Worth the Time to Watch

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2014)

Malcolm X is a film, that while long, is very much worth the time to watch. The movie focuses on the adult life of Malcolm X, yet uses flashbacks to help the viewer understand his past as well. Although I did not find the scenes very effective as flashbacks, overall they served well to the purpose of the movie. Lee decided to portray his early life as a hustler glamorized tone. I found his techniques with camera movement to be effective, he used old Hollywood camera movements like crane shots, and sweeping tracking shots to give it this effect. This style was effective because old Hollywood films were meant to enchant the viewer as much as possible.
Although, I found the most effective part of the movie to be the opening credits. Denzel Washington's reenactment of Malcolm X's speech about charging the white man with his injustices is voiced over the American flag slowly burning into an X. Interspersed throughout is footage of Rodney King being beaten by Los Angeles police. This, to me, was the most moving scene in the film as the words are so powerful and the image of the US flag burning is jarring for Americans. Even more jarring was the footage of King being brutally beaten. The combination of these things drew me in as a viewer because it was shocking.
The film overall is split into three parts, Malcolm's early adulthood as a hustler, his discovery of Islam and his preachings for Elijah Muhammad, and his self discovery and preachings after his "hajj" to the Middle East and Mecca. I found his early adult life prolonged and dragged out, but the rest of the film I found effective and important to Malcolm's story. As I had said earlier, if you have the time to watch it, it is a film much worth your time. Denzel Washington's performance is spectacular, and Spike Lee uses a lot of interesting techniques to portray Malcolm's story emotionally and sends the message he lived for very well.