Malcolm X

Malcolm X is a figure in black history that people might not be as well-versed on as others who were famous in the profession of advocating. While names like Martin Luthor King, Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks are popular enough figures from both the white and black perspective, Malcolm X was a pretty controversial figure head during his period of being a human rights activists, mainly due to his openly racist stance against white people yet was an incredibly popular figure in the black community for his prominence during the civil rights movement. His eventual change on his stance for racial integration and his eventual assassination in 1965 was enough push to give him stardom status among both communities and he was someone who left enough of an impact to have a lot of films and documentaries based around him, the one of discussion today being the 1992 film directed and co-written by Spike Lee.  Malcolm Little (played by Denzel Washington) is a man who had struggled through his own form of tragedy growing up; a broken-up family life due to harassment from the KKK, lack of employment possibilities despite being gifted, and even falling to petty swindling and thievery which eventually gets him imprisoned. During his sentence, he meets a man named Baines (played by Albert Hall) who introduces him to the Nation of Islam and eventually converts him into a Muslin, which he becomes a minister for after he serves his time and gives speeches that disown those of black descent that wish to appease the white man as opposed to fight against him. These aggressive and even pro-violent messages get him into trouble, and it comes with its own form of realization and self-reflection before it ends in ultimate tragedy. Based off of the memoirs by journalist Alex Halley (who Malcolm collaborated with in creating the autobiographical book), Malcolm felt like a passion project that had a ton of positive backing behind it. Through solid directing, great acting and inviting visuals, this biographic details out the story of a flawed, yet growing man who left behind a legacy that many still remember him from.

A big element of this film during its long and difficult production was getting the right people for the film. After the initial suggested director for the film, Norman Jewison, grew negative reception from the public for not having a black director for the film, Spike Lee was the replacement and (despite strangely still getting threatened) was passionate about the film and wanted to bring the story of Malcolm X to the world on the big screen, while still distinctly saying it would be his vision, meaning that there would be dramatized elements to it. Much like the book it was based on, the film would give more focus to the spirit and presence that Malcolm X delivered as opposed to being 100% accurate. That comes across throughout the movie not just in the events detailed themselves (which are accurate to his real experiences, but sprinkled in with fictional flair), but also in how it’s presented. Spike Lee is known for being a pretty distinct director with a very wild style of film-making that is very unique and is often very much not considered traditional, and even though the movie isn’t anywhere near as odd as it could have been with him at the helm, he does bring this energized passion to the project that makes it dissimilar from other biopics in a good way. The film feels electric, dramatic, flashy, pronounced and even enjoyably alive in many ways, it doesn’t feel lifeless or dull to watch, it tries even in scenes where little is happening to feel big, meaningful, and colorful without going too overly dramatic. This does result in a more enjoyable experience than a standard biopic, but the movie does have its shortcomings in this department. The movie strangely feels the least interesting during the middle when he is a devout Muslim and becomes part of the civil rights movement; despite that being what he is best known for; his early life before prison as well as his fall from the faith to his reawakening as a new man feels more engaging than the middle section of the film; which features a lot of repetitive scenes that don’t further much. The movie struggles with that a lot considering its length as the movie did not need to be almost three and a half hours long and the screenplay written by Lee and Arnold Perl doesn’t have as much flavor as the rest of the movie does and while still providing the main components, loses a little bit of the human touch whilst skimming through the life events. A lot of scenes feel pointlessly padded out and don’t provide enough further insight to warrant its length. It fits in the important aspects but didn’t need to stretch it out for as long as it did.

For a biopic, coverage on the person in question is one of the key things you have to get right. Aspects of what to keep and what to change are crucial in deciding how you want to portray said person (especially if they are no longer alive) and considering the mixed reception the real-life Malcolm X had, this was going to have to be taken into consideration. Thankfully, the movie actually does a real good job at bringing a nuance portrayal of this figure. His good deeds and changes towards the end of his life weren’t ignored, but neither were the elements that made him not such a great person, he was portrayed the way he should have been, a troubled man who had good and bad things to bring to the world. The movie does do a good job mapping out his life and a lot of these incidents are interesting and leave the audience knowing more about him than they most likely did before it. One thing the movie does fail on is not how it shows Malcolm as a figurehead, but how it portrays Malcolm in his livelihood. Despite the movie showing everything that happened to him, not much is really clarified on what he himself is like. A lot of his life seems to impact his personality and shape who he is, so it never truly feels like the audience knows what kind of a person he is outside of these events. What he was like as a kid or even with his family is pretty much glossed over and it makes it hard to determine what exactly he was as a person outside of his work. It isn’t a huge problem, but it is a noticeable one. The acting from pretty much everybody is pretty good, although some issues come in some of the characters themselves. Denzel himself is great as the lead role; his composure and ability to transition between each stages of this man’s life from urban and aimless to obsessed and critical to remorseful and complete, it is a really good performance, and he does carry a lot of the movie. A lot of the other roles in the film are kind of mixed however; the first half has some decent characters like Spike Lee, Theresa Randle, Kate Vernon and Delroy Lindo, but after that no other side character really stick out as that memorable, even with actors like Angela Bassett and Al Freeman Jr doing their best.

From a technical perspective, the movie is very nice looking. While not going too overboard in trying to overly saturate the film to make it look unrealistic, the movie does have some great usage of color and lighting to make certain moments feel more emotionally effective and memorable. The cinematography by Ernest Dickerson isn’t anything striking distinct, but it gets across some good shots every once and a while and certain call-backs are easy to acknowledge due to this. The score and soundtrack by Terence Blanchard has a lot of atmosphere and mood to it that brings a feeling of the era, but one that specifically tied to the black community and culture, it adds a nice new life to it. The costumes for the movie are also incredibly stand-outish and impressive, bringing a level of realistic yet colorful zaniness to the outfits in the first quarter of the film that really accentuates the tone, style and feel of the Bronx of the 40s, which is strangely livelier and more fun than the more upper-class Harlem which feels distinctly different, with costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, showing off her talents in other movies like Dolemite is My Name and Black Panther. 

Malcolm X might not be a movie for everybody, especially those that don’t like biopics, but there is enough unique life and energy to this one that makes it a bit more enjoyable than others of its type. It doesn’t quite overdramatise his life enough to be weirdly off the record, but it does have that dramatic flair that adds to the experience rather than take away from it. It has good actors, it has good production and costuming, and it is an interesting tale of a man who didn’t always do things the right way, but eventually came around to a place which didn’t want to spread hate to anyone. It is a pretty long movie and one that doesn’t feel like it needs to be, and it does have some issues in certain segments throughout the film and in terms of its characterization, but overall it is still a well-made movie that is at least worth checking out once to learn more about this figurehead in black history.