Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401220333
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL E. HILL THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The chore rested largely with Orlando Bagwell, who directed and co-wrote the piece (8 p.m. Wednesday on WBRA-Channel 15). The project gained financing (some of it from Bill and Camille Cosby) after Spike Lee's feature film demonstrated the lingering interest in Malcolm, Bagwell said.
But after the film and the rush of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" back to the best-seller list, nearly three decades after his assassination in 1965, what's left to learn about Malcolm X?
The key, Bagwell said, lies in the passage of time and the recollections of friends and enemies alike.
"I think in comparison to the book and movie, one thing that's different," Bagwell said, is that "we pursued interviews with members of his family, close friends and associates in and out of Islam. People who were once followers by the end of film were arch-enemies, and people who found they had to keep their distance from Malcolm at the beginning by the end were in his camp.
"They peel back the image of Malcolm and allow us to get closer, to have a more intimate view of him. They also make the story more emotionally wrenching. His life was filled with tragedy at many levels, and they bring us close to that."
The piece consists of abundant interviews, including observations by the late Alex Haley, who collaborated on the autobiography, and they truly reflect many sides of the man Malcolm X.
There are also early family snapshots, and details of his childhood that would be enough to inspire an army of revolutionaries. There's the candid discussion of his days of hustling and criminality. You see both the fire and the ashes.
Malcolm X began life as Malcolm Little, growing up in Michigan. When he played with neighborhood children, it's recalled, he was Robin Hood. His thuggish days in New York and Boston landed him in prison, where he underwent a remarkable transformation.
He emerged to become the best-known member of Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. From that position, Malcolm X espoused a brand of black nationalism and militancy that disturbed some black Americans, inspired others and generally alarmed whites. His pronouncements were in sharp contrast to the more moderate civil-rights positions staked out, primarily, by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Bagwell's presentation of the man attempts to be matter-of-fact.
"We tried not to engage in an analysis," said Bagwell. "We try not to define him but let him speak for himself. You follow a kind of intellectual growth and evolution that he goes through."
The documentary, co-produced by Henry Hampton's Blackside Inc. (they did "Eyes on the Prize"), features a number of extended film clips of Malcolm X's speeches and interviews. It also dwells on his final days, more so, Bagwell said, than the book and movie.
"We thought it was important to develop the last year," Bagwell said. "We found in the autobiography as well as the feature film that's something you don't get developed with real depth."
It was a highly dynamic period, Bagwell noted. "We thought it important to spend time with that period, to give an idea of all the changes he was going through, the way he was reorganizing his ideas, and to represent the dangers he was facing in the last year. We tried to give the complexity of the situation, what it meant for him to walk away from the Nation of Islam, and to be his own person. We see it from his side as well as the Nation of Islam's."
The documentary, introduced by historian David McCullough and narrated by actress Alfre Woodard, took three years and, Bagwell said, $1 million to make. The Spike Lee feature, which gave momentum to this project, also prompted archivists to put higher prices on their Malcolm X material, Bagwell said.
When it's over, the barrage of images and the non-judgmental style of the production leave Malcolm X much the enigma he's always been: loved by many, feared and despised by others.
by CNB