Review of Salma (2014) by Dawdlingpoet — 21 Nov 2021

This is a historical drama with themes including racial discrimination and the civil rights movement, protestation, abuse of power, inequality and courage and determinism.

I felt it was quite a moving film (in that I found it quite touching, not that its a motion picture, of course!) and it made me think about how things must have been for non-whites during segregation, prior to the civil rights movement. I felt quite angry when it became clear just how much control had been taken away, or not offered, to non-white people. I can't comment regarding the precise historical accuracy in regards to the chronology, the precise turn of events or the wording of speeches but I presume it to be at least roughly accurate. It certainly features some big names in the cast and it felt, to me, like a fair bit of thought had been made in terms of the script and how people are depicted - I think its fair to say that it didn't come across as especially slap dash, if you know what I mean. I certainly felt sad at the depiction of injustice that was clearly brought across via Martin Luther King explaining to the then president what the result is of a bad set of circumstances and how it marginalises the people he represented. It did pack a bit of a punch to it, well so I felt anyway. There was definitely a feeling of fear by Luther Kings wife, as she knew she was in danger due to her husbands line of work.

Cast wise, David Oyelowo plays Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. - I thought his accent was quite good, especially considering he's a Brit, of course. He did reasonably well portraying such an iconic character, seeming to be determined to stand up for him and his peoples rights, for pushing forward the civil rights movement, of course. I was quite impressed with his portrayal, so I certainly can't criticise that. Meanwhile, his wife, Coretta, is played by Carmen Ejogo, who also does well in portraying a passionate person, yet who is inevitably concerned for her safety and that of her husband and children. Meanwhile, President Lyndon B. Johnson is portrayed by Tom Wilkinson, who comes across as not against the main principles of the civil rights movement but perhaps a little misguided in the ultimate effect some of the smaller issues have on the wider non-white community nationwide to one extent or the other. Oprah Winfrey also appears, portraying Annie Lee Cooper, who makes an appearance in a few scenes and I thought did well to show her defiance and strong will to 'fight the good cause', as may be said. I should also add that the film was produced via Oprahs 'Harpo' productions company. Finally, Tim Roth appears, playing a rather sinister political figure.

I felt that some of the dialogue was quite moving - powerful in a way. Of course some of it is taken from public speeches that Luther King Jnr. made at the time. I found sometimes that both dialogue shouted, or spoken, in public, in front of an audience and that spoken in quieter times, in private, was poignant and sobering. It is quite sobering and paints a picture of what things were like at the time.

Content wise, the film contains an audio recording featuring sexual content, plus scenes featuring bloody violence, with people being beaten, kicked and so on. Some people are shown with facial injuries, which could frighten or otherwise disturb certainly younger viewers. There is also, inevitably, the use of racially inflammatory terms (the 'N' word etc.) used regularly. Due to this, the film has been given a 12a rating.

I found some scenes fairly difficult to watch, in terms of the brutality depicted. It reminded me of another, similar film I'd scene fairly recently, which I've also reviewed, called The Butler. Suffice to say, it never fails to astound me just how badly people were treated and looked down on, due to their ethnicity.

There's not much to criticise, although I did find it a bit difficult to fully follow some of the dialogue in certain scenes, with fairly muffled and thus indistinguishable voices frustrating me at times. The other aspect I didn't particularly liked was right at the very end, as the credits start to roll, when there's a rap used, which sounded/felt very much out of place and not entirely tactful, even though the lyrics were probably quite apt, it still felt tacky. I noticed that in a lot of scenes there was a fairly strong yellow tinge, lighting wise. It somehow gave it a bit of an extra dated feel I think - its hard to explain fully.

I found how certain politicians spoke to King to be quite frustrating and irritating, the fact that there was such little support for what King was trying to push into action, for his people to be seen to be suffering how they were, it was quite sad and almost shameful, that white people abused their power to an extent, at that time.

Yes, overall I'd recommend this film.