Bryan Rallet/Correspondent
“Selma” takes place a year after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, and depicts the violently repressed pacific protests led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.(David Oyelowo) for an equal right to vote. Without the right to vote, the black population could not fairly participate in the judicial process, thus prolonging the rampant discrimination the south witnessed during that period.
National outrage and political pressure eventually forced President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Honoring the entirety of Dr. King’s work is certainly not an easy task, which is probably why Director Ava DuVernay decided to focus on the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. While focusing on just a few months might be seen as a lack of content by some viewers, the intensity of emotions that arise while watching this film most definitely compensates for the narrow time interval over which the movie spans.
Superb photography and amazing acting are only two of the many factors that contribute to making this movie breathtaking. One of the highlights of the movie would definitely be Ava DuVernay’s ability to immerse us in the atmosphere of the 1960s. She employed several mechanisms such as a Blues and Gospel soundtrack and a light sepia filter throughout the movie in order to seamlessly send us back in time. This is an emotional movie that aims to anger, sadden and inspire viewers, sometimes in the same scene. It is also a chilling reminder that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Indeed, current events show that the struggle led by Dr. King is not over, and that the American population still faces significant challenges before the rich multitude of people our country was founded on reaches total equality. Perhaps the poignant example of “Selma” can show recent protesters that violence is never the solution to being heard, and that it only leads to more isolation from our brothers and sisters.