Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X,” starring two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, is an incredible film that delves into the life of the remarkable civil rights leader.
The 1992 film follows X as a young man as he enters a life of crime, his incarceration and his turn into a well-educated and formidable leader.
While Malcolm X was typically seen as a hostile leader, anyone who has researched him or seen this film knows that his ideals were simply pro-Black. He never advocated for violence, only self-defense.
Lee succeeds in showing X’s true legacy and letting the audience get to know the boy who would become Malcolm X, Malcolm Little.
The film opens up with a shot of the American flag burning followed by a young Malcolm and his family’s encounter with the Ku Klux Klan. His upbring is consumed by financial hardship, racism and the tragedy of his activist father’s suspicious death.
The audience is shown how X’s early experiences set the seeds for his mindset in his years as an activist, especially his more militant years.
Next, the audience sees X’s incarceration and how an interaction with a follower of Islam led him to join the Nation of Islam’s ideology. Once he’s released, X follows under the mentorship of Elijah Muhammad, a black separatist and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah.
X’s passion, charisma and incredible speeches led him to become more of the face of the Nation of Islam causing turmoil within the organization.
Spike Lee showcases the power that Malcolm X held and how he used that power for the betterment of his people. Lee highlights how X’s power didn’t just make Muhammad nervous, but also the federal government.
We’re given the now famous line, “that’s too much power for one man to have,” where an officer watches as X disperses his troops away from a hospital with only hand gestures.
After leaving the Nation of Islam organization, X eventually travels to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for his pilgrimage to Mecca. After this experience, X fully converted to Islam, changed his views on race relations and left his beliefs of racial separation.
Lee’s cinematographer, Ernest R. Dickerson’s cinematography for the shots of Mecca are gorgeous and make the viewer feel as free as Malcolm is during these sequences.
Once the film arrives on the final day of X’s life, Spike Lee gives us his iconic dolly-zoom shot which features X as he walks down the street to the Audubon Ballroom where he’ll be assassinated.
“Malcolm X” is a beautifully crafted and fascinating film which still stands as Spike Lee’s best.
