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100 Most Memorable Film Characters Of All Time: Nominations 11 thru 20

© Jason O'Brien

Now we're getting down to some true favorites ... continuing now with my six part summer series revealing my choices for the 100 most memorable film characters of all time, we're now down to the top 20! This week, in Part 5, I will reveal the next ten, numbers 20 through 11. Quite a range of characters in this grouping ... six were all based on real life people, ranging from some of the most evil to some of the most heroic. The fictional characters also span that same range ... anti-heroes, violent loose cannons, a noble Jedi Knight, and a far from simple nightclub owner. So now I present, numbers 20 through 11 in my countdown of the most memorable film characters of all time.

20) Malcolm X in MALCOLM X (Denzel Washington) Spike Lee did a more than admirable job at telling the life story of civil rights activist Malcolm X in his 1992 epic. And Denzel Washington was absolutely extraordinary at getting so deep into this character that we forgot we were watching Denzel Washington, and were instead watching Malcolm X. We see such an incredible life portrayed in this film. From Malcolm's beginnings as a criminal on the streets, to his stay in prison where he meets a man who changes him forever, letting him see a better way. Then we watch as Malcolm ends up becoming the most notable preacher in the Nation of Islam, as he preaches against the ways of the white man. Perhaps most moving is watching Malcolm's even further transformation in Mecca, when he "prays alongside fellow Muslims whose eyes were blue, hair was blonde, and skin was white." He returns to America even more changed, but with a sense of his own fate, eventually being gunned down by rogue members of the Nation of Islam. It's an amazing character to watch, made all the more amazing by the fact that this man of true courage and conviction actually lived.

19) Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in GANGS OF NEW YORK (Daniel Day-Lewis) The most recent film character to make my list says something about how quickly this character has become film legend already. Based on a real man who actually lived and ruled the Five Points area of New York in the late 1800's, Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of his greatest performances in Martin Scorsese's historical drama which people either loved or hated. Very rarely have we seen a screen villain with this much depth. One only has to watch and listen in one of the quietest scenes in this otherwise violent examination of history to see what I mean. It's the scene where Bill is sitting in a chair, his wound draped with an American flag, as he talks to Leonardo DiCaprio's Amsterdam about his life and his motivations, especially as he discusses how Amsterdam's father was the last noble man he ever killed, proclaiming the virtues of this man who he killed years ago because of how passionate he was about keeping America for the Americans.

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