American History X (1998)

reviewed by
Harvey S. Karten


AMERICAN HISTORY X
 Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D.
 New Line Cinema
 Director: Tony Kaye
 Writer:  David McKenna
 Cast: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Fairuza Balk, Stacy
Keach, Elliott Gould, Avery Brooks, Beverly D'Angelo, Guy
Torry, Ethan Suplee

The recent torture-murder of Matthew Shepard simply because the young man was gay helps give "American History X" a particular timeliness. But then, hatred and bigotry have always caused the acting-out of humankind's worst side in most societies. "American History X" deals on the nefarious activiites of a gang of such haters known as skinheads, focusing intensely on Derek (Edward Norton), a confirmed neo-Nazi, and the powerful impact he has on the thought and behavior of his kid brother Danny (Edward Furlong). Because the two young men are exceptionally bright and articulate, they are all the more dangerous and ultimately self-destructive. While the movie condemns the fascist behavior of a group of white kids, largely losers, it lays out blame among other ethnic groups as well. Nor does David McKenna, who composed the screenplay for this taut, tension-filled and violent picture, summarily dismiss some of the arguments that the skins use for their activities, points of view held by people of reason and non-violence as well as those on the outer fringes of society.

Employing color in the scenes depicting present-day activities and black-and-white photography for flashbacks narrated by young Danny, director Tony Kaye uses the device of a conference between Danny and his high-school principal, Dr. Sweeney (Avery Brooks), to lead into the tale. Called on the carpet for turning in a paper essentially praising the ideas in "Mein Kampf," Danny is ordered by the school's leader to write a composition overnight about the source of his ideas. As Danny pecks into his computer a tale of danger, intrigue, and the politics of gangs, Kaye turns up the flames to show the source of hatred which prompts Derek to tattoo a swastika across his chest as a vivid symbol of his extremist ideology. Derek's dad, a fireman, had been murdered in the course of duty by a gang member, pushing Derek politically into a right-wing fringe group. He develops a simplistic and unoriginal philosophy blaming immigrants and minorities for what he calls a deterioration of American values. After killing two young black men who are stealing his car, one with exceptional brutality, he serves three years in jail, which gives him the opportunity to rethink his ideas. When he returns to society, his hair has grown back and he has done an about face, trying to persuade the brother who loves and worships him to reverse his thinking as well.

While the transformation from hater to a virtual liberal is far from convincing given the situations he finds himself in while incarcerated, the story itself is gutsy, refusing to shrink from a wholesale baring of some of the common, simplistic contentions that Americans have locked into even before the days of the Salem Witch trials. Because the movie was conspicuously re-edited to emphasize the ferocity of the contending groups, director Tony Kaye has dissociated his name from the movie. Despite the attempts to inflate an already highly controversial subject through pumped-up music, muscular close-ups, and the portrayal of skinhead as even stupider than their severest critics maintain, a robust performance by the talented, multi-dimensional Edward Norton keeps the audience juices flowing. Guy Torry supplies much of the scant humor of the film in the role of Lamont, a black man who has been assigned to work together in prison with Derek and who, through his sense of waggery and kindly disposition can be considered the catalyst for the charismatic fascist's evolution.

Rated R.  Running Time: 118 minutes.  (C) 1998
Harvey Karten

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