MALCOLM X
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Spike Lee has brought THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF MALCOLM X to the screen in a film of large virtues and
large faults. We get some feel for the sweep of historic
events and a feel for how Malcolm's views were transformed
over time, but we get insufficient views of his beliefs at
any point in time, nor which set of his beliefs the film is
championing when it champions him. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4).
Spike Lee's MALCOLM X is a mammoth 201-minute film about the black Islamic leader that may not always be doing what Lee intended it to do. The film does say a lot about Malcolm, both positive and negative, but not nearly as much as one would expect for a film almost twice the length of most feature films. The film tells in approximately equal thirds about 1) his youth and his drift into crime; 2) his "redemption" and his association with the Nation of Islam; and 3) his break with the Nation of Islam, their campaign against him, and his murder, very likely at their hands. This should have given the audience a very good understanding of the man, but the screenplay by Arnold Perl and Spike Lee does not use its time well. At one point it stops the action dead for an extended dance production number. It also spends far too much time with Malcolm X's great good buddy, Shorty, who just happens to be played by Spike Lee. In addition, many of the events shown in the film are of questionable authenticity. For example, my understanding is that Malcolm's mother denies that her husband was murdered, unlike how it was shown in the film.
The film opens with Malcolm's youth. Malcolm (played by Denzel Washington) begins as a teenager trying to straighten his hair with the help of Shorty. The film then jumps around in time, never giving us a really good feel for what years things are taking place. We see something of his earlier youth with his family harassed by the Ku Klux Klan. Those scenes include one amazing shot that ironically seems to romanticize the Klan, riding off into a huge moon on the horizon. Again it is a sign that Lee is not fully in control of this film. Malcolm eventually moves first to Boston, then New York, then Boston again, embarking on a life of crime cut short by a prison sentence.
In prison, Malcolm is recruited by Baines (played by Albert Hall) for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm is impressed by Baines's questionable rhetoric. (His description of why Muslims eat no pork is a real corker! As for his claims that Islam has a great in-built respect for blacks as people... am I the only person who remembers there was a huge Arab slave trade in Africa even well after slavery was abolished in Europe and the Americas? In fact, I believe that the reason Swahili is still so widespread in Africa is that it was the language created from Bantu and Arabic for the Arab slave trade. That fact just does not seem to square with a large black movement to champion Islam.) Malcolm leaves prison with an abiding belief in Elijah Muhammad--very well-played by Al Freeman, Jr., who played Malcolm X in ROOTS II--and in the precept that all whites are devils.
The film than covers Malcolm's rise to and fall from power in Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. Here it becomes unclear exactly what the film's attitude toward the Nation of Islam is. While Malcolm appears in some ways to be doing very positive things, he behaves and presents his viewpoints very differently in front of blacks than in front of whites. Lee seems to be attacking the Nation of Islam for hypocrisy. Eventually when Malcolm starts presenting the same vitriolic message to the whites that he was giving to the blacks, it starts the rift between Malcolm and the Nation of Islam. It may be hard for much of the audience to cheer statements like, "The Earth belongs to us ... the black man," or banners that say, "We must protect our most valuable property ... our women." Malcolm also rejects integration entirely in favor of complete separation between the black and white races.
In the final third of the film, Malcolm's views shift entirely. He is no longer an advocate of racial separation, but of racial harmony through Islam. He is willing to accept that there may be good whites in the world, as long as they are also good Muslims. He is no longer willing to follow Elijah Muhammad and founds his own rival Muslim black sect. This leads to the tragic events of which the audience is probably already aware.
The film concludes by showing documentary footage of the real Malcolm X. Often historical films shy away from showing documentary footage of characters they have portrayed by actors. Perhaps it is to avoid confusion about if it is indeed the same person. Or perhaps showing the footage would be inviting criticism of how well or badly the actor was made to look like the actual person. Lee's use of real footage of Malcolm X shows that assumption may well be underestimating the audience. After the footage, several black celebrities are seen wearing caps bearing the "X," though it is not clear which set of Malcolm X's sets of beliefs they are claiming to espouse.
The performances in MALCOLM X are generally quite good. Denzel Washington very quickly becomes Malcolm X for the audience. Al Freeman, Jr., is very believable as the founder of a huge movement. Angela Bassett and Lonette McKee are both very moving as Malcolm's wife and mother, respectively. Only notably out of place is Spike Lee himself playing basically the same jazzy character he played in SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, or comically fainting on hearing his prison sentence. There is much he could have cut from the film to actually improve its effectiveness and his own performance heads the list.
MALCOLM X teaches some history and presents some ideas, but does neither well enough to justify its length and hoopla. Lee's dream project falls short of some of the films he made preparing for it. I rate MALCOLM X a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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