A momentous story made into a nearly perfect film

Rating: 8/10 (27 February 2015)

"Selma" is 90% of a great film. It tells the true story of a three month period in 1965 when Martin Luther King, Jr. led his famous march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to secure equal voting rights against violent opposition. The period is skillfully recreated, generally knowing exactly what to center the drama on, wisely much more than on King himself but on the entire community and how so many came together to alter history.
In spite of the film's impact (especially in the violent scenes between the police and the protesters) and some great performances, the script by Paul Webb inserts a fictitious clash between King and President Lyndon Johnson in order to add a conflict to the film. This has drawn much criticism but, more than doing a disservice to LBJ (who reportedly did not impede putting forward the voting rights bill), it also reveals that Webb and director DuVernay did not feel there was enough dramatic conflict inherent in the story without it. One can legitimately argue either way, but in my opinion it would have been better to further emphasize the interaction of all the participants more without 'hyping' the LBJ conflict. Even if the film had been less 'dramatic' in a classical sense it would have been more accurate as well as effective. Still, this film is a must-see and a significant document of a crucial time in the history of America.