The Narrative and Cinematic Presentation of Malcolm X - Essay Example

and Number of the Teacher’s ‘MALCOLM X’ THE FILM Introduction Malcolm X (1925-1965) was the African American social activist with revolutionary views on confronting the subjugation and injustice meted out to fellow Black Americans. He is well remembered for his struggle to overcome racial segregation and discrimination. Malcolm X was one of the most influential public figures in America in the early 1960s which was a time of heated racial tension. Malcolm’s rhetoric had a quality that disturbed many white Americans. “Malcolm X was seen as unifying or divisive, extreme or realistic, an agitator or simply passionate” (Novak: 25-26). The film Malcolm X is closely based on his biography, directed by Spike Lee. The main role is played by Denzel Washington, and the screenplay is written by James Baldwin. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to examine the movie Malcolm X, to study the details of the narrative, and write about one’s personal reaction to the film. The Narrative and Cinematic Presentation of ‘Malcolm X’ Spike Lee, the director of the movie Malcolm X, 1992, as in his earlier films has dealt with a controversial issue and made a personal statement, supported by his cinematographer Ernest Dickerson. In Malcolm X Lee and Dickerson created the life of a man who according to Lee “rose up from the dregs of society, spent time in jail, re- educated himself and, through spiritual enlightenment, rose to the top” (Harrell 28). Before the release of the movie in November 1992, there were excessive predictions of violence erupting among the black or white people. However, public reaction to the film was passive since the director Spike Lee had stressed more on the personal redemption aspect of Malcolm X’s story, avoiding excessive focus on social and racial conflict. The first part of the film deals with Malcolm as a criminal, the next as a prophet, and the last as a martyr (Georgakas 16). When the opening credits of the film roll, Denzel Washington’s voice is heard in his role as Malcolm X. He delivers a speech about the racial discrimination practised by the white race against the black race, and the atrocities committed against the later. The American flag is shown burning into an ‘X’, along with footage of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers, intercut with the credits. He is shown to associate with two women, one a respectable black woman, and the other is Sophia, a white woman who will become his partner. Malcolm X gets involved in gambling, selling drugs and other crime. To get away from the mob leader, Malcolm and his associate Shorty flee to Boston, where they are caught robbing a house and are sent to prison. The housebreaking provides a comedy interlude, similar to Malcolm’s repeated use of shampoos for straightening his hair. Georgakas (p.16) states that he continued the hair straightening due to self-hatred and wanting to be white. While in prison Malcolm discovered the writings of Elijah Muhammed on the Nation of Islam which transformed his atheism to faith in Islam. This took place due to his learning about the proud history and traditions of black people throughout the world. “According to Elijah Muhammed, white people are ‘devils’ because they have exploited and oppressed black people for centuries” (Aboulafia 9). This helped him to achieve a major turnaround from his downward spiral of declining moral character and low self-esteem. In 1952 he took the last name X, in rejection of the white man’s name (X 119). The prison sequence dramatically reveals Malcolm’s conversion to the Nation of Islam by a fellow inmate who is later shown to become jealous of his student’s popularity. This feature in the film is not according to the autobiography, which states that Malcolm’s conversion was due to his immediate family and regular correspondence with Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the sect. Malcolm started preaching the teachings. After being released from prison, Malcolm rose through the ranks of the Nation of Islam, until he was second only to Elijah Muhammed. Although the movement appears larger than it was, Malcolm’s key role in the development and public image of the Nation of Islam is shown accurately. While Malcolm X’s strong approach advocating personal and community self-help are focused upon, his speeches and virulent attacks against whites and civil rights leaders are not shown on screen. His marriage and personal life are portrayed as perfect. Georgakas (p.16) reiterates that Denzel Washington does a realistic depiction of the enthusiasm, body language, and manner of speaking of the public Malcolm, while portraying the private Malcolm as placid and humorless. Malcolm’s pilgrimage to Mecca where he discovers the Nation of Islam, is unorthodox with its teachings that all white people are devils, and is not convincing to the film’s viewers. Returning to America, Malcolm breaks away from the Nation disillusioned with Elijah Muhammed’s spiritual authority, and forms rival religious and secular organizations. These crucial moments in Malcolm’s life are deprived of their dynamism because his trips to Africa and the Middle East are omitted, states Georgakas (p.16). In those travels, he had been urged by many heads of state to join the civil rights movement for an integrated America and to place the African American struggle before the United Nations, thereby ensuring global knowledge about it. Malcolm X had consequently mended his feud with Martin Luther King, and combined his new secular organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity with the main civil rights movement. This fact was omitted in the film, thus incorrectly representing the account of his final year. After his second pilgirmage to Mecca, he had further realization and spiritual awakening, and saw a true sense of brotherhood practised by people of all races and nationalities. Thus, Malcolm X “stopped his anti-white teachings, and renounced his black separatist beliefs” (Aboulafia 10). There are sequences that show CIA agents photographing Malcolm in Egypt and FBI agents secretly placing listening devices in his phone and premises in New York. This appears to be racist suspicion rather than apprehension for Malcolm’s international contacts and his ideological change to the political left. The movie does not look into this feature of Malcolm’s final