There are reasons to see that Selma is praise worthy in intention. This is not an easy story to tell, and yet a film like this can be instantly recognised as daring and finally reveals that the tough days of caricatural representations even in heavy handed subjects dealing with African American history have come to an end - at least as far as cinematic productions go. While it may be a delicate subject, Ava DuVernay treats it with care and tastefully examines wholly, without resorting to many easy cinematic gimmicks that have plagued films of this kind and that downright manipulate the audiences into seeing things from the righteous perspective of the filmmaker's intentions.
Likewise, it's fair to say that while Martin Luther King has been portrayed on the screen before, he may never been represented on the big screen as well as he was by David Oyelowo, who has him right down to a t, whether he is reciting almost Shakespearean soliloquy during his imprisonment, or whether he is uproariously addressing a crowd thirsty for the redemption of fair equality and an end to all struggles. He is warm, and kind but fiery and relentless. Equally as impressive is Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King's wife. Her strong will and vulnerabilities are touching and evidently remind us that behind every great man there's a great woman.
But now, it is time to recognise that Selma is not a perfect movie, but rather a sanctification of politically correct views. In essence, the technical side of the film is all over the place. The ambitious cinematography clearly doesn't match the editing. Elaborate camera movements and sophisticated angles are constantly drastically interrupted or sometimes ignored in a way that is much too distracting and affects the film immensely on a visual scale. This also affects the pacing of the film, and makes it seem repetitive, unaided by the constant presence of some amazing gritty and streetwise and soulful blues gospel that also, eventually, grows tiresome with their predictable appearences. This overall edginess is not very welcome, yet quite possibly forgiven by the popular politics which the film deals with.
Overall, it is fair to say that Selma deserved more nods for the performances, but as a director, this is not the defining work of a filmmaker and not as influential as DuVernay will probably be in future films. Given a larger canvas, it is admirable how she manages to keep the whole thing cool and collected, personal and strikingly real. When placed against The Theory of Everything or The Imitation Game - that's when you understand the scale of the achievement in today's majority of big anglophone biopics. It is the understated and yet powerful tone of the film that really shines, and that is mostly thanks to a powerhouse screenplay that drives forward with great furore and intelligently touches upon many important defining themes of African American culture, from heritage to religious identity and the weight of the suffering of their history in the United States - something that clearly people need to be constantly reminded of. But are we sure that this is truly being reviewed as a film and not as some time of long awaited symbol of righteousness to lead way for a timely metaphorical finger wagging the Academy?
