- Title: Selma
- IMDb: link
Released just months before the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights march through Alabama, 2014’s Selma is most notable for David Oyelowo‘s lead performance of Martin Luther King Jr. and the unflinching framing of events from director Ava DuVernay and cinematographer Bradford Young who never shy away from the brutality of racism which King and others met with grace, strength, dignity, and perseverance to fight for the rights guaranteed to them by the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Tom Wilkinson co-stars as President Lyndon B. Johnson who, despite sympathy for King’s cause (and preferring to deal with him than the more militant alternatives), drags his feet against federal intervention in the south leading King and others to Selma for a series of marches to protest against local practices barring them from the right to vote.
Surprises of the film come in not everyone working for the same cause being happy about King’s arrival or what they view as him stealing the spotlight. However, it was King’s celebrity that brought far more cameras and put them in place to capture the scene of state troopers attacking marchers (unarmed men, women, children, and the elderly), with clubs, horses, and tear gas, to the cheers of the white locals, allowing the rest of the country to see viciousness so repugnant that would lead to national support for not one but two more marches, the last of which would finally accomplish its goal.
The film is also notable for an early performance of Tessa Thompson, supporting roles by André Holland and Tim Roth, and the Oscar-winning song “Glory” by John Legend and Common. The film has been released multiple times on DVD and Blu-ray and is also available for rental and purchase on a number of streaming platforms. The Blu-ray includes a number of extras including commentary and featurettes on the making of the film including filming in some the locations where the original events took place.
Listen to “Glory”