The first of three parts in the miniseries on the life of Martin Luther King takes place as the fight for civil rights becomes a hot topic. It reunites Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson as Martin and wife to be Coretta Scott, and she will be as important to the fight as he is, standing by him even though violence threatens her as much as it does him. That's King's own daughter Yolanda playing Rosa Parks, the catalyst for a decade of fighting that never seems to have fully stopped. The big personalities of Winfield and Tyson (small in stature and voice, but equally strong) makes this riveting from the start, told in flashback from the time of their meeting, having started following King's participation in a freedom march.
The expression of hatred towards anything close to equal rights becoming law is never hidden although outside a brief mention of J. Edgar Hoover there's never any mention of anything going on in the government, indicating the apathy of the Eisenhower administration. It won't be until part two when that begins to change, and the silence of certain names not being mentioned speaks volumes. There's enough detail on King the man, King the minister and King the activist to provide the necessary structure that is important in expressing his mission. Ossie Davis is King Sr., fearing that his son's refusal to use violence will mean more violence against them. With a writer and director like Abby Mann ("Judgement at Nuremberg"), this can't be anything less than powerful.
The expression of hatred towards anything close to equal rights becoming law is never hidden although outside a brief mention of J. Edgar Hoover there's never any mention of anything going on in the government, indicating the apathy of the Eisenhower administration. It won't be until part two when that begins to change, and the silence of certain names not being mentioned speaks volumes. There's enough detail on King the man, King the minister and King the activist to provide the necessary structure that is important in expressing his mission. Ossie Davis is King Sr., fearing that his son's refusal to use violence will mean more violence against them. With a writer and director like Abby Mann ("Judgement at Nuremberg"), this can't be anything less than powerful.