Directed by Spike Lee, this over-budgeted very lengthy biopic, "Malcolm X" tells most of every facet of his life as he begins as a gangster to becoming a Muslim convert, to becoming an outspoken African- American who wanted to believe that his fellow people should never be afraid to stand up to themselves and to be happy with the skin they have.
In the early scenes we see Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) starting out as a criminal under his accomplice named West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo). He starts by robbing houses along with his assistant Shorty (Spike Lee) and joining his for the ride is a hot young blond named Sophia (Kate Vernon) with whom he chooses as a love interest over a much well-behaved African-American girl named Laura (Theresa Randle).
Later on, Malcolm ends up incarcerated and opposing the Biblical teachings from Chaplain Gill (Christopher Plummer) and seems more on the side of African-American Muslim convert Baines (Albert Hall). Once he's discharged, he become the top followers of the Nation of Islam under the influence of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.)
Malcolm X becomes a charismatic celebrity, which the white press so arbitrarily decided to lash out controversy towards this young radical. As his bravado increased proportionately, the Nation of Islam became very envious about it while the Nation of Islam becomes a part of a scandal involving Elijah's illegitimate children.
Malcolm eventually married Dr. Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett) and raise three wonderful daughters. He then makes a religious journey to Mecca and declares that not all Caucasians are not entirely evil. When he returns to America, he breaks ties with the Nation of Islam and establishes a rival church that fits the modern spirit at the time. The Nation of Islam did not take this very well and at the Audubon Hotel in Manhattan on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was beginning a speech when a disturbance takes shape, Malcolm tries to calm everybody down and was gunned down (one of the shooters was his former friend Baines).
The movie itself was very high in terms of budget in spite of the very gargantuan production costs. Denzel was nominated at the Oscars for Best Actor in a leading role, but sadly was ousted by Al Pacino for his role in "Scent of a Woman." Washington had to wait several years before winning the Leading Actor Oscar in the film "Training Day."
The film itself was quite accurate in the time period clothes making it very authentic and the lingo spoken by the characters was very appropriate during the time period. The costume design was also in Oscar contention as well. The other high point was that many scenes were very well filmed, especially the uproar during Malcolm X's assassination.
Sure it was praised by many including myself, there are still quite a few issues that didn't sit very well with me. Some of these were small nit-pickings while others were much more bigger that truly hindered the film from being anything but perfect.
Where to start was the singing performance by Miki Howard, who was supposed to play the part of Billie Holiday, but her voice doesn't even come close to even sounding like her. Anybody who listens to jazz and Big Band music know Holiday's familiar voice. It wouldn't have hurt if she just lip-synched from a Holiday soundtrack and it would have been more convincing. Lee really should have known better.
The more obvious falsifications come from the character Sophia. She's hanging out at an all black girls nightclub and just freely throws herself in Malcolm's arms with no indication as to he is. I'm sorry but that is very illogical. It's just a scene designed to get male viewers' attention. It would never happen to you even if you have Washington's looks.
It seems strange that the Nation of Islam has a hostile attitude to Washington who at the time looked decent, well-caring family man who loved his wife and kids. Did he munch on pork rinds at the time? Who knows?
Another unanswered question stems from the scene where he stands up the cops after they unmercifully beat the tar out of a black man. Malcolm brings in a group of identically dressed black men to await for his command. Where did he find them and how did they fall into his lead? And what's the purpose of them acting like soldiers? To me they're there to look cool behind the camera if nothing else.
And finally I must wonder what does Malcolm X himself truly stand for? He transforms from a thief in his early years, to a radical Islamic radical and finally reconsiders his thoughts long enough and before you know it he's murdered. Sure his mission was to for equality, but his execution was more radical rather than peaceful. He was separated from most of his life and wanted his fellow people not to anticipate with anything the white majority did and joined a church who eventually turned against him by having him killed.
