Malcolm X - Spike Lee
Bio-pic of the controversial spokesperson for a radical Nation of Islam group in the US in the 50s and 60s.
The film charts everything about Malcolm’s life from his early childhood; early adult years; the time he spends in prison through to his assassination.
There is so much going on in this film and to be honest, it was way too long.
I understand wanting to be true to the source material and everything here is important but the run time is 3 hours and 22 mins.
There are six main phases to this story. The film is linear apart from the stuff when he was a kid which is interspersed throughout the film – generally in the early part.
Then we have his early life as a hoodlum. The third is his time in prison. The fourth is when he first gets out and finds his place in the Nation of Islam.
Then we have the conflict with the other leaders and the figurehead. The final is him breaking away and forming his group which leads to his assassination.
All of these phases of the story are important to inform the outcomes and have threads throughout. But when you get to this run time you have to cut something.
So first of all – the ordinary world setup is way too long. It tries to tell too much.
The scenes when he is a child see the trauma that his family went through and his dad’s life parallels his trials. But they are probably not needed. It’s cool but unneeded.
The film also spends too much time setting Malcolm up as a flawed man in the ordinary world. We needed some of these key points but Roberry and the dispute with the head of the gambling ring could have been cut.
The underlying story with Lorna & Sophia is much more interesting.
Because of the length as I am looking at my notes so much of what I was thinking about is what could have been cut rather than focusing on what was done well.
I found the scenes in the prison some of the best in the film. The road to conversion was very interesting.
The final thing that they should have cut was the dream-like sequence as he approaches his assassination.
This is a very cool slow-mo sequence watching Malcolm from an odd angle but right at the end when we are three hours in you just need the film to end.
The absolutly disgusting things that his family had to put up with when he was groing up were something. You can see why he wanted to get back at the white man.
The tenor of white hatred continues in jail as Baines convinces him to join islam.
There is a truly spectacular sequence when one of their congregation is brutalized by the police and then through militant control of the men of the Nation of Islam he has the brother taken to hospital and this culminates in the formation of a mob – the police are worried.
The clinical way that Malcolm bends the police to his will in a period where they were just as likely to shoot them all was something else.
The downfall of the group and the splitting up of the leadership is so sad to see.
The way that we can see that Malcolm is going to fall for it is set so well in the way he parrots everything Elijah Mohammad – the leader says.
This is another great part of the film as we see a piece of information being imparted to Malcolm and then we cut to him saying it to his wife or the congregation. Great stuff.
Malcolm is a super interesting character and his story is of real significance to the US and the world. I would probably suggest reading a biography rather than watching this.
