Selma is the story that you thought you knew, but have never really been told. It is the story that is in our history books, but one that you have never experienced. The film is an unflinching look at a piece of history that is fifty years old, yet never felt so contemporary and urgent. Despite preconceptions, this is not a predictable biopic that you have already figured out. Selma isn’t simply a dry historical film designed to preach and scold. Director Ava DuVernay has crafted a film that will literally make you an eyewitness to a particular time in American history, that will stick with you long after it is over.

DuVernay’s film starts as King, played masterfully by David Oyelowo, is dressing before walking on stage to accept his Nobel Peace Prize. King is uncomfortable wearing the fancy ceremonial clothing to accept the award, commenting on what his people would think of him at home. The scene immediately addresses the notion that Martin is regarded as a King or a Saint, in modern times. DuVernay makes an opening statement that he was just a man, flawed with the same self-awareness and insecurities that we all have. It is a sharp opening that throws the viewer directly into the time period and the story.

Oyelowo brings King to life in a way that has rarely been shown on screen. Oyelowo doesn’t do an impression of the civil rights icon. In fact he doesn’t even look much like him, however he is able to embody and personify the man that so many feel like they know. But really do not. The subtleties in his performance is what delineates this from anything made about the leader before. The “I Have A Dream” speech is what usually comes to mind when first thinking about King. As Oyelowo plays him, his everyday dialogue and cadences are very eloquent, however only when he gets up on stage does the legendary voice appear. Oyelowo’s performance is so nuanced, that you come to grasp towards the end that he has personified the real human beneath the public face.

The film is named Selma, not MLK, for a reason. If you are adverse to the formulaic biopic structure that has grown all too familiar, this is the movie for you. DuVernay chooses to tell a story about a very specific period of time. In 1965, King went to Alabama to organize demonstrations to protect black Americans who were being systematically denied their basic right to vote. Racism was overt and people were literally being killed in the streets and even in churches. As King more eloquently put it, if you are denied the right to vote you can’t serve on a jury and protect your own community. King takes his battle from the streets of Alabama, to the Oval Office and back, to effect change and this is the story of the many activists involved in the struggle.

Selma is not just King’s story. The film recounts how the community in Selma collectively contributed to creating change, through the arrival of King in Alabama. A topic of debate in the modern educational system is how Martin Luther King is focused on almost exclusively in black history classes and books, while others crucial leaders and contributor’s efforts have been marginalized or forgotten. DuVernay shows that it wasn’t one magical man who made a change. It was several community groups putting aside their individual agendas and coming together as a coalition, under the leadership of King.

The film is “narrated” by the FBI monitoring of King’s activities. DuVernay explores the very real nefarious efforts of the government sponsored program, Cointelpro, which was an effort led by FBI head J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker). The program wiretapped, conducted surveillance, and assassinated black leaders who were organizing for political change and progress in the 1960’s and 70’s. The option of assassinating King is even suggested to President Lyndon B. Johnson who seemingly shelves the idea. DuVernay deftly educates the audience about the political complexities that prevented change from occurring.

She also shows the political mind of King himself, particularly through his methods of non-violence. It is made clear that King seeked violence, but not from his own hand. He wanted to stage demonstrations that would provoke a reaction, which would in turn bring TV coverage. Then everyday Americans would have to face the injustices that they let pass, because it is not their own struggle or directly in their face. It is a complex tactic that weighs on the leader as injuries and the body count begins to mount.

Another area of strength is in the supporting cast. Carmen Egobo plays Coretta Scott King, whose struggle is explored as she endures harassment from the public and the government who actively attempt to destroy their household. Tom Wilkinson portrays President Johnson, who King engages in a political game of chess in order to force the president into signing the Voter’s Rights Act. Meanwhile a host of talented actors ranging from the The Wire’s Wendell Pierce to Common, bring to life many of the leaders that formed King’s backbone in Selma.

The explosive and chaotic nature of the times is masterfully captured by DuVernay. She is able to control the pacing and turn the tone of the film upside down in an instant, without her storytelling ever feeling forced or false. The scenes of the church bombing and the march on the Edmund Pettis Bridge, feel visceral and real. DuVernay is clearly gifted in making the viewer feel part of the experience. The tension, confusion, anger and chaos, is captured as if you were standing on the street in the midst of the action. There is no detachment from the historical experience. It’s like the difference between watching black and white clips about World War II and then watching Saving Private Ryan. When you watch the film you feel the urgency of the soldiers charging Normandy Beach and the struggle feels modern. The exact same sort of sensation is experienced in this film, suddenly you feel that you are in Selma in 1965.

Selma is a movie that you might think that you have already seen. You have not… There has been talk that the film is particularly timely considering current events. However, one of the things that Selma illuminates is that our society acts as if we have progressed in the past 50 years, but apparently things have not changed as much as we might believe. So this movie would have been timely at ANY point over the past 50 years. This is not a movie simply about race, it is a movie about America. It is immediate, nuanced, in-your-face, and honest. Selma is a triumph.