- 4 months ago
Here’s my review of American History X.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00hey guys welcome back to another cult movie review with me Bo Carter I hope
00:18everyone is doing well today I'm gonna be checking out the 1998 drama American
00:27History X if you haven't already guys please do consider subscribing goes a
00:33long way to help me grow the channel and yeah let's get into it so American
00:40History X was directed by the London-born director Tony Kaye the movie
00:47marked Kaye's first feature film debut as a director upon researching this movie
00:53I actually found out that actor Dennis Hopper was originally offered the role
00:58the opportunity to direct the movie but actually turned it down resulting in Kaye
01:05taking charge screenwriter David McKenna wrote the movie's screenplay back in the
01:13early 90s before selling it off to the new line cinema studio McKenna would
01:20actually go on to form a career in the industry himself producing screenplays
01:26for various movie studios now this movie I watched back in the early 2000s I was
01:36quite young at the time and I didn't fully grasp the full context of the story I
01:43just remembered being really hyped about seeing Edward Furlong in a new movie the
01:52actor was and still very much is synonymous with Terminator 2 a movie which I
01:59absolutely loved as a kid so seeing him back then in a new movie all those years
02:07ago really intrigued me so the movie followed skinhead Derek Vinyard played by
02:14actor Ed Norton a racist skinhead who was a part of a local neo-nazi group in
02:23Venice California at the start of the film we see Derek brutally killed two black
02:29men during a failed attempted robbery he had this gang sneak up on Derek's house
02:36in the dead of night armed and ready to steal his truck now for most people the
02:45thought of having two burglars outside your house stealing stuff would likely
02:51make you want to go call the police but when it comes to the Derek Vinyard
02:57character he was far from the norm and so he decided to take matters into his own
03:04hands Derek would end up grabbing his gun and begin unloading on the thieves in
03:12the middle of the street after shooting one dead Derek grabs the other robber and
03:19literally makes him bite the curb what followed next would have to be one of the
03:27the most violent yet memorable deaths in modern cinema yeah yeah the whole sequence
03:37even now just kind of reminiscing about it in my head yeah it was hard to watch it
03:44still is hard to watch and yeah just a very ultra violent way to die you know just
03:54looking at the whole sequence for a moment it was beautifully captured in black and
03:59white by the director Tony Kaye a decisive decision that I thought really paid off
04:10and the additional use of slow motion in parts as well added more weight to the
04:17overall scene I loved case use of close-ups here as well the lingering shots of
04:24Derek looking back at his brother Danny after you know murdering two guys in
04:31front of him the whole sequence was pretty haunting thinking about it Derek's
04:38past was always presented in black and white flashbacks and I took that as a
04:46metaphor so to speak as if it were Derek's dark mindset in contrast present
04:54day is shown in color to likely indicate the change in Derek's psyche overall just
05:02brilliant filmmaking from first-time director Tony Kaye the events of that
05:09fateful night would lead Derek to serving prison time for the killings upon his
05:16release three years later the reformed Derek vineyard then attempted to get his
05:23life back on track only to find Danny his brother caught up in the same skinhead
05:29movement he was once involved with ultimately Derek makes several attempts to
05:37keep his brother from following in his footsteps he told Danny about his time in
05:44prison and how it ultimately changed him for the better Derek pleads with Danny not to
05:54make the same mistakes he did as a viewer I was really connected with the brotherly bond
06:01both Derek and Danny shared I actually have a younger brother so I understood Derek's
06:09eagerness to make sure his brother was safe now I'm gonna talk about Ed Norton and
06:16Edward Furlong individually in a moment but in terms of their on-screen
06:22chemistry together I thought both actors did a great job in the midst of the
06:29violence and the hatred there was a genuine love between the two brothers and the
06:38whole thing felt really authentic given the movies strong subject matter you
06:46needed the relationship to have a sense of realism otherwise it just wouldn't work
06:52so let's talk about Ed Norton here for a moment the actor delivered an
06:59outstanding performance which rightfully earned him an Oscar nomination for best
07:04best actor the transformation we saw Derek take from racist skinhead to a
07:13reformed man was brilliantly executed some of Derek's racist monologues were so
07:21convincing they were borderline scary his character was abrasive yet emotionally
07:32vulnerable at the same time the actor also physically transformed his body for
07:38the role going from muscly tattooed skinhead to an average looking guy with his
07:46hair grown out with movies like this and Fight Club for example Ed Norton was
07:53hitting his peak in the late 90s I think it's fair to say that Norton's career his
08:01body of work has declined since the 90s still this performance here in American
08:10History X was remarkable and a testament to his dedication as an actor I have to
08:19also shine a light on Edward Furlong for his performance so the actor of course is
08:27most famous for his role as John Connor in the 1991 movie Terminator 2
08:34judgment day the film of course as many of you know was a mega success and
08:41catapulted Furlong into the mainstream at a very young age fast forward to
08:48present day and sadly Furlong hasn't become the big Hollywood actor he was tipped to be
08:56all those years ago his performance in American History X was excellent and far
09:03superior to his breakout role in Terminator 2 you know when I think about American
09:09History X this movie did give an honest depiction of male disillusionment besides
09:17the racial issues that the movie highlights I got a strong sense that our main
