Robert Tanitch reviews the latest DVDs
SELMA (Pathe).British actor David Oyelowo had a dream, too: he wanted to play Dr Martin Luther King. The film is a major turning point in his career. Director Ava Du Vernay focuses on a key moment in the Civil Rights movement. Segregation is illegal but in 1965 the African-American citizens of Alabama cannot vote. King organises a non-violent protest, a march from Selma to Montgomery. The police and storm trooper brutality (with baton and tear gas) is vividly portrayed when the marchers attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Oyelowo is totally confident with the rhetoric and his scenes with President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) are particularly effective. A third British actor, Tim Roth, plays the racist Governor George Wallace.
WILD TALES (Artificial Eye) is 6 short and hugely enjoyable black comedies of violent and outrageous revenge by the Argentine writer director Damian Szifron. 1. On a plane the purser takes decisive action against all those who have crossed and belittled him during his life. 2. Waitress has an opportunity to poison a gangster who has harmed her family. Will she take it? 3. Confrontation between two incensed drivers on a deserted highway turns really nasty: the ultimate road rage. 4. Heartening story for all those who have had their car towed away and have had to deal with inflexible bureaucracy. 5. Young man in car accident kills a pregnant woman. His millionaire father attempts to bribe everybody but finds it proves extremely expensive. 6. Bride during the wedding celebrations discovers her husband has been unfaithful and all hell breaks loose.
FLYING DEUCES (Network). Laurel and Hardy, a great comic duo, inseparable and permanently at loggerheads, were at their best in their short films in the 1920s and early 1930s. By 1939 they were well past their sell-by date. Hardy was 47 though he looked much younger. Laurel was 49 and looked it. Hardy is much the more likeable of the two and funnier. They’re in the Foreign Legion and liable to be shot at dawn for desertion. (Another nice mess you got me into!) It’s the same old music hall slapstick routines and gags. The high spot is when Hardy sings “Shine On Harvest Moon” and they do a little dance – pure music hall gold.
THE GREEN PRINCE (Artificial Eye) is an amazing story of betrayal and friendship. Israeli security agent Gonen Ben Yizbak recruits the son of one of the founders of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Group. Mosab Hassam Yousef betrays his own people and collaborates with the Israelis. He acts from the moral high ground of saving lives and not killing people. He was a spy for 10 years. The trust and friendship between recruit and handler grew so great that Gonen risked his life to save Mosab’s life. Nadav Shirman’s documentary is as exciting as the best thriller and I am not surprised to learn that the story is going to be turned into a Hollywood action movie. I only hope the actors they choose will be as charismatic as the originals.
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