Title: Malcolm X (1992)
Director: Spike Lee
Duration: 3h 22m
Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Spike Lee, Giancarlo Esposito, Albert Hall, Delroy London
Before Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, he had been working on an autobiography with Alex Haley who went on to finish and publish the book after his death. The book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, is what the 1992 film was based on. Malcolm X is a dramatization of the life of the black consciousness activist who spent his life fighting for black rights and against the racist superstructures of “white America.”
The rights to the Autobiography of Malcolm X have been acquired since 1967 and there have been works to make a movie about him. Initially, James Baldwin worked on the screenplay but that fell apart due to a lot of difficulties. Baldwin, who had the original script for the Malcolm X movie, died in 1987 with the movie never made.
Not long after, talks for a movie were revived again and Norman Jewison was tapped to direct. Jewison was able to get Denzel Washington to play Malcolm X but there was a backlash from the black community as to why a movie about someone like Malcolm should be directed by a white person. Spike Lee was on the frontlines for this backlash and when Jewison resigned, he was in pole position to direct. Although he received some backlash too from some of Malcolm’s biggest supporters, he got the gig.
Then there was the controversy over the budget. Lee wanted $30m and all they would give him was incredibly less. He was able to fight for the money he wanted but there were still a lot of issues, especially with the length of the movie which the studio wanted to be about two hours. Spike Lee wanted an epic and he made it clear. With so many difficulties, the movie was paused in post-production and this was when Spike Lee got some prominent black people including Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan to donate some money to complete the movie. The donations helped Spike Lee finish the film and it was released in 1992 with generally positive reviews.
Denzel Washington received praise for his role as Malcolm X in the film and got an Academy nomination for it. He also won an NAACP award for his role in the movie. There were cameos from prominent black people like Bobby Seale, Al Sharpton, and the future South African president, Nelson Mandela who had only recently just gotten out of jail.
Overall, Malcolm X is a befitting biography for the icon, and his widow, Betty X served as a consultant for the movie, while The Fruit of Islam, the army of the Nation of Islam served as security during the production.
Spike Lee’s work was inspired and since 1992, there hasn’t been any biographical work on a black person that anyone can say has been categorically better than Malcolm X. The movie is also arguably Lee’s magnum opus.
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
IMDb: 7.7/10
Where to Watch Malcolm X (1992)?
You can be able to stream Malcolm X (1992) by renting or purchasing on
- Apple TV
- Google Play Movies
- Vudu
- Netflix
