization and lack of courage (see this year's bizarrely overrated The Theory of Everything), but Selma almost always comes off as honest and respectful. It's a film I hold in high regard, but I doubt I'll ever watch it again.