Editorial Reviews:
Synopsis
Spike Lee's epic biography features Denzel Washington in a dynamic performance as the black revolutionary leader. The film follows Malcolm's early days as a Harlem hepcat, his time in prison and conversion there to Islam, his family life, and his crusades to further the black race. Angela Bassett, Al Freeman, Jr., Albert Hall, and Lee co-star. 3 1/3 hrs. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital Surround stereo; English, French, Spanish; audio commentary by Lee, others; deleted scenes; "making of" documentary; bonus documentary "Malcolm X" (1972). Two-disc set.
Amazon.com
Just as iDo the Right Thing/i was the capstone of Spike Lee's earlier career, iMalcolm X/i marked the next milestone in the filmmaker's artistic maturity. It seemed everything Lee had done up to that point was to prepare him for this epic biography of America's fiery civil-rights leader, who is superbly played by Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington, from his early days as a zoot-suited hustler known as "Detroit Red" to his spiritual maturity after his pilgrimage to Mecca, as a Black Muslim by the name of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. iDo the Right Thing/i climaxed with the photographic images of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King engulfed by flames of rage; iMalcolm X/i explores the genesis and evolution of that rage over Malcolm's lifetime, and how these two great figures--held up to the public as polar-opposites within the African American human rights movement (King for nonviolent civil disobedience, Malcolm for achieving equality "by any means necessary")--were each essential to the agenda of the other. Lee careens from the hedonistic ebullience of Malcolm's early days to the stark despair of prison, from his life-changing conversion to Islam to his emergence as a dynamic political leader--all with an epic sweep and vitality that illuminates personal details as well as political ideology. Angela Bassett is also terrific as Malcolm's wife, Betty Shabazz. i--Jim Emerson/i
