American History X (1998)

A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did.

Director:

Tony Kaye

Writer:

David McKenna

Stars:

Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo

Top 250 #33 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward Norton	...	Derek Vinyard
Edward Furlong	...	Danny Vinyard
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Doris Vinyard
Jennifer Lien	...	Davina Vinyard
Ethan Suplee	...	Seth Ryan
Fairuza Balk	...	Stacey
Avery Brooks	...	Dr. Bob Sweeney
Elliott Gould	...	Murray
Stacy Keach	...	Cameron Alexander
William Russ	...	Dennis Vinyard
Guy Torry	...	Lamont
Joe Cortese	...	Rasmussen
Jason Bose Smith	...	Little Henry (as Jason Bose-Smith)
Antonio David Lyons	...	Lawrence
Alex Sol	...	Mitch McCormick

Storyline

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | skinhead | neo nazi | gang | racism | 

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Taglines:

His father taught him to hate. His friends taught him rage. His enemies gave him hope.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1999 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Generacija X

Filming Locations:

Johnie's Coffee Shop - 6101 Wilshire Boulevard, Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£120,629 (UK) (26 March 1999)

Gross:

£291,438 (UK) (2 April 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Savoy Pictures, Turman-Morrissey Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film uses the word "fuck" 205 times.

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Goofs

When the two brothers are sitting in the bedroom and Danny gets up off the bed, you hear him talking to Derek but his mouth is not moving.

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Quotes

Murray: What are you doing Derek? This is your family.
Derek Vinyard: Right, my family. My family so you know what? I don't give two shits about you or anybody else or what you think. You're not a part of it and you never will be.
Murray: That has nothing to do with it!
Derek Vinyard: Oh it doesn't? You don't think I see what you're trying to do here? You think I'm gonna sit here and smile while some fuckin' kike tries to fuck my mother? It's never gonna happen Murray, fuckin' forget it, not on my watch, not while I'm in this family. I ...

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Connections

Referenced in Death to Smoochy (2002)
In AHX, Edward Norton's character tells someone "You fucked with the wrong bull." In DtS Norton's character tells someone "You fucked with the wrong rhino."

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Soundtracks

"Battle Hymn of the Republic"
(circa 1856) (uncredited)
Music by William Steffe
Lyrics by Julia Ward Howe (1862)
Sung a cappella by Ethan Suplee with modified lyrics

User Reviews

One of the most powerful movies I have ever seen.

I was expecting a kind of a moralistic movie with an overly present, almost preaching like message. The movie however turned out to be extremely powerful mainly due to the professionalism it was made with.

The movie its story is told 'beautifuly' in black & white and color. The quite original directing from Tony Kaye gives the movie a nice visual style and certain atmosphere. The story itself isn't that complicated or extremely original on its own and perhaps at most points even predictable but the way the story is told is phenomenal. This is not a movie with an happy ending or a movie that provides a solution to the racial discrimination problems. It shows what is NOT the solution to the problems and that everything that is occurring is like a vicious circle. The movie does not give a hopeful message but instead shows the dangers and pain you're causing to yourself and your close environment when you're thinking as a white supremacist.

As an anti Neo-Nazi movie this movie works really powerful. I think that its a really good and important thing that this movie is often shown in classrooms.

Edward Norton is truly fantastic in his role. He is very well believable as a Neo-Nazi as well as the reformed person he later turns into in the movie. It's almost like he's playing 2 different characters and he does that so extremely well. Also really good was Edward Furlong who we all long had not seen in a big production. Furlong and Norton are both acting well together in their scene's are highly believable as two brothers.

Also surprising good was the musical score by Anne Dudley who had already won an Oscar for "The Full Monty", the year before.

This was a movie that surprisingly impressed me. As a movie its extremely powerful and important.

10/10

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