Breaks down strategy & tactics of the CivilRightsMovement along with the violent opposition it faced
Selma was an Ava DuVernay picture. The power of the film comes from the fact that it just doesn’t show the protests of the civil rights movement and then the beatings the people received at the hands of the police and racist whites it’s the fact that it breaks down the tactics and political strategy of the civil rights movement. Too many times movies and documentaries only show the marches and violence. They give the impression that a bunch of people protested with a lot of opposition and then eventually things changed. Without the purpose behind the demonstrations there’s no way to truly understand this historic moment in the United States.<br /><br />The movie begins with why the Civil Rights Movement was necessary. Dr. Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his work, and then the film cuts to the bombing of a church in Birmingham which killed four black girls. Then Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey) attempts to vote, but is blocked by a civics test, which asked her to name every judge in the state. That sets up the dilemma of the film. It just wasn’t the segregation laws and practices that denied blacks their constitutional right to the ballot, it was the violent opposition of whites that killed innocent people as well that had to be stopped.<br /><br />The strategy at Selma was broken down at a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo) and the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee represented by John Lewis (Stephan James) and James Forman (Trai Byers). The goal of the protest was to get President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to pass a voting rights act that would get rid of all the laws and regulations that stopped African Americans from casting ballots. King said their strategy was to negotiate, demonstrate and resist. That meant organizing African Americans in the Selma community, picking an area that was at the center of town, in this case the courthouse where people went to register to vote, and causing drama. Drama would get into the newspapers and apply pressure upon Johnson to pass the law. The drama would be caused by the local sheriff who was known as a violent racist who wouldn’t hesitate to beat blacks. The problem was the president had passed the Civil Rights Act and started his War on Poverty and didn’t want any more problems in the south with segregation and Dr. King. That’s the reason why the Southern Christian Leadership Conference went to Selma, to demonstrate, resist segregation, and then negotiate new legislation. The whole start of the movie is about lobbying the president, organizing, and talking through the steps necessary to achieve the voting rights act.<br /><br />The middle focuses upon the demonstrations and violence in Selma. The most famous scene was the march across Pettus Bridge where state troopers and local whites charged into a crowd of marchers and beat them senselessly which was captured by the media. The scene is breathtaking and shocking all at once. That brought whites and blacks from around the country to Selma to participate in a march to the Alabama state capital Montgomery, which closes the movie. Here DuVernay mixes newsreel photos of the actual march with her own scenes and music to make an emotional ending.<br /><br />Selma works on so many levels. The film captures the determination of African Americans to end legal racism in the United States, and the thinking behind the Civil Rights Movement. It portrays the beatings and murders blacks and their allies faced in the south. It hits you in the gut, the heart and the mind, and is a great educational tool to understand how the Civil Rights Movement worked, and how and why it was successful. DuVernay did an amazing job and the film deserves all the praise it received.<br />C
The movie title "Selma," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.7 from 55444 reviewers. 
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This title falls under the categories of Movies & TV, Paramount Home Entertainment and Drama. 
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 {"Genre": "Drama", "Format": "Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC", "Contributor": "Ejogo, Carmen, Ribisi, Giovanni, Winfrey, Oprah, Roth, Tim, Toussaint, Lorraine, Wilkinson, Tom, Thompson, Tessa, Duvernay, Ava, Gooding, Cuba, Jr., Oyelowo, David, Ommon, C.Ejogo, Carmen, Ribisi, Giovanni, Winfrey, Oprah, Roth, Tim, Toussaint, Lorraine, Wilkinson, Tom, Thompson, Tessa, Duvernay, Ava, Gooding, Cuba, Jr., Oyelowo, David, Ommon, C.  See more", "Language": "English", "Runtime": "2 hours and 8 minutes", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)", "Product Dimensions": "0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 1.6 Ounces", "Item model number": "59167202000", "Director": "Duvernay, Ava", "Media Format": "Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC", "Run time": "2 hours and 8 minutes", "Release date": "May 5, 2015", "Actors": "Oyelowo, David, Winfrey, Oprah, Roth, Tim, Ejogo, Carmen, Wilkinson, Tom", "Dubbed": "French", "Subtitles": "Spanish, English, French", "Studio": "Paramount", "Number of discs": "1"}

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