Home Video Picks & Passes 05.17.15

Selma (2014) -- PICK

 

I can’t urge readers strongly enough to see Selma, now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Paramount.

My No. 2 film of 2014, Selma is not only possibly the best civil-rights historical drama I’ve ever seen, it’s also the only one I’ve seen that portrays the role of religion not only in the personal faith of David Oyelowo’s Martin Luther King Jr., but also in the larger movement he represented and in the brief but crucial display of solidarity between clergy of various groups and races after Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala.

Bonus features include a pair of commentary tracks, both featuring director Ava DuVernay.

The first, pairing her with star Oyelowo, is a chatty discussion focusing on the historical background and details about the making of the film.

The other focuses more on the filmmaking from a technical perspective.

Both are reasonably interesting; I was disappointed that Oyelowo in particular doesn’t talk more about the faith side of the story as well as his own faith.

There are a pair of making-of featurettes totaling about 40 minutes.

“The Road to Selma” (13 minutes) discusses the film’s seven-year gestation period from 2007, when Oyelowo first read Paul Webb’s screenplay.

“Recreating Selma” (26 minutes) explores the making of the film, emphasizing the crucial role of supporting figures who struggled alongside Dr. King, with interviews of the actors who in some cases encountered the real-life civil-rights heroes they portrayed.

Other extras include a number of deleted scenes, a pair of historical newsreels documenting the second and third Selma marches and a number of historical still images.

There is also a discussion guide with questions for before and after watching the film.

 

Caveat Spectator: Scenes of strong violence; references to marital infidelity; limited profanity, crude language and some racial epithets. Teens and up.