Selma

SELMA - A REVIEW

I'm old enough to remember hearing the news of Martin Luther King's murder.  Whilst I was too young to fully understand the implications, it was clear from the coverage that this was a major historical event and an evil and regressive act.  I learned more about the man in later years, but watching this movie made me realise how little I still know.  Selma is a work of fiction and needs to be viewed as such, but one that deals with a hugely important real world figure and contains the essentials of truth.

The film deals with events in and around the town of Selma, Alabama in 1965, when civil rights marchers were brutally beaten by police and other government agencies, and a subsequent, much larger, march which took place without violence, the authorities giving way this time.  It was one big step along the road to improving black rights in America and a highlight in the long campaign of non-violence King advocated.  With such dramatic events at it's heart it would be difficult not to tell a compelling story, and that's what we get here.

Biographical portrayals of genuine heroes always run the risk of hagiography, and the film does little to demonstrate King's flaws.  The man was no saint, and his notorious womanising is only tangentially mentioned, while there is no sign of his alleged misogyny.  Does that make this a bad film?  Of course not.  There's only so much can be shown in two hours and, whatever his faults, this man was a true great.

In the central role David Oyelowo is commanding, majoring on showing us just what an incredible orator King was, and the depth of his personal bravery.  But there there were three other actors particularly caught my eye.  Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King made us spare a thought for the emotional turmoil of the woman left to hold together a family life that was constantly subjected to threats of death or violence.  Tom Wilkinson was impressive as LBJ, the politician torn between his beliefs, pragmatism, and the need to retain his own support.  (Although the portrayed relationship between King and Johnson has been the most heavily criticised element of the film for historical inaccuracy.)  And Tim Roth gives a performance of smiling evil as the racist Governor George Wallace (a Democrat, which shows how times change).

Overall the film works well as a powerful emotional drama, a historical reminder, and a call to arms in the face of continuing bigotry.  There are some good scenes illustrating the kind of internal conflicts that so often afflict and hinder progressive political movements.  And it was a personal pleasure to be reminded of Andy Young, a man I had once hoped might go on to be the first black US President.  It's one of those films you feel a better person for having seen, but whilst being entertained in the process.

As I watched I couldn't help wondering if a certain MEP, who is extremely well paid from our taxes, will have troubled herself to see Selma.  The one who referred to one of her constituents as a 'ting-tong'.  I really don't feel like naming her or her vile party, for they already get way more publicity than is their due, but you'll know who I mean.  Is that really the kind of person who should be representing us?  Have we learned nothing from the Dr King's in our midst?  I know that I could never be friends with anyone who judged a person because of the colour of their skin.