ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
US, 2020, 114 minutes, Colour.
Kingsley Ben- Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr, Lance Reddick, Christian Bagby, Michael Imperioli, Beau Bridges, Emily Bridges.
Directed by Regina King.
What do we say when we are confronted by something difficult and challenging? We need to process it. And, that is something we certainly need to do after watching this film – but, with concentration and attention, processing while watching it.
The film is an adaptation of a play by Kemp Powers, character portraits, and a reliance on interactive dialogue.
The action, after some significant introductions to the four central characters, takes place over one night, the night when Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston who threw in the towel, Cassius Clay becoming world heavyweight champion, February 25th, 1964. The writer is interested in exploring race issues of the time, the immediate aftermath of the March on Washington and the influence of Martin Luther King contrasting with the violent approach of Elijah Muhammad and The Nation of Islam. 1964 would be a significant year in civil rights activity legislation (and, in movie issues, the same month Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor, the first black actor to win, for Lilies of the Field).
It would be interesting to ask contemporary American audiences how much they know about the four central characters. Non- American audiences will be far less informed about some of them, even Cassius Clay becoming Muhammad Ali and the influence of Malcolm X. So, the film has the most interesting prologue, dramatising each of the four central characters, but setting each of them up for some kind of fall.
Malcolm X is in the process of separating from the Nation of Islam. He is shown as a verbal firebrand, persuasive in his speeches, a family man supported by his wife, but insisting on drawing the lines between them and us, white and black. (It is well worthwhile Googling background information about Malcolm X, his poor background, criminal activity, prison experience.) And influence on the young Cassius Clay, persuading him to embrace Islam. Then there is the singer, Sam Cooke, shown failing at the Copacabana nightclub, audiences walking out on him. The fourth character is the football player turned actor, Jim Brown. The sequence where he returns to his island home in Georgia, strong reputation, welcomed by one of the locals and his daughter, sitting on the porch,, Brown offering to go into the house to help move furniture – and then being told that ‘niggers’ are not allowed into the house. A jolting sequence – and played by Beau Bridges and his daughter, Emily Bridges.
The championship fight with Liston is shown, Clay dancing around, claiming to be the greatest. Malcolm X is a keen photographer, cheering on his protégé. They team up with Cooke and Brown and go to a hotel, Malcolm X with very serious bodyguards and security, it is to be a night of conversation, propaganda, intense examination of race attitudes in the US, the repercussions for each of the four men. Malcolm X serves as something of a conscience, especially in prodding Sam Cooke, critical of his songs, seeing him as pandering to white audiences, strong business acumen. Cook defends his approach to his talent and career, interested in collaboration. Brown has some frank talks with Malcolm X, about the world of football, of acting, of collaboration in a black-white world.
There are happy scenes. There are angry scenes. There are highly confrontational scenes. And some measured peacefulness as Malcolm X phones his wife and talks to his daughter.
So, the film is an exercise in consciousness-raising, an invitation to go back into the 1960s, to try to understand and empathise with African- Americans at this time of bigotry, Civil Rights activity, the promotion of non-violence by Martin Luther King, the violent stances of Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X.
And, again worth googling if the information is new, Malcolm X being assassinated just over a year later (and Spike Lee’s film with Denzel Washington worth watching), Sam Cooke involved in a burglary attack and dying, Jim Brown’s long movie career – and, of course, the troubles, especially about the Vietnam war and conscientious objection for Muhammad Ali as well as his long life, successes, and, one might say, his entertaining self-promotion.
The film was directed by Oskar-Winnie? actress, Regina King.
1. Title? February 25th 1964? Actual characters? Fictitious night?
2. The adaptation of a stage play, opening it out, the retaining of the dialogue and the dramatic interactions?
3. The main action over one night, Cassius Clay fighting Sonny Liston, winning the world heavyweight title? Aged 22? The gathering of the friends, going to the hotel room, the interactions?
4. The introduction to each of the characters, highlighting the situation in the 1960s? Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X falling out with him, leaving the Nation? His friendship with Cassius Clay, Clay as young, his career in boxing, Rome Olympics, becoming world champion? The motivation behind his conversion, background, race issues, religious? The mentorship of Malcolm X?
5. Sam Cooke, singer, his hits like You Send Me…? Reputation in the 50s and 60s? The sequence of the Copacabana, the audience, white, walking out? His wanting to succeed there? Flashbacks to other experiences and his humiliations? His business sense? Success?
6. Jim Brown, football career, his returning home to the island, the welcomed by Mr Carlton and his daughter, enthusiasm about his career and success? Sitting on the porch, lemonade? His offer to help move the furniture, his being forbidden into the house, ‘niggers’ not permitted? The humiliation for him? The jolt for the audience?
7. The hotel room, the security guards, Kareem, intensely serious? Jamaal, young, his conversion, his being in awe of the celebrities, the episode of his wanting their autographs?
8. The intensity of the conversations in the room, the break with Malcolm X going to phone his wife, his wife and her being anxious, happy with Cassius Clay, talk to his daughter? Kareem and his being watchful?
9. The conversations, Malcolm X and his strong stances, violence, lines between black and white? No alcohol? The contrast with Sam Cooke and Jim Brown? Their lives, careers, ambitions, defending themselves against the attacks by Malcolm? The strong argumentative sequence between Cooke and Malcom X? The quiet and more controlled conversation between Jim Brown and Malcolm X?
10. Sam Cooke, anger, going out? With the others, the drink, returning?
11. The group going onto the roof, the conversation continuing less claustrophobia for the audience?
12. Cassius Clay, the press conference, the questions, his religion, his change of name?
13. The main issues of race and prejudice, the heritage of slavery, slave ownership, the South, the Civil War, Jim Crow activities, lynchings? The emergence of black celebrities,
Martin Luther King and nonviolence? The Nation of Islam and violence?
14. The subsequent history of each of the four, two dead within a year or more, Jim Brown’s career, Muhammad Ali and his becoming an American icon?
