Malcom X

The music is almost wall to wall in Malcom X. There is a lot of cross-cutting between very different scenes. The music that accompanies these different scenes varies drastically and would only make sense in combination with the scenes in the film. A great example of this is at the beginning of the movie. There is a trumpet solo playing during Malcom's opening speech, which immediately changes to ragtime music underscoring at the train station. Then this underscoring immediately jumps to eerie, slow music when Malcom is talking about the Klan comes to his childhood house and when his father is preaching at his church. Then the music jumps again to upbeat jazz and swing music when they are dancing at the club. The music and the scenes in the film helps to make each other fit together even though there is constant changing of scenes and moods. If either element was eliminated, the movie would just be a mess of confusion.