Boycott (Rental)

Boycott is the true story of a small and seemingly insignificant event on a local bus in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. Set in 1955, it recounts a time when segregation was not only legal, but it was an accepted way of life, at least in the southern United States. When Rosa Parks, a 'nobody,' refused to give up her seat in the 'whites only' section of the bus, and said, "No!", she sparked what became known as the start of the African American civil rights movement. It also brought the attention of the country’s media down on the racist town of Montgomery, and made a leader out of Martin Luther King Jnr.

Imagine getting on a bus via the front door, paying the fare (the same fare as anyone else), but then getting back off the bus through that same door, and walking to the rear door before actually entering again and being allowed to take your seat. Imagine if you are sitting there minding your own business, when someone walks up to you and tells you to get up because they want your seat. It doesn't matter that you're old, sick, or with a baby, your seat is wanted and by law you have to give it up! You'd be ticked, right? Well I can only guess that Rosa Parks was ticked that day, but thank goodness she was.

"No!"

When the cities 'nigra' leaders, mostly reverends, were made aware of the situation, they realised that the time had come to challenge a law that was unconstitutional, apart from plain unjust and "inhumane". Their first, and most effective, initiative was to organise a boycott of the buses by all African Americans. Despite numerous challenges including inclement weather, people's apathy, and the cities white fathers' numerous attempts to scupper the boycott, they held out for more than a year, but what a year.

One of the most interesting things about this incident is the rise of Martin Luther King Jnr, a young married reverend who was elected to head the Montgomery Improvement Society. Of course, history records that King went on to lead the whole civil rights movements for coloured Americans in the late '50s until his assassination in 1968. Boycott does focus on the early rise of King, using this incident as the vehicle, but that's a fine mix. Remember though, as warned at the end credits, this film is based on the true series of events, and some characters and events are fictionalised for dramatic effect.

That aside, this is still an intriguing and involving film. It will draw you in, fire up your sense of unfairness, and get you ticked off at the attitude of white America as it was then, and in some places still is. Segregation may now be illegal, but so is murder, drug trafficking, and robbery, and those crimes aren't going away anytime soon.

The virtually unknown cast does a fantastic job and Jeffrey Wright as Martin Luther King is particularly good. These solid performances are matched by some inspired direction from Clark Johnson, and some interesting stock footage, specially filmed footage (to reflect the time), odd colouring and camera angles. In some ways this crosses into documentary style with several actors addressing the camera as though addressing a news hound.

Not all of this is pretty, though there is little to no violence or gratuity. In fact, the PG rating is quite appropriate, but what is disturbing is the ferocity with which white America once worked to protect their "way of life". While some parts of the United States have probably moved on little in the 50 or so years that have passed since the setting of this film, it is comforting to know that things should never again be as imbalanced as they were in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama.

There is really only one constant about the video presentation of Boycott and that is the 16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The rest is an amalgamation of all manner of styles and quality, though all of it is intentional. Most of the film is shot in a style we have come to expect, in that it is well coloured, well lit, clean and steady with good sharpness and clarity. Indeed, these sections of film are just that. This is not your normal presentation however, and there is excellent use made of stock footage that is black and white and being old, is marked and varies in clarity and definition. There are also many shots using various light and colour filters, with strange camera angles and slight variations in focus. Again, this is all intentional.

Shadow detail throughout is not the best, and black levels are occasionally on the pale side, but these details will only bother viewers who go looking for them. There is some intentional and unintentional grain in some scenes, but again, it's not severe.

Being a rental only release at this stage, and starved of extra features, this is a single-sided, single-layer disc and therefore has no layer change.

The only audio option is a subdued and slightly flat sounding Dolby Digital 5.1. There are no loud and/or low-level sounds so the subwoofer is rarely used. Rear channels are used sparingly for some ambient effects such as street sounds, and some of the score that mixes traditional blues music with more modern rhythm and blues.

There is some panning of sound across the front channels, but all dialogue is squarely placed in the centre speaker. Most dialogue is clear, though some actors tend to mumble, but this is not a fault with the transfer. Audio-synch poses no problems.

More like "extra" was my first reaction, but then, this is a rental only currently. Which begs the question, what's the point of including a Theatrical Trailer as an extra? It can't prompt you to buy the title as it's rental only, and as you've already rented it (or you wouldn't be seeing the trailer), you've already forked out the $7.

OK, rant over. The Trailer is in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and 16x9 enhanced. It is a straightforward affair and accurately portrays the sentiment of the film in 90 seconds.

This is a fine drama, based on a set of events that sparked the rise of the African American civil rights movement. It also details the rise of campaigner Martin Luther King, but more than that it highlights how far America has come in having equal rights for its citizens, as written in its Constitution. Sure, rights are still not truly equal, and black America still has some ground to make up, but its stories such as this that highlight the need for equality, and how hard some will fight to achieve it.