Ryuk86

AMERICAN HISTORY X REVIEW

BY RIOUK86


I am going to talk about American History X in the first of my brief film reviews thread. I will involve a brief plot summary, the reasons I like or dislike it and the reason why I feel it is one of the best or worse films I have seen.

American History X sees Edward Norton in the lead role of a Reformed white supremesist by the name of Derek Vinyard. It tells his story from his younger brother Dannys point of view as well as Dereks. It shows us the difficulties Derek and his family face as he becomes increasingly involved in a neo-nazi skinhead gang, derek rising to be 'thee skinhead' an enigmatic leader right up until his release from prison when he tries to walk away from the life and culture he helped create after seeing things from the other side. As his past threatens to ruin not only his own life but his families he faces overwhelming odds.

After three black americans attempt to steal his fathers truck Derek kills two of them which leads to him being incarcerated. Danny, played by Edward Furlong, witnesses these events unfold which in my opinion quite obviously has a profound effect on him. Danny relives these events amongst others as he ponders all the events culminating in this violent act.

Derek is given three years in prison where he joins the Aryan brotherhood but he becomes disillusioned with them as he quickly realizes they believe in none of what he does doing business with mexicans and dealing drugs. His rascist beliefs are challanged at this time as he strikes up a friendship with a black prisoner who works with him in the laundry.

Eventually a culmination of events lead to Derek reforming his views and denouncing his past to himself, with the help of Doctor Sweeney, Dereks old teacher and the principal at the school which Danny now attends, he begins to try and save his younger brother from going down the same path he ultimately took.

I really enjoyed this movie in large part to the powerful performance given by Edward Norton, he captivates the audience with a totally believable portrayal of his charachter. He has many great scenes in the film, however my favourite has to be the one that sees him giving an interview immediatly after his fathers death. He gives a mesmarizing perfomance here as his far right views begin to spill over as he tries to come to terms with his grief.

The rest of the cast do very well as well. Edward Furlong puts in a notable perfomance as Derek's younger brother as does Fairuza Balk as Stacy, Derek's girlfriend. The main star for me is Norton though I can't praise him highly enough, really good. The movie addresses the problems of racism and gang culture and this is evident throughout the film in many scenes we see it displayed. Gang culture through territory and school, for example when Derek and his racist gang play the black crip gang for control of the basketball court or when Danny witnesses a gang bully a white boy for making inclinations that they were cheating in class.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and the way the story is told using a disrupted narrative. I also feel it gets better the more times you see it or for me it did anyway. Thanks for reading. The next movie to be reviewed shall be Mesrine Killer insinct, a french film about the french bank robber Jacques Mesrine.