Malcolm X (1992)

Director:

Spike Lee

Writers (WGA):

Alex Haley (book) and
Malcolm X (book) ...

Release Date:

18 November 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

The biopic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader.

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Ku Klux Klan | Gangster | Islam | African American

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Denzel Washington	...	Malcolm X
Angela Bassett	...	Dr. Betty Shabazz
Albert Hall	...	Baines
Al Freeman Jr.	...	Elijah Muhammad
Delroy Lindo	...	West Indian Archie
Spike Lee	...	Shorty
Theresa Randle	...	Laura
Kate Vernon	...	Sophia
Lonette McKee	...	Louise Little
Tommy Hollis	...	Earl Little
James McDaniel	...	Brother Earl
Ernest Thomas	...	Sidney
Jean-Claude La Marre	...	Benjamin 2X (as Jean LaMarre)
O.L. Duke	...	Pete
Larry McCoy	...	Sammy

Also Known As:

X (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a scene of violence, and for drugs and some language.

Runtime:

202 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | New Zealand:PG | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

300 Wyckoff Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

After the assassination all footage of Malcolm X is of the real man, most of it in black and white.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the "Russian Roulette" sequence when Malcolm holds the gun up to Rudy's face, the chamber to the (screen) right has a bullet in it. This is the chamber that Malcolm had just "fired" at his own head. Since the gun didn't fire, there would have been nothing but an empty chamber

Quotes:

[first lines]
Announcer: In the name of Allah the merciful, all praises due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. The one God to whom praise is due forever. The one who came to us in the person of Master Fard Muhammad and raised up the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Amen.
[pause]
Announcer: Asalaamalaikum!
Crowd: Alaikum-salaam!
Announcer: How do you feel?
Crowd: Good!
Announcer: Who do we want to hear?
Announcer: Malcolm X!
Announcer: Are we gonna bring him on? Yes, we gonna bring him on. Well let us hear from our minister, Minister Malcolm X. Let us bring him on with a round of applause!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stella Shorts 1998-2002 (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Chew Chew Chew

Great but needed a better editor

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.