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You can’t talk about activism without mentioning Malcolm X. If you don’t really know why, a good starting point is the 1992 film starring Denzel Washington (Gladiator II). An epic in many senses, the movie clocks in at 3 hours and 22 minutes, and it’s also mandatory viewing for anyone who considers themselves a Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods) fan. Starting in February, you will be able to check Malcolm X out when it comes to the Max catalog.
The movie doesn’t shy away from the controversy that surrounds Malcolm’s (Washington) life. It chronicles his criminal career, his stint in prison, his conversion to Islam, and the subsequent problems he had with religion. At the same time, Malcolm X doesn’t ignore that the title character was shaped by a violent and dreary environment that, among other things, pushed him to fight for Black individuals to have access to basic human rights. Malcolm became a key figure during the civil rights movement alongside Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, and Muhammad Ali.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Malcolm X has earned a respectable 89% score. Famous critic Roger Ebert singled it out as hands-down the best movie of 1992, and some time later legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) put Malcolm X among the best movies made in the 90s. Newsweek‘s David Ansen wrote that the movie is “fascinating” and that Denzel Washington’s performance is “quietly majestic.”
‘Malcolm X’ Has a Powerful Cast
The movie also earned Denzel Washington a nomination at the Oscars — the third in his career and the first in the Lead Actor category. After that, Washington was nominated an additional seven times for his performance in movies like Training Day, Flight, Fences and The Tragedy of Macbeth. But he wasn’t the only standout in Malcolm X, since the cast also featured heavyweights like Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Delroy Lindo (The Good Fight), Albert Hall (Apocalypse Now), Kate Vernon (Battlestar Galactica), and Al Freeman Jr. (Down in the Delta). The movie also features cameos by important political figures like Nelson Mandela, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Bobby Seale.
The screenplay of Malcolm X was co-written by Spike Lee himself along with Arnold Perl (Fiddler on the Roof). The duo adapted the story from 1965’s The Autobiography of Malcom X, written by Alex Haley with Malcolm and finished after the activist’s assassination.
You will be able to stream Malcolm X as early as February 1 on Max.
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