i am x

this past weekend i had a conversation with some people about spike lee. the person i was talking to very shrewdly described that upon watching lee's ode to racial tension in contemporary america, "do the the right thing", she felt as though she had been physically assaulted. and yes, she meant it as an accolade. that my friends is the power of cinema. that visceral jolt you can get by sitting in a darkened theater and interacting with a projected image. it made me think of lee and his effortless one-two punch of "inside man" and "when the levees broke" last year and how it seems as though he has reconnected creatively and his range as a storyteller and artist/activist are limitless. "do the right thing" is a phenomenal film, but i loved the scope and personal passion of "malcom x." every fiber of lee's being is melded on the emulsion of that film. it's his "lawrence of arabia" in terms of visual flair and breadth, but one of his more personal efforts in its singular vision of a misunderstood historical and cultural icon.

here is my favorite scene from his portrait of a beautifully conflicted, fully dimensional, and combustive man.

"malcolm x"
dir. and wri., spike lee
1992

x's imminent demise is stunningly foreshadowed with the epic sam cooke song and masterful editing. i smile every time at lee's trademark moving dolly shot (about 2:25 into the clip) in which his characters appear to be gliding above the dirty and destructive world that lies beneath them. keep your eyes pealed because i think this type of urgent filmmaking is seeping back into his work in a much more mature and interesting direction.