Malcolm X

The music in the film Malcolm X was very interesting. When the movie started the music was swing music with some jazz and blues. The swing music helped to set the time and place for the movie because the audience immediately placed the setting in the 1950's. The jazzy music that was used for underscoring made the characters' actions seem even more risqué and dangerous.

The music changed then when violent acts started to happen. When the house was burned the music became very dramatic and a lot more percussion was used. Then when Malcolm was in jail the music was very slow and gentle, not at all jazzy or swing style. By the middle of the film the music had become very dramatic and was following the action of the scenes. I think this was demonstrating that Malcolm had grown up. The jazzy, swing style of his youth showed that he was willing to take chances and he didn't care about what others thought, but the dramatic music once he was grown showed how he was becoming affected by the world around him and his problems had gotten bigger than just girl trouble.

There were a couple times during the movie when music with lyrics was used, which was a newer idea in film scoring. Arguments had been made against using lyrical songs in a film because the lyrics overshadow the action, but I felt like the songs with lyrics really added to the movie because the lyrics helped to emphasize the characters' thoughts and feelings. The scene where I thought the lyrics really enhanced the film and acted as foreshadowing was when Malcolm and his family were driving separately to the meeting house where he was giving a speech. The song "It’s a long time coming" was playing loudly because there was no dialogue happening, and the song really created a sense of foreboding and sorrow in the scene.

Overall, I thought the music really played an important role in the film. The music seemed to tell its own story that ran parallel to the action on screen.