A study of Martin Luther King Jr: Selma Review and trailer
AN URGENT, thought-provoking and timely history movingly brought to life
(12A, 128mins)
Director: Ava DuVernay
Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth
It took a bunch of Brits to bring the horrors of slavery to the big screen in last year’s 12 Years A Slave and now British producers and a predominantly British cast bring a long overdue study of Martin Luther King Jr to cinemas; the common denominator being the involvement of Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B.
Selma portrays King as a clever, cool-headed and rousing advocate of non-violent change – superbly embodied by Brit David Oyelowo – without canonising him as it touches on his marital infidelities and moments of fear and self-doubt.
Selma Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr. Movie HD
The story focuses on a key moment in the civil rights movement: the campaign to protect African-American voting rights via a series of marches and bloody confrontations in Selma, Alabama; despite the legal right to vote blacks were kept away from voting booths via intimidation and manipulation of the law.
As tensions mount over several days, the story becomes a battle between competing voices on all sides – within the civil rights movement itself and amongst their opponents including an obstructive President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) and racist Alabama Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth).
Directed by Ava DuVernay, this is urgent, thought-provoking and timely history movingly brought to life.
