So powerful, so amazing…
I have always believed that movies have the power to reach us as human beings, as creatures capable of human feeling, if we allow ourselves that capacity. I just finished watching "One Night in Miami", an Amazon Studios collaboration with abkco Films and Snoot Films. Regina King was the director. She does a peerless job of it too! If you haven't seen it, don't worry. I'm not going to throw out any spoilers. I'm just going to say… you should -absolutely- see it. It is one of the most powerful movies I have ever watched. The acting and directing are top-notch and I feel the actors powerfully embodied and channeled the men they were portraying.
It doesn't matter that the story is fictional, at least the night these amazing men met. It doesn't matter that I didn't know any of them, save what I saw on the television when I was young and the things I learned from history. I felt that these men, these human beings were there, bearing their souls and speaking from the mouths of the original men. They portray each character with a depth and intensity that just seem like that's how the actual men were. They were souls of ineffable depth and complexity, with all the worries and fears of any human being, but magnified by the times and circumstances they lived in, not to mention the history they and their people came from.
I think I felt, particularly, for Malcolm X. He expresses a sense of dread, an impending end of some kind. Whether the actual human being did, or not, the idea that he could have, speaks volumes. He was in a precarious position in a precarious time, in so many ways. And while he showed a resolute, intense face to the world, I can also imagine there were all of the things his character expressed in "One Night in Miami…" Throughout my life, there have been people I would have liked to meet. Yeah, also some I would like to meet today. Malcolm X would have been one of those people.
I really liked the portrayals of Sam Cook, Muhammad Ali, and Jim Brown as well. I remember watching Muhammad Ali box on television when I was a kid. I wasn't familiar with him as Cassius Clay until I was much older. He was young and full of vigor and belief. He put his energy and belief into something that was valuable, valuable to him and to what he was trying to do. Most impressive of all of them was that these men, in real life, were all activists and all committed to the freedom, equality, and dignity of black people.
As history has shown since those times, since 1965, little headway has been made in the actual, physical reality of freedom, equality, justice, or dignity for black people in American society. The struggles that exist today are the same as those that existed 56 years ago. Black bodies are still dying and suffering at the hands of a system that grants white bodies free license. I shouldn't need to say that it's wrong, not because it doesn't need to be said, but because everybody already knows it is. Some people don't think there's anything wrong with that. Some people won't say anything is wrong with it, even though they think something is. Some will stand up, say there's something wrong, and fight like hell to right the wrongs. Those numbers are far too few.
I was deeply touched by "One Night in Miami". Some parts brought tears, tears of… sympathy is probably the right word. There were also the tears of intense feeling that come with wanting to cheer, with clasping my hands into fists and whispering, "Yes! Kick some ass!" The movie absolutely deserves the rave reviews it has received and it should be avalanched with awards too! I highly recommend it!
