After splitting open the jaw of a black man, Derek turns toward his young bother Danny, with his eyes open wide, lit, like fiery embers, a crooked smile: as a sense of absolute victory engulfs him. It is this depiction of pure hate that makes ‘American History X’ such a remarkable movie notwithstanding obvious pitfalls.
Tony Kaye, who is best known for directing the unusually effective video for Soul Asylum’s ‘Runaway Train’, directs this movie about an intelligent man turning into a ferocious Neo Nazi skinhead as a response to his observation of life around him. His conviction for murdering two black men and then a predictable change of heart on seeing another side of life.
What makes this movie special is that it manages to avoid most stereotypes that plague such movies. Edward Norton’s Derek is not a two-bit loser. He is well read, smart and ethical in what he does. He worries about organization. He is a leader. Most of his arguments are not easily lost. And Mr. Norton is brilliant as Derek. He is scarily convincing in his hatefulness. The movie vibrates with his energy throughout.
Edward Furlong is Danny, Derek’s younger brother who wants to become like his brother even though he is not exactly comfortable with what his brother does. It is a good plot structure where we see a hesitant but definite transfer of ideology. The picture is careful about not softening when it matters most. It sticks the knife in and keeps turning it till the very end.
In a brilliantly crafted dinner table conversation, probably the most important scene in the movie, we see for the only time a debate between the two sides of the race question. Derek’s liberal family and Derek’s supremacist views collide in what is a brilliantly shot.
Mr. Kaye does try to make up by shock value what he lacks in substance. He shows us some of the most brutally violent scenes. He uses black and white photography to show flashback, a trick that is fast losing color. The picture does show Derek and specially Danny undergoing a change of heart rather too easily.
In the politically correct environment that Hollywood movies generally promote, American History X is a breath of fresh air.
Tony Kaye, who is best known for directing the unusually effective video for Soul Asylum’s ‘Runaway Train’, directs this movie about an intelligent man turning into a ferocious Neo Nazi skinhead as a response to his observation of life around him. His conviction for murdering two black men and then a predictable change of heart on seeing another side of life.
What makes this movie special is that it manages to avoid most stereotypes that plague such movies. Edward Norton’s Derek is not a two-bit loser. He is well read, smart and ethical in what he does. He worries about organization. He is a leader. Most of his arguments are not easily lost. And Mr. Norton is brilliant as Derek. He is scarily convincing in his hatefulness. The movie vibrates with his energy throughout.
Edward Furlong is Danny, Derek’s younger brother who wants to become like his brother even though he is not exactly comfortable with what his brother does. It is a good plot structure where we see a hesitant but definite transfer of ideology. The picture is careful about not softening when it matters most. It sticks the knife in and keeps turning it till the very end.
In a brilliantly crafted dinner table conversation, probably the most important scene in the movie, we see for the only time a debate between the two sides of the race question. Derek’s liberal family and Derek’s supremacist views collide in what is a brilliantly shot.
Mr. Kaye does try to make up by shock value what he lacks in substance. He shows us some of the most brutally violent scenes. He uses black and white photography to show flashback, a trick that is fast losing color. The picture does show Derek and specially Danny undergoing a change of heart rather too easily.
In the politically correct environment that Hollywood movies generally promote, American History X is a breath of fresh air.