Ava DuVernay's Selma chronicles the three-month period in 1965 that saw Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead a non-violent protest in an effort to gain equal voting rights for all African Americans. Facing violent opposition from the police and state government, Dr. King led a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama which culminated with President Johnson signing into the law the Voting Rights Act of 1965. DuVernay's Selma is a biopic done right, opting to focus on a major event in Dr. King's life, instead of attempting to capture his whole life. This approach gives the film a more naturalistic feel, defining a man through a specific length of time instead of the burden of trying to encapsulate everything. Impeccably well made, Selma features great direction, cinematography, and incredible performances to capture the emotional weight of this powerful time in American History. While I would agree that a weakness in the film lies in the rather simplistic portrayal of President Johnson, this is not important when it comes to what makes Selma great. Selma reminds us all how powerful non-violent protests can truly be, reminding all of us that the people run this country, not the politicians (at least that's the idealist hope). Another thing I really appreciated about Selma is its honesty in its portrait of Dr. King. The film captures the strife in his marriage primarily stemming from his adultery, never trying to pretend he is perfect.. Doing so is very important because its makes him human, only strengthening the film by capturing the fragility, mistakes, and emotional strife which weighed on the man.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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