Wednesday, October 10, 2012

My Favorite Scene: Malcolm X

Spike Lee’s Malcolm X is a three hour and 20 minute epic that covers the four decade life of one of America’s most controversial and misunderstood men. It is a masterpiece of film that contains boundless moments worthy of extended discussion. It also, for the record, contains one of the single greatest performances in movie history. It’s the type of role that doesn’t level the biopic playing field, so much as define it.

Denzel Washington isn’t impersonating Malcolm X here, he is Malcolm X. Spike Lee continually admits that much of the best acting in the film was improvised by Washington. The man was so familiar with X’s way of speaking – his cadence and charm and reserved rage – that he would often “ad lib” speeches that weren’t scripted. I put ad lib in quotes because even though Lee didn’t script the words, Washington knew the actual man had said them. It’s a performance of such charisma and vulnerability, wrapped in a film that is that and more, that I often find myself amused by the fact that the film’s best moment is capped with the utterance of a single word.

Midway through the film, at the height of his furor as motivated by The Nation of Islam and its leader, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X is ascending the few steps on the Harvard campus when he is approached by a young, white, genuinely good natured female. A little blonde coed, if you will.

The coed is simply seeking Malcolm’s advice. She wants to know what a “good white person” such as herself, who believes in much of what X preaches, can do to further X’s cause.
Now, there are a few things to make note of here. First is the coed’s brief performance, played perfectly by Fia Porter (who was never before or again in anything of note) in which she (as the character) not only has to approach and block arguably the most intimating man in America at the moment, but also (as the actress) act equal parts sincere and nervous. Her brief work is exceptional, to say the least.

Next is the man himself. Watch Washington’s face closely in this scene, the way he scoffs and looks away at the line, “I’m a good person, despite what my ancestors did,” and the way he begins politely nodding before the coed has finished talking. He knows exactly what he’s going to say, he’s simply waiting for her to stop speaking so he can deliver his verbal punch and be on his way. Which he does, via a deep, baritoned, “Nothing.”

Lastly, in a film filled with far more extravagant sequences, it is especially important to note this scene’s length. Clocking in at just above 30 seconds, it is incredible what Lee and Washington were able to achieve in half a minute. With a scoff, a few dismissive nods, and one single word, Lee flawlessly evoked who Malcolm X was at that particular time in his life.
In his book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley, on which Lee’s film is based, X talks at length about this moment. About how a “little blonde coed” tracked him down outside of a restaurant in Harlem, asked him what she, a white well-to-do Southern Belle, could do to help him. His answer was the same as it is in the film, and she burst into tears before fleeing in a taxi.

I’m sure Lee had his reasons for depicting the moment slightly different than it actually occurred, but no matter the justification, it remains as subtly devastating and gut wrenching a moment as you’re likely to find in a contemporary American film.

In the book, and its subsequent epilogue penned by Haley, X makes several mentions to this event, and how it was one of his life’s greatest regrets. If he could’ve gone back, I wonder if he would’ve accepted that little blonde coed’s help. Surely she could’ve done more than nothing.

The scene in question can be viewed here

Previous installments of My Favorite Scene include:

22 comments:

  1. That is a good little scene though my favorite sequence in the film is when Malcolm X goes to Mecca where he goes into this great transformation about his views on Islam.

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    1. The scene you mention is arguably the most impressive scene not only in the film, but of Spike Lee's entire career. That man fought long and hard (and with very little money) to be able to shoot that scene at the source. That slow crane shot over the desert hills that reveals the pyramids is breathtaking. A poetic handful of moments, right there.

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  2. Great scene. Great breakdown. Great movie.

    There is that line very near the end, post-Mecca, when he says white people can help us but they can't join us. He was evolving, right up until the moment of his death. That's what I love so much about this film, the way it takes us through a whole transformation of a person and the way he kept transforming after the INITIAL transformation.

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    1. Thanks Nick! Man, I couldn't agree with you more, that is precisely why I dig this flick so much... it transforms right along with its subject. Even the actual look of the film (the lighting and angles and camera stock) changed to better suit whatever mood X was in at the time.

      That line you mentioned is so evocative. Just the way he says it. He knows he's doubling back on most of what he preached, but it is now what he believes. Remarkable.

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  3. Thank you for drawing attention to this powerful and memorable moment! You are so right, less is more here.

    I don't remember exactly, but I think there was a similar scene in the deleted scenes section of DVD?

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    1. Less is more, no doubt!

      There is a similar deleted scene, but it is a fictionalized take on what he would've said if asked the same question after his Mecca trip. It's a good little moment, but wouldn't really work in the overall film, in my opinion.

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  4. Nice choice. It's such a brief, powerful moment that's hard for the rest of the film to top. I dig the film, and Washington's performance too.

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    1. Cool man. Glad to hear you like the flick and Denzel's work in it. Great stuff all around.

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  5. This is one of the best (if not the best) male performances of the 1990's. But cinematic discussion aside, this movie is extremely powerful and touches me (more like punches me in the heart) every time I watch it. One of my favorite movies of all time.

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    1. Ah, that is so good to hear. I had no idea you liked this movie this much. "Punches me in the heart" is a perfect way to put it. And after the show is done, Lee tops it off with Ossie Davis's eulogy, which just kills me every time.

      "Here... at this... final hour, at this...final place..."

      In my recent list for my top 10 male performances of all time, Denzel's work here was the only performance I listed from the '90s. A stunning achievement.

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  6. Literally just finished this book on Tuesday. I've been holding off on the movie until then.

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    1. Be curious to hear what you think. I very fine movie adaptation. Spike did it right.

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  7. It's hard for me to imagine all of what was important in the book (damn near every sentence) into the film. But, I'm very curious to see it yeah. Perhaps this weekend.

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    1. I actually really want to go back and reread the book. It has been years.

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  8. Such a brilliant film, I've actually done a full review of this myself http://acoconnor.blogspot.ie/2012/07/malcolm-x-1992 and I completely forgot to mention this scene. Such a brilliant example of that strange anti-white opinions throughout the film.

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    1. Yeah man, this movie is just flawless through and through. I love damn near every moment of it, but the scene I mentioned is something that has never left my mind.

      Off to read your review!

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  9. I consider this to easily be Lee's best film, despite all the love that Do the Right Thing seems to get from everyone. I completely agree on Washington's performance in this film, too.

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    1. Cool stuff. I honestly consider 25th Hour Lee's finest accomplishment as a director, with Malcolm X and When the Levees Broke right there behind it. Either way, fantastic film here.

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  10. Oh he was such a bitch in this scene. I felt awful for that chick. However after just having seen the movie a couple of days back, I must say my favourite moment in it is the microsecond when Malcolm knows he's going to die and he smiles. That acceptance was brilliant. Made me like the man... sort of.

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    1. Yeah, that smile kind of says it all, as in, "So here we go..."

      Glad you enjoyed the movie (I think...), told you it was a fast three+ hours!

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    2. I did like it and thought it was a superbly made biopic. I just found so much of it so jarring. I find religious movies really difficult to sit through.

      And yes, it didn't feel *that* long.

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    3. Cool stuff. I too can find religious films rather hard to sit through at times.

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