Review of Selma (2014) by Corinna O — 07 Mar 2015

This is the movie that I have anticipated for 2015 Oscar season. I had missed the chance to see it on Martin Luther King day so I had to wait for the official release date.

Selma is a film about Martin Luther King and his march on Selma.

I love this film. Especially cause it talks about what happens after the 'I have a dream' speech. This is something that I have never heard about so it was great to see this in the movie.

You got to see how MLK was a symbol for hope that blacks in American can vote while showing that he is human and has struggles in order to become this voice for the people. David Oyelowo shows the great emotions that in some scenes can be seen in just his eyes. He should've got an Oscar nomination and not Steve Carrell because I didn't recognise him at all in this role and he did a much better acting. Steve's performance was boring. I felt that I was watching the real MLK in front of my eyes. As well as having a story for MLK, we got to have a connection with some of the characters which showed that this was much more than a MLK film. It's a movie about everyone who was involved and how they changed history.

The movie doesn't shy away from the violence. It is not gory like most historical films but it does have that slow mo violence that really hits you. Especially the scene on the bridge because you got to see that all they wanted was a peaceful protest and it turned into a violent event. It shows the hatred that the town had for the change. I believe that the long shots that they used for scenes such as this helped to make them powerful. It shows a great direction from Ava who should've got an Oscar nomination as well.

The best thing about this movie is the song. It's so powerful and fits the scenario well. It is the first time that I have ever listened to the lyrics from first listen. It teaches us all about the history from the past and how it has affected the future. This will definitely get its Oscar win.