Selma

Ava DuVernay's latest film Selma is probably one of the best movies about the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and probably the most honest in its portrayal of the brutality suffered by African-Americans in the South at this time. It also shows the outright racism that was accepted at the time and even leaders like Governor George Wallace doing nothing to stop it.

After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) returns to his home in Atlanta, Georgia to find the next step in his Civil Rights movement. He finds it in the town of Selma in Alabama, where black people are still unable to register to vote, despite legally being able to. King is joined by fellow members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to tackle this issue. Meanwhile, President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) is nervous about about the tension King being in Alabama is having with racist governor George Wallace (Tim Roth). King and his followers eventually decide to walk from Selma to Montgomery as a peaceful protest.

DuVernay's film is masterfully created and captures the feeling of the time perfectly. Martin Luther King is such an important figure of the twentieth century and it's movies like this one that help expose certain parts of history to mainstream audiences. One problem I do have (and it's only minor), is that the film overuses brutal violence to get it's point across. Whilst it's not absolutely excessive I felt like you could maybe cut out one or two scenes of this and still get the point across about how terrifying it was to live as a black person during these times.

This movie has a huge cast and all of the performances are so amazing. David Oyelowo is so amazing as King that I forgot about all other movies he had been in and could only focus on him. It is so disappointing that he is not up for Best Actor for this movie because I would have chosen him in an instant. While President Johnson's portrayal is slightly inaccurate (he championed the Civil Rights movement and was not against it), Wilkinson brings his talents to the fore and is wonderfully followed round by Giovanni Ribisi.

Carmen Ojogo is superb as King's weary wife and Oprah Winfrey makes a superb cameo as a woman who just wants to vote and demonstrates a mean right hook. Tim Roth made my skin absolutely crawl as George Wallace, but also backs up his ability as a great dramatic actor. Stephen Root is just as despicable as Major Al Lingo who orchestrated some of the more brutal attacks on the peaceful protestors.

Selma is deserving of all the praise it has received. It isn't just an affirmative action film because it justifies the reasons for the Civil Rights movement. Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo make a superb team and are supported by a fantastic cast.