American History X
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| American History X | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for American History X |
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| Directed by | Tony Kaye |
| Produced by | John Morrissey |
| Written by | David McKenna |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | October 30, 1998 |
| Running time | 119 min. |
| Country | USA  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
American History X is a 1998 crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. It stars Edward Norton in the lead role, and co-stars Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien, Ethan Suplee, Fairuza Balk, Avery Brooks, Elliott Gould, Stacy Keach, and Guy Torry. Norton was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. As of March 2007, it was rated as the 43rd greatest film of all time by the Internet Movie Database with an 8.5/10 rating.
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[edit] Plot summary
Reformed neo-Nazi Derek Vinyard is released from prison after serving three years for killing two young black men he caught breaking into his car. Upon release, he finds that his younger brother, Danny (the narrator), has embraced his old ways in his absence and has become an active white supremacist in the group Derek led before his arrest. The film centers on Derek's decision to sever ties with his racist past whilst trying to keep his brother from following in his footsteps, as well as the events that lead him to change his views.
[edit] Plot synopsis
This plot synopsis doesn't follow the non-linear storyline of the movie.
The film tells the story of Derek Vinyard, taking place in the late 1980s and early 1990s. An extremely bright and charismatic student, Derek is drawn into the neo-Nazi underground after his father, a firefighter, is shot and killed by a black drug dealer while trying to put out a fire in a crack house. Derek had already been influenced by his father's views on black culture and "affirmative action," and his outlook was so galvanized by the circumstances of the murder that he launched a racist tirade on a local TV station. Eventually Derek becomes second in command of the Venice Beach neo-Nazi gang, The Disciples of Christ, which entices young whites to join by promising protection from predominantly minority gangs who are essentially in control of the area. He and Cameron Alexander, the leader of D.O.C., eventually regain control of the boardwalk, basketball court and beach area, and maintain a large presence at the high school. Alexander uses Derek to recruit other members who the film claims have become frustrated at being attacked by other gangs of different ethnicities.
The night after Derek's mother had kicked him out of the house for fighting and arguing with her Jewish date, Murray (Gould), three black men park in front of the Vineyard house and break into Derek's car. His younger brother, Danny, hears the glass smash and notifies Derek, telling him that "a black guy" was breaking into his truck. Derek becomes infuriated and seizes a pistol from a nightstand drawer and puts on a pair of steel toed combat boots. Sneaking downstairs and opening the front door, he proceeds to shoot the man standing guard with a gun at his door, killing him. He then shoots the carjacker twice in the stomach, severely wounding him. The getaway driver begins speeding away. Derek empties his magazine at the back of the car. Realizing that no more rounds are left, Derek turns on the wounded thief, and forces him to bite the curb and stomps on the back of his head (known as a curbstomp), killing him. Danny watches in horror and witnesses his brother's arrest.
Derek is sentenced to three years in prison, charged with voluntary manslaughter. In prison, he decides to join the Aryan Brotherhood for protection. His strong belief system, and his distrust of the "politics" and "favors" in the group, soon alienates some of the others, leading to his rape and beating by his own group.
Derek makes the acquaintance of a black inmate named Lamont (Torry), with whom he works in the prison laundry room. After the rape, he sees that Lamont is his only friend and abandons the gang. Just before Derek is released on parole, largely due to his former Honors English teacher Dr. Sweeney's (Brooks) word, he realizes that only through Lamont's intervention did the black prison gangs leave him alone.
Derek returns home only to find that his little brother Danny had followed in his neo-Nazi footsteps. (In addition to associating with the D.O.C., Danny had written a paper arguing for Hitler as a civil rights hero; Murray, his teacher for that class, wanted to expel him, but now-principal Dr. Sweeney felt it would be better to make him write a new paper on the last few years of Derek's life than to turn him loose to the dangers of the streets.) Danny eventually but reluctantly converts from his old ways after Derek advises about these events and how to write about them. The next morning, Danny walks into his high school bathroom with the new paper, and is shot point-blank in the chest. The gunman, a black youth, was previously involved in an altercation with Danny.