These quibbles are what brought this movie down. I think some editing should have been greatly desired as this movie went on too long and many scenes needed further explanation. But other than that, the performances were excellent an Washington acted his heart here as the the other performers. But the illogical scenarios brought this film down from being an absolute masterpiece.
In the early scenes we see Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) starting out as a criminal under his accomplice named West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo). He starts by robbing houses along with his assistant Shorty (Spike Lee) and joining his for the ride is a hot young blond named Sophia (Kate Vernon) with whom he chooses as a love interest over a much well-behaved African-American girl named Laura (Theresa Randle).
Later on, Malcolm ends up incarcerated and opposing the Biblical teachings from Chaplain Gill (Christopher Plummer) and seems more on the side of African-American Muslim convert Baines (Albert Hall). Once he's discharged, he become the top followers of the Nation of Islam under the influence of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.)
Malcolm X becomes a charismatic celebrity, which the white press so arbitrarily decided to lash out controversy towards this young radical. As his bravado increased proportionately, the Nation of Islam became very envious about it while the Nation of Islam becomes a part of a scandal involving Elijah's illegitimate children.
Malcolm eventually married Dr. Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett) and raise three wonderful daughters. He then makes a religious journey to Mecca and declares that not all Caucasians are not entirely evil. When he returns to America, he breaks ties with the Nation of Islam and establishes a rival church that fits the modern spirit at the time. The Nation of Islam did not take this very well and at the Audubon Hotel in Manhattan on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was beginning a speech when a disturbance takes shape, Malcolm tries to calm everybody down and was gunned down (one of the shooters was his former friend Baines).
The movie itself was very high in terms of budget in spite of the very gargantuan production costs. Denzel was nominated at the Oscars for Best Actor in a leading role, but sadly was ousted by Al Pacino for his role in "Scent of a Woman." Washington had to wait several years before winning the Leading Actor Oscar in the film "Training Day."
The film itself was quite accurate in the time period clothes making it very authentic and the lingo spoken by the characters was very appropriate during the time period. The costume design was also in Oscar contention as well. The other high point was that many scenes were very well filmed, especially the uproar during Malcolm X's assassination.
Sure it was praised by many including myself, there are still quite a few issues that didn't sit very well with me. Some of these were small nit-pickings while others were much more bigger that truly hindered the film from being anything but perfect.
Where to start was the singing performance by Miki Howard, who was supposed to play the part of Billie Holiday, but her voice doesn't even come close to even sounding like her. Anybody who listens to jazz and Big Band music know Holiday's familiar voice. It wouldn't have hurt if she just lip-synched from a Holiday soundtrack and it would have been more convincing. Lee really should have known better.
The more obvious falsifications come from the character Sophia. She's hanging out at an all black girls nightclub and just freely throws herself in Malcolm's arms with no indication as to he is. I'm sorry but that is very illogical. It's just a scene designed to get male viewers' attention. It would never happen to you even if you have Washington's looks.
It seems strange that the Nation of Islam has a hostile attitude to Washington who at the time looked decent, well-caring family man who loved his wife and kids. Did he munch on pork rinds at the time? Who knows?
Another unanswered question stems from the scene where he stands up the cops after they unmercifully beat the tar out of a black man. Malcolm brings in a group of identically dressed black men to await for his command. Where did he find them and how did they fall into his lead? And what's the purpose of them acting like soldiers? To me they're there to look cool behind the camera if nothing else.
And finally I must wonder what does Malcolm X himself truly stand for? He transforms from a thief in his early years, to a radical Islamic radical and finally reconsiders his thoughts long enough and before you know it he's murdered. Sure his mission was to for equality, but his execution was more radical rather than peaceful. He was separated from most of his life and wanted his fellow people not to anticipate with anything the white majority did and joined a church who eventually turned against him by having him killed.
These quibbles are what brought this movie down. I think some editing should have been greatly desired as this movie went on too long and many scenes needed further explanation. But other than that, the performances were excellent an Washington acted his heart here as the the other performers. But the illogical scenarios brought this film down from being an absolute masterpiece.