American Cinematographer - November 1992 - 30

Photos

by David Lee

Malcolm X:
One Man's

Legacy, to the Letter
by Al Harrell

Whether

exploring

an

African-

rapher, Ernest Dickerson, ASC.
Lee and Dickerson have

American woman's sexuality (She's

Gotta Have It)

or

negotiating the in¬

tricacies of interracial

romance

in

urban America (Jungle Fever), Spike
Lee has always taken the controver¬
sial issue and made it a personal
statement. Whether

successful

or

not, those statements, or "joints," as
Lee calls them, are always deeply

grounded in the immediacy of the
moviegoing experience. That sense
of immediacy is guaranteed by
Lee's collaborator and cinematog¬

28

American

Cinematographer

collaborated again on a "joint" in¬
tended to recreate the life of a man

who, according to Lee, "rose up
from the dregs of society, spent
time in

jail, re-educated himself

and, through spiritual enlighten¬
ment, rose to the top." That man
was Malcolm X, and the movie at¬
tempts to recreate the landscape of
the political and the personal upon
which his life and death

were

played out. The photographic

November 1992

ap¬

proach of the film is reflected in the
publicity poster for Malcolm X: a
grey capital letter X against a jet
black background creates an image
that is stark, bold, simple - and
very powerful.
"Spike and I have been
noted for very expressive camera
moves,

and on this film we went for

stripped-down classical
style. There aren't a lot of Louma

a more

shots or wild moves,"
Dickerson says.
Lee and Dickerson used
crane



American Cinematographer - November 1992

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 1992

American Cinematographer - November 1992 - 1
American Cinematographer - November 1992 - 2
American Cinematographer - November 1992 - 3
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