[edit] Issues
American History X touches on several controversial topics, such as: racism, affirmative action, illegal immigration, the continued existence of Neo-Nazi hate groups and the reasons these groups are formed within American society, the exploitation of vulnerable youth of all races by gangs, intra- and inter-racial violence, and other topics that still split American society to this day.
[edit] Controversy
The main controversy over the film centered on director Tony Kaye's attempts to remove his name from the credits, preferring to use the pseudonym Alan Smithee. When this was refused he chose "Humpty Dumpty" as an alternative pseudonym, which in turn was also rejected. Kaye alleged that his reasoning for this was Edward Norton's re-editing of the film to give himself more screen time. The Director's Guild of America ultimately denied Kaye the right to remove his name from the production, reasoning that Kaye had placed ads in Variety attacking the film, thus violating Guild rules regarding the right to invoke the pseudonym. Kaye proceeded to sue the Directors Guild and New Line Cinema, claiming they had violated his First Amendment rights.
[edit] Deleted scenes only seen on DVD
1. Boardwalk: An old homeless black woman walks through a boardwalk near the beach and then two skinheads named Jason and Chris, start to taunt and harrass her mercilessly
2. Ben's Burgers: After the incident at the party, Seth and Cameron go to eat at Ben's Burgers, stop to help a homeless Vietnam veteran at the entrance (in the original script, they show no respect and they harrass him), and start to plot of trying to kill Derek for his betrayal. Then, they spot a black man with his white girlfriend and they start to harass the couple. After they eat, a black gang sneaks upon them and they attack them.
3. How do I look?: Derek and Danny are in a restaurant ordering breakfast when a little black girl is playing with her hair. Derek tells her she looks good. He then asks her how he looks. She says "fine." Danny is surprised by Derek's interaction with an African-American.
[edit] Trivia
- The word "fuck" is spoken 205 times throughout the film.[1]
- The quote Danny says at the end of the film is from Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address in 1861.
- The original, unfilmed ending consisted of Derek shaving his head and returning to his Neo-Nazi skinhead ways after the death of his brother. Director Tony Kaye did not want this ending to be filmed as he wanted Derek to remain a changed man.
- Edward Norton packed on 30 pounds (14 kilograms) of muscle for the role.
- Both Avery Brooks (Dr. Sweeny) and Jennifer Lien (Davina) starred on Star Trek series at the same time. (Brooks on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from 1993 until 1999 as Captain Benjamin Sisko and Lien on Star Trek: Voyager from 1995 until 1997 as Kes.)
- A white power song is heard that is set to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"; the song describes a massacre of non-whites and Jews, referring to it as "the tramplin' at the Zoo". It is an actual song by Johnny Rebel.
- The shirt worn by Seth Ryan on the basketball court with the numbers "88" on the back is actually a reference to "HH" or "Heil Hitler," "H" being the 8th letter of the alphabet. In a later scene he wears a Skrewdriver T-shirt. The number is also a reference to the 88 Precepts, the 88 rules of conduct by which neo-Nazis live.
- The character of "Cameron Alexander" is a reference to the "Cameron" family in the film The Birth of a Nation and is based on White Aryan Resistance leader Tom Metzger.
- In the flashback where Norton's character starts learning racist ways from his father, he mentions that the book Native Son by Richard Wright was assigned in class by Dr. Sweeney. The 1940's book deals with how racial inequality leads to violence from the perspective of a poor 20-year old black man. Interestingly, both Native Son and its author were mentioned by Avery Brooks' character of Benjamin Sisko in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Far Beyond the Stars".
[edit] External links
- American History X at the Internet Movie Database
- Movie Locations Guide.com - Maps and directions to American History X Filming Locations
- Fan site including original script
