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after a long hiatus from movies because of finals and exams, last night's movie was Malcolm X (1992)! and it was incredible! i knew that this was going to be a good movie ahead of time as many friends commented that this is seen as one of Spike Lee's best, but I wasn't prepared for how incredibly well-paced and extremely thoughtfully constructed every single frame was. despite being more then three hours long, the time seemed to melt away and i barely noticed because i was so engrossed. i can't get over how stylized this movie was, too. if you told me that Malcolm X's autobiography got adapted as a graphic novel and this was an adaptation of that, i would believe you. while it does gradually become less stark as the movie goes on, the first act in particular is almost hyper-real in it's use of color and lighting. the version i watched was a 4k HDR version that probably made the colors pop even more, but it was genuinely incredible. to go along with the incredible visual splendor of every shot, the performances are amazing for the entire run time. so much has been written about how Denzel Washington just did an incredible job as Malcolm X and captured everything about him in terms of portrayal, even down to specific speech patterns, and it's all well earned. it goes without saying how unbelievably hilarious it is that the Oscars ruled that Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman won the Oscar for Best Actor against Denzel's incredible work. however, Denzel is also backed by the always amazing Angela Basset playing Betty X, Malcolm's wife. I wish Angela got more to do in the movie in general, but every scene she's in is fantastic, especially with the argument between her and Denzel in the 2nd act. Spike Lee himself does a fantastic job with Malcolm's friend Shorty, along with the always reliable Delray Lindo as West Indian Archie. The story follows Malcolm's life from childhood to his assassination, and while some elements are absolutely dramatized and embellished, it seems to stick closer to reality then it doesn't. the setup for the biopic won't be new to anyone familar with the life of Malcolm X: Malcolm Little is a teenager in 1944 Boston and is trying to make a life for himself along with his friend Shorty. quietly traumatized by his early life being full of violence and racial hatred, including the murder of his minister father at the hands of the KKK, his mother's mental breakdown and inability to care for all her children and the school system's refusal to acknowledge his dreams of being a lawyer as a young boy, the young Malcolm has a great many scars on his heart, but he hides this all away with indulging in life's pleasures. after getting his hair done in the 'conk' style, Malcolm and Shorty go to a dance hall display their bright and flashy zoot suits and dancing skills to impress people. one of these impressions is made on Sophia (Kate Vernon), a white woman who catches Malcolm's eye, much to the chagrin of the other woman in Malcom's Life, Laura (Theresa Randle). at first, Malcolm mocks Sophia for her racial preference in lovers and acknowledges the danger he's in by being with her, but soon they become inseparable as Malcolm's life. after quitting a job as a waiter on a train, Malcolm gets into a scuffle with someone disparaging his mother. this gets the attention of local gangster West Indian Archie, a master at the numbers game, who welcomes Malcolm into the field. Malcolm joins the numbers rackets but after trying to con Archie into paying him for numbers he called while he was with him and Sophia, Archie becomes incensed and marks Malcolm for death. Soon, Malcolm is on the run along with Sophia back to Boston and re-emerges with a desire for money complete lack of fear of dying, something he displays while recruiting Rudy (Roger Guenveur Smith), a caterer to his gang by playing Russian roulette. the robbery goes well, but while getting his hair re-'conked'' by Shorty and washing the lye out of his hair through sticking his head in the toilet bowl in their home, the police bust in and everyone is arrested. Sophia and her friend Peg get off easy for first time offenses, but Malcolm and Shorty get ten years for robbery and interracial relationships. spiritual awakening and racial justice hijinks ensue. i really, really loved this movie and it earns every second of it's long run time. it was the perfect movie to get back into movies, and if you haven't seen it and have the time, i highly recommend it!

discourse