Malcolm X (film)
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| Malcolm X | |
|---|---|
| Image:Malcolmxposter.jpg | |
| Directed by | Spike Lee |
| Produced by | Marvin Worth Spike Lee |
| Written by | Arnold Perl Spike Lee |
| Starring | Denzel Washington |
| Music by | Terence Blanchard |
| Cinematography | Ernest R. Dickerson |
| Editing by | Barry Alexander Brown |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 18, 1992 |
| Running time | 202 min |
| Country | Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ca. US$34,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical film directed by Spike Lee about the African-American activist and black nationalist Malcolm X. The story is based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley. Denzel Washington was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Malcolm X. It is one of only two films directed by Spike Lee to earn a PG-13 rating in the USA; the other is 1994's Crooklyn.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Malcolm X divides the life of the African-American activist Malcolm X into three sections. The first section deals with the troubled childhood of Malcolm Little, whose father, a preacher, was murdered by the Black Legion and whose mother was institutionalized for insanity. Malcolm grows up and gets a job as a Pullman porter, calling himself Detroit Red. Getting involved with a Harlem gangster named West Indian Archie with whom he has a falling out, Malcolm flees to Boston and decides to become a burglar. He and his best friend, Shorty (played by Spike Lee) are arrested by the police and Malcolm is sentenced to a ten-year prison term. The second section follows Malcolm's life in prison, where a fellow inmate, Baines, introduces him to the teachings of the Nation of Islam.
The third section follows Malcolm's religious conversion as a disciple of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. During this fervent immersion into the Nation of Islam, he becomes an incendiary speaker for the movement and marries Betty Shabazz. Malcolm X preaches a doctrine of separation from white society. However, a pilgrimage to Mecca softens his beliefs, teaching him that Muslims come from all races, even whites, and he endeavors to break free of the strict dogma of the Nation of Islam, with tragic results. He is assassinated on February 21, 1965, in New York City.
[edit] Themes
The most prominent theme that dominates the story is that of a self-made leader who makes a successful life for himself after experiencing abject poverty, prejudice, and racism as a youth and prison as a young man. The film also confronts the racial prejudice, discrimination, and violence experienced by many black people in America.
[edit] Production difficulties
Spike Lee sought to make the film controversial even before the project received a greenlight from Warner Brothers. Initially, Warner Studios wanted Norman Jewison to direct the film.[citation needed] Lee was vocal in his opposition to the choice of Jewison, a white filmmaker. Lee felt that Malcolm's story had to be told by a black director.[citation needed] Jewison eventually stepped aside. Lee also encountered difficulty in securing the budget he felt was needed. Lee felt that a budget allowance of $33 million was reasonable; however, Warner balked at the sum and refused to approve any more than $20 million and a running length of 135 minutes. Lee took the battle public and several prominent African-American entertainers responded by donating $11 million more to the project. Lee was then free to complete the film the way he wanted and increase the running length to 195 minutes. Warner did allow for more funds after positive reaction from a viewing of a rough version of the film.[citation needed]
[edit] Cast
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featured actors:
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special appearances:
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[edit] Production information
Screenwriter Arnold Perl collaborated with James Baldwin on a screenplay before Perl's death in 1971. Baldwin developed his work on the screenplay into the book One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1972. Malcolm X credits Perl and Lee as the writers and Malcolm X and Alex Haley as the authors of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Baldwin's name was omitted, reportedly at the request of his family.
Tracy Chapman, Bill Cosby, Janet Jackson, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Prince, Oprah Winfrey, and Peggy Cooper Cafritz (co-founder of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.) collectively donated approximately US$11 million to ensure the completion of the film. Most of these individuals (excluding Prince and Winfrey) are pictured briefly toward the end of the closing credits.
[edit] Filming locations
Malcolm X is the first non-documentary, and the first American-produced film, to be given permission to film in Mecca (or within the Haram Sharif). A second film crew was hired to film in Mecca because non-Muslims are not allowed inside the city.
The film's opening scene depicts Boston in the 1940s. This scene was actually shot in Ridgewood, Queens, New York City. The elevated cars are the NYC D-Type Triplex and are owned by the New York Transit Museum.
[edit] Other depictions
- In the 1979 TV miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, Malcolm was portrayed by Al Freeman, Jr. Freeman portrays Elijah Muhammad in Malcolm X.
