American Experience (TV Series) Malcolm X: Make It Plain (1994) User Reviews

Interesting, powerful, uplifting & sad

[Always_against_torture · 9/10 · 28 June 2007]

I knew rather little about Malcolm X prior to seeing this documentary, but it does such a good job of bringing you along & keeping you up to speed that I never felt lost - though I did rewind a few times to be sure I had heard/understood exactly what was said. Since I have little prior knowledge of Malcolm it's difficult for me to assess precisely how honest/accurate this portrayal was - but it certainly felt genuine. They had clearly put quite a bit of effort into their research as well, and seemingly done a very good job of digging out appropriate persons to interview.

By way of constructive criticism – it is worth considering that at times the film maker would have done well to juxtapose some of the stories and comments being offered by different interviewees. For a masterful (albeit so much so that full emulation is beyond the capacities of most of us mortals) example of such film making you may wish to consider the example of "The Sorrow and the Pity", by Marcel Ophüls. That film assesses the choices different people made in the face of questions of complicity with systemic cruelty and evil in Nazi occupied France. Similar questions are present in the matters treated by this film, and I rather felt the pathetic and latterly rationalised cowardice of Philbert & Wilfred X, and the confident unemotional and dehumanised ruthlessness of the bald former NOI captain (whose name escapes me), very much echoed some of the more glaring moments from Ophüls masterpiece. The difference was Bagwell basically let it slide, whereas Ophüls juxtaposed such material with comments from others, forcing the audience to confront the full ugliness of either or both the context & the participants subsequent choice.

Nevertheless, this was a very well made documentary. I note that a previous reviewer suggested it is one of the best he's ever seen, & I feel comfortable saying the same. To say it is less well done than "The Sorrow & the Pity" – as I have essentially done - is in actuality very high praise.

While I gave this film a 9 it was either that or a 10, and if there was a 9.5 category it definitely would have gone in there.

An excellent, if slightly dry, documentary

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 27 January 2014]

An intelligent and well done overview, giving a sense of the many amazing steps Malcolm took over the evolution of his life. And perhaps that was the most admirable thing of all about the man; the fact that he kept learning, growing, changing all through his life. He allowed his strongest beliefs and loyalties to stay open to challenges, something all the human race could gain from.

I only had two minor difficulties with the film. With a life this rich and complex, even two and a half hours feels a bit rushed, a bit sped through. There's a reason his autobiography runs almost 500 pages. I missed hearing more about the human sides of the man, what he was like away from the crowds. And even much of the public Malcolm, the leader, the speaker, by nature gets a bit of a 'readers digest' treatment. I don't really blame the filmmaker. Malcolm's life was complex enough that more screen time would likely have been the only way to do any better.

The other thing, perhaps related to the above, was that it didn't have quite the emotional impact -- at least for me -- of Spike Lee's bio-pic. I'm not sure if that's a testament to how strong Lee's film was, or a sign of something missing in this documentary. But generally it's much more common for me to respond to the 'reality' of a documentary, rather than the dramatized version of the same story. For me, this was a rare exception. The sense of understanding, admiration, and loss I felt with Lee's film was somehow stronger.

None-the-less, this is still an excellent, informative and well-made sweeping portrait of the life of one of the more important and complex people of the 20th century. Sadly, it's now out-of-print, and almost impossible to find.

Great Stuff

[Bacchus-10 · 16 February 2001]

Very moving documentary. One of the best I've ever seen. Vintage clips of the man throughout his public life. Anyone who is not moved by this-- especially during the last section, where Malcolm knows that his days are numbered--had better check back into the human race.