days, preferring to take the easier way of presenting the facts of the assassination in great detail. On February 21st, 1965, in a full hall where his wife and daughters are seated in the first row, Malcolm X was ready to deliver a speech. He is gunned down by assassins, religious fanatic Muslims. Georgakas (p.16) asserts that at the age of thirty-nine years, Malcolm’s intuitive realization of his end has been indicated by his repeated remembrance of his father’s persecution and murder. Ossie Davis’s funeral oration is used by the director to change smoothly to a mixed sequence in which Malcolm’s name and image are shown as symbols for African American integrity and rebellion. Black children chant “I am Malcolm”, and Nelson Mandela in the form of a school teacher requests the viewers to study Malcolm’s life. The film comes to a close with documentary footage of the real Malcolm X. The few moments showing images of the man are far more powerful and complex than the icon represented in the fictional parts of the film, states Georgakas (p.17). Scale, Classical Style, Color Schemes and Other Attributes of the Film The film attempts to recreate the political and personal background upon which Malcolm X’s life progressed and death took place. The photographic approach of the film is echoed in the publicity poster for Malcolm X, with a grey capital X against a jet black backdrop creating a stark and powerful image (Harrell 28). Both Dickerson the cinematographer and Lee the director were noted for highly expressive camera angles and movements but for Malcolm X they opted to use a more stripped-down classical style. Although the distributors Warner Brothers wanted a two-hour movie, the duo had always intended to make a three-hour film” (Harrell 28) on an epic scale. Notably, the color schemes in the film work on the viewers’ subconsciousness. The production designer Wynn Thomas and Dickerson wanted to make the early part of the film the most colorful. They used warm colors to give the impression of Malcolm in the womb waiting to be reborn reiterates Harrell (p.29). When Malcolm was arrested and behind bars, the warm colors gave way to cold colors reflecting the shock of the chilliness of prison. Hence, the color scheme used for prison included greys, blacks, and bluish-greys. The lighting scheme also emphasized the coldness, and there was no diffusion effect. This is supported by Harrell (p.30) who states that the creative team opted to use a very hard and very cool, stark vision. Further special lighting effects are found in various scenes and sequences. The sequence where Malcolm sees the vision of Elijah Muhammed in prison is bathed in a golden light. After Malcolm is out of prison, Dickerson introduced another subtle change in the color scheme to portray Malcolm’s growth in the Nation of Islam. A normal color scheme with a low level of diffusion produces a clean, straightforward look, reflecting Dickerson’s view of the Nation of Islam. The result is that an appearance of controlled realism is achieved by Thomas and Dickerson, with diffusion used selectively using filters and nets in tones of brown and black, adds Harrell (p.29). The effect of the film Malcolm X is however, not restricted only to the period costumes, sets, and huge lighting setups. “The film’s true focus is the man and the effect he had on the people around him” (Harrell 29). The sequence of the gruesome assassination of Malcolm X profoundly affected everyone on the sets during its shooting at the end of production, thus the men playing the assassins broke down and wept. Fine nuances of acting are found, for example just before his murder Denzel Washington playing the role of Malcolm X gives the assassins a little smile as though he had been expecting them. Similarly, a day before the assassination, the film viewer subconsciously registers Malcolm’s car being followed by another car with a man dressed in black giving an impression of the angel of death. The visual progression of the film showed that Malcolm’s search for truth and consequent evolution turned him into five or six different people in the latter part of his life. It would have been an injustice to his life for the film to take any short cuts. Thus, an epic vision was created reinforcing the humanity of the figure changed into a political icon. Harrell (p.30) supports this view stating that “like the letter he chose to symbolize his political and personal struggle, Malcolm X signified the unknown factor in a people’s move toward an evolving humanism”. Conclusion The movie Malcolm X being highly successful can be attributed to the integrated work of Denzel Washington along with the other actors, the director, cinematographer, the author and screen-play writer, and the rest of the team. Malcolm X has been portrayed dynamically and realistically by Washington, while the director has ensured that no section of society gets their feelings hurt, by focusing on the transitions and enlightenments that form the process of Malcolm X’s evolution. The actual conflict between American blacks and whites is not greatly emphasized on in the film. As a person, Malcolm X comes through as open to new realizations and new truths. He was ready to change his beliefs and his faith when he convinced of their validity. His staunch desire for the upliftment and equality of African Americans with whites came through in his speeches and determination to support separation from the whites because of his belief that there would not be an end for discrimination. Later, his belief changed to one of brotherhood among all races, and he renounced his call for separatism, advocating peace and harmony among all. The movie provides rich insights into the life of a great iconical figure of the twentieth century, who has inspired great changes in the life of both African Americans and white Americans. The cinematic personal statement of director Lee, provides film viewers with a memorable experience. Works Cited Aboulafia, Anita J. Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Research and Education Association. (1996). Georgakas, Dan. Black supremacy and anti-semitism: Religion in Malcolm X. Cineaste 19.4 (1993): pp.16-17. Harrell, Al. Malcolm X: One man’s legacy to the letter. American Cinematographer. 73.11 (1992): pp.28-30. Novak, David R. Engaging parrhesia in a democracy: Malcolm X as a truth-teller. Southern Communication Journal, 71.1 (2006): pp.25-43. Read More