- In two TV movies about the life of Muhammad Ali which aired in 2000, Malcolm was portrayed by Gary Dourdan (King of the World) and Joe Morton (Ali: An American Hero).
- Jeff Stetson's 1987 one-act play The Meeting depicts a fictional, clandestine encounter between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X shortly before Malcolm's assassination. In a 1989 American Playhouse production of the play, Jason Bernard portrays Dr. King and Dick Anthony Williams portrays Malcolm.
- At the age of nine, Denzel Washington's son John David Washington made a cameo appearance in the film as a student in a Harlem classroom.
- Angela Bassett reprised her role as Betty Shabazz in the 1995 film Panther, which was directed by Mario Van Peebles. Coincidentally, Van Peebles played Malcolm X in the 2001 bio-pic Ali.
- Morgan Freeman portrayed Malcolm X in the 1981 television movie "Death of a Prophet." The film depicts the seven days preceding Malcolm X's assassination on February 21, 1965.
[edit] Sources and omissions
- The eulogy that Ossie Davis delivers over the documentary footage of Malcolm X's life near the end of the film[1] is excerpted from the one that he wrote and delivered himself at Malcolm's actual funeral in 1965.
- The book The Autobiography of Malcolm X details how most Nation of Islam ministers turned against Malcolm at Elijah Muhammad's behest. Among them was Louis X, who is today known as Louis Farrakhan. Some have suggested that Farrakhan was complicit in Malcolm's assassination. But Lee avoids this subject entirely, and Farrakhan is conspicuously absent from the film.
- The late Dr. Betty Shabazz was this film's project consultant.
- Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, a member of the Nation of Islam in the early to mid-1960s, was a personal friend of Malcolm. However, he also shunned Malcolm after his expulsion from the Nation. These events are also absent from the movie, but director Michael Mann depicts them in the 2001 film Ali, with Will Smith as Ali and Mario Van Peebles as Malcolm.
- Baines, portrayed by Albert Hall, is a fictional character. His primary role in the film — to introduce prison inmate Malcolm Little to the Nation of Islam -- was filled in real life by Malcolm's siblings, and by a fellow inmate named Bimbi.
[edit] Technical trivia
| Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The title credits of this film include footage of the beating of Rodney King.
- The names of the three assassins charged with Malcolm X's murder are listed in the final credits of the film.
- After the assassination scene, all footage of Malcolm X is of the real man, most of it in black and white.
- The last song played during the closing credits is "Revolution" by Arrested Development. The song was the only contemporary song included on the film's soundtrack.
- The scenes of the JFK assassination are taken from Oliver Stone's JFK (1991). In this film, Vincent D'Onofrio is credited as playing Bill Newman (a witness to the Kennedy shooting), the same character he played in Stone's film.
- In the film's final scene, South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela — recently released after 27 years of political imprisonment -- appears as a schoolteacher in a classroom in Soweto. He recites a portion of one of Malcolm X's most famous speeches, including:
| “ | We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence... | ” |
— Malcolm X
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- The final phrase, “by any means necessary”, was omitted from the end at the request of Mandela who felt he could not utter this phrase on camera, believing the South African government would somehow use it against him politically. Instead, actual footage of Malcolm X speaking the words "by any means necessary" in the last few seconds of the film.
[edit] Cameos
- Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale and civil rights activist Al Sharpton make cameo appearances as street preachers.
- Left-leaning attorney William Kunstler appears as a judge.
- Civil rights activist Wyatt Tee Walker appears as a hospital spokesman.
- One of Malcolm's daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz, appears as a follower at Temple #7.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Malcolm X at the Internet Movie Database
- Malcolm X at Rotten Tomatoes
- Malcolm X at Box Office Mojo
- Malcolm X Reloaded: Who Really Assassianted Malcolm X
Films directed by Spike Lee |
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| Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads • She's Gotta Have It • School Daze • Do the Right Thing • Mo' Better Blues • Jungle Fever • Malcolm X • Crooklyn • Clockers • Girl 6 • Get on the Bus • 4 Little Girls • He Got Game • Freak • Summer of Sam • The Original Kings of Comedy • Bamboozled • A Huey P. Newton Story • Jim Brown: All-American • Sucker Free City • 25th Hour • She Hate Me • Inside Man • When the Levees Broke • Miracle at St. Anna |
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