09:25characters were yearning to be a part of something like a gang for example it's like disillusioned
09:35youths wanting to join a cause or a movement that was missing in their lives a a sense of belonging so to speak and we saw this manifest itself with our characters embracing
09:54embracing the white supremacy doctrine it's a theme that is touched upon but it really isn't given that much focus I personally would have preferred the film addressing it more clearly
10:10nevertheless it's still an important issue that is still prevalent in western
10:16in western society today ensue dislikes for American History X my main dislike for the movie would have to be the convoluted messaging it gives it's like American History X didn't know what it wanted to be exactly what it wanted to be
10:17and for me all of this came down to the ending of the
10:44to the ending of the film so let's get into the ending here for a moment Danny is tragically shot
10:53and killed by a black student in the school bathroom now this wasn't a fight by any stretch
11:01of the imagination this was a cold-blooded murder and a very shocking way to end the movie
11:09we had seen an altercation take place between the two earlier in the film where Danny blew smoke
11:17in the guy's face so I get the embarrassment the guy probably felt especially having it all take
11:26place in school but of course with all that said there's no justification for murder so up until
11:36the ending the black student was not an integral part of the film there was no backstory given to
11:44the character so when he killed Danny we as an audience don't understand the character's
11:53motivations and so you know what we left with we're left with a juvenile black teen who overreacted
12:01took it too far and killed the white main character who was attempting to change his life for the
12:10better you know the more I think about it the more I think that American History X not only portrays
12:18whites in a negative way but also the black community and with this ending the movie does
12:26actually end up reinforcing Derek's original racist beliefs we heard earlier in the film so the movie goes
12:37out its way to condemn racism but ultimately regresses back to negative stereotypes I don't know I was I was a bit
12:49confused I mean it's like it's like it's apparently racist to stand up to school bullies especially if
12:58they're African American because if you do you might get shot you know like is that the message
13:06it's like this is the contrived messaging I just you know didn't like you know don't get me wrong
13:14I wasn't after a happy ending by any means having Derek and Danny ride off into the sunset you know
13:23that would have been silly but you know Danny was an important character that we'd been following
13:30closely for the past you know two hours watching the film so to make Danny's killer some random
13:41ghetto black guy that was out of control who basically had no backstory I don't know just seemed very kind
13:49of poor in my eyes and you know after Danny's death Derek runs in he finds his his brother's you know dead
13:59like dying in front of him and the movie ends and um you know it made me think like wouldn't that likely
14:09push Derek to go back to his original racist ways yeah the whole ending was so dramatic it was almost
14:18like a cliffhanger like there was more to come you know like a sequel or something and as far as I'm aware
14:25there was no plans to you know make a sequel to this movie but yeah it just seemed like a setup for
14:33another installment you know now with all the convoluted messaging it wouldn't be fair for me not to
14:42mention the fact that this movie had a very chaotic post-production so the story goes that the movie got
14:51completed director Tony Kaye then had major issues with the film's final cut the actor Ed Norton was also
15:02involved with the editing process which only added more tension
15:09Norton and Kaye went back and forth over the movie's runtime and basically resulted in two different
15:18versions after studio interference and Tony Kaye playing hardball the Ed Norton cut was ultimately the
15:27version we saw released so yeah I was confused with the ending and the film's overall message but
15:36I will give it some slack due to the post-production chaos and so ratings for American History X 1998
15:47I'm going to be raising this movie a strong 7.5 out of 10
15:53American History X no doubt is an important movie that sadly just would not be made in today's current
16:04movie landscape with all the biopics and superhero films yeah I just couldn't see this movie getting any
16:15kind of platform any kind of release or distribution these days you know especially in America racial
16:23tensions are sadly at an all-time high I think a lot of it being perpetrated by the media but nevertheless
16:31a movie like American History X controversial back then but even more controversial now it's safe to say
16:40that the movie included tons of impactful moments and the acting was first class there was also some
16:51interesting creative decisions taken such as how the flashbacks were used and presented on screen
17:00the film all comes together with an ending that was really quite shocking you know the film didn't hold
17:08the film all back and I found that to be helpful to understand Derek Vineyard's perception of the world
17:17and of course while Ed Norton was brilliant in this movie Edward Furlong also was a real highlight
17:25delivering the best performance of his career I love the film's overall aesthetic with the use of the
17:34black and white for the film's flashbacks I actually had no idea that the cinematography was actually done
17:42by the director Tony Kaye himself those beautiful shots of the ocean and the beachfront at sunset were a really nice touch
17:56by K I also thought the non-linear storytelling was intriguing and added to the film's intensity
18:07it's captivating and profound cinema that's definitely worth your time I'm sure many of you guys have seen it
18:16if you have please let me know what you guys think in the comment section below
18:20anyways guys that is all from me today in this video hope you have enjoyed yourselves I will be back
18:28very soon with more reviews don't forget to subscribe and yeah I'll see you soon
18:34bye
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