I have already written a version of the now requisite "Martin Luther King was a progressive/radical" entry. I am confident I will write similar posts in the future. While having King as a sanctified American hero is certainly a merited and wonderful reality, it has also led to a collective amnesia about the scope of his vision. Put simply, King was both a transcendent figure who could rise above politics and someone who progressives and radicals clearly can claim as a member of the family. To claim otherwise requires a heady mixture of denial and ignorance.
Given that, let me talk about a (hopefully) upcoming event that holds potential to introduce the complete King to a larger audience. Recently, I came across the news that English director Paul Greengrass has written a screenplay and is looking to make a film entitled Memphis. Greengrass is best known to a wide audience as the directer of the second two Bourne movies. According to NY Mag, "Greengrass wrote the movie . . . based on his own original research, and that it looks at King’s life while trying to organize the city’s sanitation workers in the spring of 1968, just before his murder on April 4 of that year."
While some of the web gossip is concentrating on the potential for the movie to tackle conspiracy theories around King's assassination, I hope that is not the case. Certainly Greengrass has trafficked in conspiratorial thinking in the Bourne movies, as well as in his (in my opinion) very underrated film Green Zone, but he is not an Oliver Stone. Focusing on conspiracies would, among other problems, distract from the true (and very fraught) drama one can find in the story of King's involvement in the Memphis strike and the turmoil of his own life in those last days.
While a director best known for creating incredibly visceral action scenes might seem problematic, my eagerness about him tackling this project comes from some of Greengrass' other films, namely Bloody Sunday and United 93. Both films are superb examples of how to compellingly present historical episodes on screen; they hew closely to the real history, while creating real tension and drama. For the moment, I will focus on Bloody Sunday, which recreates the events of January 30, 1972, when English soldiers killed thirteen protesters in Derry, Ireland. The film has been compared to the Battle of Algiers, which is both an apt comparison and an impressive complement.
As with The Battle of Algiers, Bloody Sunday evinces an intense fascination with the mechanics of political activism (how do protests get organized, the internal politics of movements, etc). This in itself is promising, for the politics of King's involvement in the strike and the dynamics between the many players are a vital part of this story. Furthermore, Bloody Sunday shows not only Greengrass' interest in these matters, but also his ability, through sharp dialogue, strong acting, and his ever restless camera, to keep such scenes interesting and even spellbinding. In addition, Bloody Sunday, while clearly taking a side, allows for the nuances and complexities of politics to shine; time is given to the English soldiers to show the context they were operating in, without excusing their actions.
To make this more concrete, here is a scene near the end of Bloody Sunday which captures much of what I mentioned above:
Suffice it to say, I believe Greengrass to be an excellent person for this job. Returning to the idea of historical memory, the potential of a major film being released centered on King's work in Memphis is quite exciting. While I doubt the film will transform the popular narrative about King, it can at least open up an avenue for challenging the "Santa Claus" version that dominates popular discourse. By choosing to depict King not during his heights at Birmingham or Selma, but rather as a much reviled radical prophet, Greengrass' film can educate more people about the King who stood firmly for workers' rights and believed that true justice meant profound change to our economy and society.
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