Malcolm X

Denzel Washington takes the lead in one of the great screen biopics, directed by Spike Lee.

Malcolm X's legacy was on Spike Lee's mind when making his classic 1989 film Do the Right Thing, and he would contentiously end that film with a quote from the man that many read as endorsing violence 'when it's self- defence', though it appeared alongside one from Martin Luther King that rejected such action as 'both impractical and immoral'. Lee fought to make this film, then infamously had bigger fights as the production was plagued with budget battles. That Malcolm X is one of the great screen biopics is testament to Lee's combative nature, and Denzel Washington's superb, charismatic yet nuanced performance.