It takes a brave set of people to tackle an issue as fierce as racism in any medium, let alone cinema. It takes an amazing set of people to tackle it quite as head on as it is in American History X. Centred on the lives of Derek and Danny Vinyard, it is undoubtedly a vicious and merciless tragedy, intended as much to shock the viewer as to educate them.
Edward Norton is Derek, an intelligent young skinhead and leader of a group of wannabe-Nazis, convicted of murder after executing two young black men for trying to steal his car in one of the single most memorable, sickening and twisted scenes in Cinema, ever. Danny, his younger, impressionable brother (played by Edward Furlong) starts to follow in his footsteps, being sucked into the same traps and groups.
The film is shot in both black and white and colour, the black and white scenes being those in the past, most notably Derek's early life, and the colour scenes being the current events as they unfold. Derek's first love, maybe his only one, if for his family. His chronically ill mother has been left to look after the family alone, after Derek's father, a fireman, was shot and killed by a gang of black crack addicts while fighting fire in a notoriously bad area of town.
It is this that fuelled Derek's original hatred for anyone who wasn't white, viewing them as parasites, leeching off America, taking the jobs he believed were rightfully those of his and his peers. His hatred, combined with his talent for motivational speaking and the support of the manipulative and older neo-Nazi Cameron start him on a rocky road, that ultimately ends in his conviction and imprisonment.
The prison scenes themselves are perhaps the best of the film, starting with Derek joining the gang of fellow skinheads already inside. Over time, however, working with starts to have an effect as he begins to realise that maybe he has made some bad choices based on the actions of a rotten few people. Once released he starts to try to save his younger brother from following too far in his footsteps, before it is too late. This is also where Sweeney (Avery Brooks, Derek and Danny's history teacher) shines through, playing Derek's voice of reason and helping him to see the error of his ways.
The acting in the film is amazing, with Edward Norton putting in a spectacular performance, and ultimately he carries the movie. There are few films where hatred is in such abundance, and Norton will be able to chill your blood throughout. Edward Furlong, too, surprised me with a performance that could not be any further from his acting as John Connor in Terminator 2. It is surprising, also, that this film has few big names. Faces you may recognise include Avery Brooks (of Deep Space Nine fame), who puts in a sterling performance as Derek's mentor, and one of the teachers at the school that both Derek and Danny attended, and Beveraly D'Angelo as Derek and Danny's mother.
The film is very easy to keep track of, unlike other films that jump from past to present and back quite so frequently, though this is not particularly surprising given the way they distinguish the two so clearly. The soundtrack is barely worth a mention, save to say that it does little more than the standard job of helping set the mood, though that may be the most we should expect from it, bearing in mind that this is a thoughtful movie, not a vehicle for publicity of the latest Limp Bizkit release.
Though I thought it was brilliant, there is little doubt that the film could have been even better. There are parts to it that just don't fit, on occasion, and it does seem that certain parts have been added simply for the sake of having more violence. Though these do serve to help really hammer the point home, sometimes they seem to have been added at the expense of other parts of the movie. For example, it would have been nice to see more of Derek's younger days, and more of the things that made him who he is, or more of the affect it has on Derek and Danny's family.
Overall, this is certainly worth watching, though without a doubt not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. Be prepared to be sickened, and at the same time, expect to find the film very thought-provoking. This is certainly not a film to watch on a romantic night in, and neither is it the kind of movie you simply pop on in the background on a Saturday night with a few friends round. In actual fact, I have no idea when would be a good time to watch this movie - I'll leave that up to you to decide for yourself.
CAST
Edward Norton (Fight Club, The People Vs. Larry Flynt) Edward Furlong (Terminator 2, Pecker) Beverly D'Angelo (Hair, Vegas Vacation) Avery Brooks (Deep Space Nine (TV), Taxi Driver) Jennifer Lien (SLC Punk, Star Trek: Voyager (TV)) Ethan Suplee (Mallrats, Remember the Titans) Fairuza Balk (Thing to do in Denver when you're Dead, The Waterboy) Elliott Gould (Ocean's Eleven, Friends (TV)) Stacy Keach (Escape from L.A., Raw Justice)RATING
UK - 18 US - R
TRIVIA
Director Tony Kaye wanted his credit to read "Humpty Dumpty" according to Entertainment Weekly.
The punk band Anti-Heroes sued New Line Cinema over a character's tattoo featuring the band. The band did not want to be associated with Nazis, even fictional ones, in any way. The band went on to record a song called "NLC" that debases the film studio.
Norton, Edward gained 30 pounds of muscle for his role.QUOTES
"Has anything you've done, made your life better?" - Bob Sweeney
"We're so hung up on this notion that we have some obligation to help the struggling black man, you know. Cut him some slack until he can overcome these historical injustices. It's crap. I mean, Christ, Lincoln freed the slaves, like, what? 130 years ago. How long does it take to get your act together?" - Derek Vinyard
"Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time." - Danny Vinyard
More details
Soundtrack
Unmemorable
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Good
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American History X [1999]
Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nominated
... more
performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it sh...
American History X [1999]
Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nominated
... more
performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it sh...
very helpful
