Malcolm X (1992)

Another Denzel-starrer to follow on from my colleague's comprehensive review of American Gangster. And it's even on slightly similar territory in the sense that both films are true to life, though I don't think Gangster is a biopic in the same way as Malcolm X.

The material brings me back to a previous thread on MyFilmVault, biopics, why and how they're made and what makes them, and performances which define them, good or bad. This is a difficult topic, and I'll be coming back to it in a forthcoming 'Sunday Morning Political Slot'. But what, for now, of Malcolm X?

Unlike Mahatma Gandhi, I knew very little about X's life, except for the fact that he was a radical civil rights campaigner and that he was brutally and tragically assassinated. The film, therefore, had extra value for me than just being a film, I was genuinely interested in X's life and ideas and will explore his autobiography further as a result of this.

This is, essentially, very solid biopic stuff. Weighty, timely material (the film begins with high-impact footage of the beating of Rodney King in LA by police officers), good performances all round, epic running time and a nice balance between character and ideas. It turns out better, I think, than Gandhi, the most recent example I've seen to compare, but it doesn't reach the heights of arguably less-weighty biopics like the stunning Walk the Line.

Washington is good (as he so often is) as the charismatic and ambiguous X and he's ably supported by a supporting cast, especially the always magnificent (and underrated) Delroy Lindo, Angela Bassett and Albert Hall. The movie feels very well cast and plays out effectively. So much so, in fact, that the 3 hour plus running time breezes by (a high compliment indeed) and leaves you wanting more, particularly around X's early family life.

The real star of the show is Spike Lee. And I don't mean his occasionally dodgy acting (he was very good in Do The Right Thing, but not here). Lee is obviously a very political director and has made a number of important political statements on film, not least with the sublime Do The Right Thing (which I've just realised I've under graded on this site) and the recent Inside Man. And yet, especially for a man with such strong and passionate beliefs, he somehow manages to not rub your face in it. He doesn't tell you what to think, he leaves it to you to make up your own mind. This is personified by Ossie Davis' (real) eulogy to X at the film's end.

There are some outstanding scenes, brilliantly handled, not least the shocking (!) demise of X's father at the hands of the KKK. As I have said, more on X's early life would have been interesting. There are also apparently some inconsistencies concerning fact against fiction. For instance, I have heard that X actually met with KKK leaders because they shared some views about non-integration (X was, initially at least, a fervent black nationalist and was completely and wholly in favour of non-integration) I honestly don't know about this and the circumstances behind it, but it would, of course, have been interesting to include it, although Lee obviously must have had one eye on the clock as the film is lengthy anyway. One thing a good biopic should do is encourage you to go and find out more about its subject's life. And this is something I'll certainly do.

I'll be returning to this film, if not for a while, and I'd recommend it as an interesting introduction to X's life and thought, though gaps and inconsistencies should also be borne in mind.

B+