Malcolm X

With Malcolm X, director/co-screenwriter Spike Lee has produced a true-to-life biopic on the title character who was first a strident advocate for the American Nation of Islam during the 1950's and early 60's, later becoming an extremely high profile human rights activist during the civil rights movement, before his assassination in 1965.

The film dramatises key events in Malcolm X's life with the main thread beginning with his post war criminal career and later conversion to Islam whilst in jail, which directly led to his assumption of the identity of Malcolm X . Defining childhood incidents, including his father's death, his mother's mental illness, and his experiences with racism are dramatised in (ironically) brief flashbacks, considering the elephantine length of the rest of the film.

From my understanding of the life of Malcolm X, Lee has stuck closely to the facts in constructing his biography. I believe there is only a limited amount of fictionalisation for artistic and dramatic licence. For that, I guess many will be grateful. Lee has also recreated the roughly two decades the film's story covers, extremely authentically. The sets and costuming are first class, with occasional pieces of newsreel footage and still photos supplementing that of his own filming. The performances are uniformly outstanding. Denzal Washington must have been desperately unlucky to miss out on the 1992 Academy Award for his powerful, central portrayal of the conspicuously, hard-nosed and divisive X.

For me though at 202 long minutes, this film is too dragged out and warranted tighter editing. The first act focusing on his early life of crime in Harlem and later Boston is for instance, needlessly protracted with interesting, but ultimately quite unimportant night club dancing and musical interludes. Could it possibly be that its prolonged appearance is due to Spike Lee himself, appearing in this section as a supporting character?

Malcolm X is a technically well-made, obvious labour of love for Lee, but I think it may have reached wider audiences if edited to a more manageable, less indulgent length.

Outstanding film, with brilliant work from Washington in the title role. Lee's direction is excellent and, despite being a tad preachy at the end, this is without a doubt his penultimate picture. The supporting cast also is great with fine performances from Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz and the marvelous Al Freeman, Jr. as Elijah Muhammad. It's a terrific spiritual and emotional journey of a young black man in mid-20th century America. The fact that it is taken by a man who contributed so much to our history as Americans makes it all the more special. I urge all lovers of cinema- and history- to take this journey for themselves.

This was a stirring tribute of a film that to this day still stands the test of time even after its release more than a decade ago. This was in fact a autobiography and educational film which some of the most electrifying performance ever displayed on film,and it is the reason to see why. This was Denzel Washington's finest piece of work and most notably the best of his career in which he should have been nominated for Best Actor Oscar category,instead of his work which he won the Best Actor statue for 2001's "Training Day". Anyway,"Malcolm X",was a brilliant tribute to the controversial black activist,a leader in the struggle for black liberation as well as black pride and one of the most outspoken individuals who had a different side of the civil rights movement where a time when America was at war with itself.

Based on the best-selling autobiography by Malcolm X and Alex Haley,and with spellbinding direction by Spike Lee,it traces the story of Malcolm himself,from his days as a hustler and drug runner and hitting rock bottom during his imprisonment in the 1950's,he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation Of Islam under the guidance of the honorable Elijah Muhammad. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of black nationalism,self-determination and racial pride that continues to the day and within a new generation whom for the first time has witnessed a masterpiece of cimematic work. This is marked by strong performances throughout with powerful direction by Spike Lee,cimematopgrapher Ernest Dickerson,and riveting breathtaking performances by Denzel Washington,Angela Bassett,and most notably from Al Freeman,Jr. as Elijah Muhammad. The real centerpiece of the film is from Denzel Washington himself,whose convincing performance in the title role brings this film alive. When this film came out,it only receive one Oscar nomination but however,the film garnered a lot of awards including the NAACP Image Film Award,The New York Film Critics Award for Best Actor,The Los Angeles Times Film Award for Best Director and Best Actor,and MTV Movie Awards for both Denzel Washington and Al Freeman,Jr.--all of this happened in 1992,when the film came out.

As far as the cameos go,this film had a lot of them in one picture including Black Panther Bobby Seale,Reverend Al Sharpton,The Honorable Nelson Mandela,Reverend Jesse Jackson,along with Hollywood walk-ons: Christopher Plummer,Karen Allen,Peter Boyle and Danny Glover,and Whoopi Goldberg.

Brilliant!-Five Stars

This is one of the greatest epics on one of the most complex individuals of the twentieth century. However, this was also a victim of one of the greatest snubs in Oscar history. Despite the greatness of this film it was only nominated for two Academy Awards. Denzel Washington, deservedly, was nominated for his performance. However, he was beaten out by Al Pacino for his portrayal of a blind former army officer in Scent of a Woman. But perhaps the biggest snub was suffered by Spike Lee. Lee made the film come to life as he told Malcolm's story, but he wasn't even nominated for his work. Perhaps it was because of his controversial statements regarding blacks in Hollywood that caused him to be snubbed. No matter what, this film should have received at least six or seven nominations, especially for Angela Bassett and Al Freeman.

A great movie if overlong and slightly unfocused.

Washington carried the film with a great performance worthy of an Oscar nomination if not a win which might have been guaranteed had the director managed to focus.

Spike Lee did a good job as director which is saying a lot, given the historical scope, danger of offense, and controversy of the project. His one weak area in this film was editing. There is no reason this movie couldn't have been half an hour shorter. Right off the bat, there were unnecessarily lingering camera shots and scenes that could have omitted. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Spike himself sliding under a woman's skirt and mugging the camera. That scene not only failed to further the story but instead made the audience stand up and say, "Hey, that's Spike looking at us!" Lee's biggest editing mistake was based on his desire to tell the story of Malcolm X AND tell the story of the African-American experience. That's more than enough for several movies so why cram it all under one title? After a clear scene illustrating X's life, Lee would move to a large dance hall to illustrate the richness of the African-American experience. A quick shot of the dance hall would have been sufficient. Instead the far away shots were maintained for too long and when the focus moved back to specific characters it moved to the character played by Lee himself. Why? I don't know. It certainly didn't help us to understand X any better. The ending with children saying "I am Malcolm X" also went on too long and should have been part of a separate feature. The cameos were distracting. The movie could have been tighter, shorter, and better except that Spike Lee wanted to put everything, including the kitchen sink, into it.

That being said, it is a great movie and I'm glad I invested the three and a half hours to watch it.