The Story that Can't Be Told Enough

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2014)

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
Spike Lee has beautifully captured the aesthetic essence of Malcolm X's journey throughout his life with his technical cinematic choices. Spike Lee has a gift of knowing how to draw audiences into the scene that he has beautifully crafted for them. In the beginning of the movie, he makes sure to give Malcolm's boisterous life as a hustler a dream-like luster by using many soft focus shots as well as soft lighting to really accentuate vibrant colors in the background and in the wardrobe of the characters. To highlight Malcolm's hustling lifestyle even further, many of the shots used contain constant movement, and upbeat music. Whether it be the camera moving or the subjects in the shot moving, there is always movement to make the audience feel like they're living this fast-paced life alongside Malcolm Little accompanied by a soundtrack to set the mood. However, Spike Lee throws the audience into a wall after Malcolm is arrested. Each shot becomes longer, the focus becomes sharper, and high-key lighting is used to painfully chisel out every expression on each character's face. This dramatic shift in aesthetic lets the audience know that this is where Malcolm Little begins his ascension to becoming Malcolm X. Up until Malcolm starts to run into some real adversity with the Nation of Islam, each shot moves with Malcolm in its focus to help portray his new focused and centered state of mind, his maturity. Once he reaches the point where he has become a target of the general public as well as the Nation of Islam, Lee uses low key lighting to produce shadows on the characters and their surroundings, making each scene more suspenseful leading up to Malcolm X's death. After Malcolm X is killed, Spike Lee chooses to bring the message of Malcolm X into a more contemporary scene, using children repeating the words "I am Malcolm X" straight into the camera, as well as a cameo of Nelson Mandela reciting some words of wisdom at the very end. Many may think that the ending of the movie is excessive, however I believe that Spike Lee does this on purpose to make sure that the legacy of Malcolm X resonates among his audiences by using the same methodology we are taught in school, "If you say it/write it enough times, you'll remember it." Though I have read the book before watching the movie, I give it a 9 out of 10 based on Spike Lee's ability to take so much information about a great man's life, artistically compile it into a movie that is a little over three hours, and still convey an important message about Malcolm X's life. Well done.