Rustin

An American film set in the 1960s. Bayard Rustin has been inside the movement for civil rights for years. He knows how to organise: arrange buses, get permits, find volunteers and follow the detail. But his name does not come forward. There are two reasons. One is a past connection with a communist organisation; the other is that he is openly homosexual. Some inside the movement treat this as a liability and want him kept in the background. The film covers the preparation of the 1963 march on Washington. There are two months, no money and uncertain support. Rustin sets up an office. He works with young volunteers; transport, toilets, water, sound and safety are planned one by one. The best passages are those of logistics. At the same time there is an attempt from inside to remove him and his private life is used as a lever. What the film is interested in is not the march itself but how the person who built it was erased from the account of it. Colman Domingo plays Rustin. Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen and Audra McDonald are in the cast. George C. Wolfe directed; he comes from the theatre. An effective choice for anyone who likes recent history and biographical film. For a viewer expecting a broad panorama of the period, the film concentrates on a narrow stretch of time.