European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 7, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Malcolm x and daughter Ilyah at new Yorkus Kennedy Airport after his May 1964 tour of the Middle a Malcolm a a leads directly to Spike Leeby the new York times the film Malcolm did no to have to be made to be controversial. The project has been embroiled in controversy since it was launched in 1968. At that time a screenplay by James Baldwin and Arnold Perl was commissioned by Marvin Worth a producer who had acquired rights to Alex Haleys As told to autobiography of Malcolm x. Over the years the focus of the controversy has changed. Initially it involved Hollywood a readiness to Deal with Malcolm x. Later it concerned which phase of his ideological development to emphasize. Then it focused on whether a White director could capture Malcolm a complexity. When Spike Lee actually began filming Malcolm x for Warner Bros last year everybody it seemed had an opinion about what was in store. Within the Black Community ideologues and intellectuals of every Stripe a cultural nationalists and integration its puppies and revolutionaries five percenter and Baptist ministers alike a wondered aloud about Leeds right to portray the Complex life of Malcolm x for the big screen. In addition to battling such critics As poet Amiri Baraka and amid reports of a conflict Over Leeds insistence on a three hour running time for the film the director became engaged in a budget dispute with Warner. He also ran into financial difficulties. When Lee exceeded the films $28 million budget the completion Bond co., which insures investors against films going Over budget seized financial control and refused to approve further expenditures. In mid May Lee announced that prominent african americans a among them Bill Cosby Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey a had responded to his Appeal to donate Money to save the film which is now being edited. But much of the Hue and cry has been Over who a a owns the image of Malcolm a an image that evolved considerably. Here was a Man who went from Pimp Hustler and thief to defiant prisoner Black nationalist and leading minister and propagandist for Elijah Muhammad a nation of islam. Then a after a visit to Mecca a in the year before his assassination in 1965 at the age of 39, Malcolm x became a profound human Spike Lee is. So forceful and incisive in life Malcolm has paradoxically become a cultural and political Rorschach blot for the generations who Honor his memory. The result has been considerable discussion and soul searching about the Black artists a Burden of representation a As Baldwin put it As Well As about the film itself which is scheduled for release in november. One afternoon recently at Leeds 40 acres and a mule studio in Brooklyn n.y., the filmmaker talked with Henry Louis Gates jr., . Dubois professor of the humanities at Harvard University and editor of transition Magazine about the making of Malcolm a and various other subjects a among them fact and fiction in films his vision of Malcolm his thoughts about Black youth and the recent disturbances in los Angeles. Here Are excerpts from their conversation. Henry Louis Gates or the Malcolm project has been in development hell for two decades. James Baldwin and Arnold Perl David Bradley Calder Willingham Charles Fuller and David Mamet were attached to the project As writers at various Points. What a the real reason this movie was never made a until now Spike Lee i just think the studios were scared of the film. And the rising popularity of Malcolm coupled with the Box office Appeal of Denzel Washington and myself is what made it economically feasible for them to invest in the project. Gates David Bradley says the writers weren to fired because the scripts were wrong they were fired because the Story was wrong. Lee i would agree with that. Malcolm x was basically disputing the american dream. And if there a one thing Hollywood is about it is Selling the american dream. So Malcolm x is at Odds with the images that Hollywood has always been about. Gates on the other hand he is the american dream the self made Man. His Story is very much like Benjamin Franklin a autobiography or Booker t. Washington a. Lee yes but the Story Hollywood chooses to Tell is always John does Horatio Algers. Its never been about people of color. Gates is Spike Leeds Malcolm the Malcolm before or after he went to Mecca Lee we show them All. That a Why this film is an epic. That a Why its three hours. We want to show the total evolution of what made him. We want to show the three or four different people he was along the line. People tend to have one View of Malcolm but he had Many different View s Over his life he turned completely around several times in this life. We leave it up to the audience to pick and choose which one they agree with but we want to show All the Malcolms. Gates you have a favorite Lee i like them All a even when he was a Hustler. I can see what steered him that Way having seen the state commit your Mother the family broken up your father killed. I try to keep him together As one person and All these things you might say Are spokes in the wheel that made him. I know for sure Warner Brothers is trying to stress the Malcolm after Mecca when he stopped calling White Folk Blue eyed mutant devils. Gates does this Post Mecca Malcolm this More embracing figure Appeal to you Given your own sensibilities Lee yes. I think Malcolm came to a Point where he saw that we re All Brothers. Gates Why is the life of Malcolm Spike Lee s Malcolm needed right now Lee its needed for the same reason that Mal Quot in was needed when he was alive and even More so today. One of the things that Malcolm stressed was education. Well we re just not doing it. Its such a sad situation now where male Black kids will fail so they can be a a Down with everyone else and if you get a a and speak Correct English you re regarded As being peer pressure has turned around our whole value system. Gates i saw the results of a Survey conducted in Black Washington schools in which students listed things they consider a acting one thing on the list was going to the smithsonian institution. I believe it when i was a kid going to the smithsonian was like going to Disneyland or better. Then you realize that a certain amount of romantic Black Neo nationalism is tied into this attitude we be been discussing. Is your movie going to counteract that a Ixo to you see Malcolm educate himself. You see him going through the dictionary copying every single word and definition a to z. You see him striving to better himself to educate himself to talk correctly to Stop swearing and Stop other people from swearing. Gates Why you think there has been such a resurgence of interest in Malcolm a especially among Black youth you see a Smalc Almania Quot in rap music posters baseball Caps a flood of new books and of course your movie. Lee Chuck d., with Public enemy and s one with Boogie Down productions have to be credited with really giving Black youth Malcolm through their lyrics. It began there and it just started to build. Even More though the issues he talked about Haven to gone away. Conditions have even gotten worse. That s Why he a More popular now than Ever. Gates what about the need for heroes i think one reason Malcolm is so visible on the streets is the Lack of heroes. Does your Malcolm emerge As a hero ixe very heroic. 1 think Ossie Davis put it Best in his Eulogy. He said Malcolm is our shining Black Prince. Gates Why Are we seeing a Malco Lmanian and not a Why Isnit Martin Luther King or. Comparably appealing i be Well Martin was More mainstream. The non violent turn the of her Cheek business just in t getting anywhere m Black America. A. I 10v a a
