Biography

1952 · London, England, UK

6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

His protagonists are often filled with self-hatred and regret, trying to atone for past failures

Use of flashbacks and cutaways

His films often tackle controversial social themes

Often films scenes in black and white

When New Line sent me the script of American History X (1998), about the relationship between a Neo-Nazi and his impressionable kid brother, it was deeply flawed. I thought I could manoeuvre around it: invent stuff, improvise, improve what was on the page. That was one of the reasons I went along with the studio's idea to cast Edward Norton. At the time Norton was Hollywood's golden boy, although personally I didn't think he had enough weight or presence. I held some open casting calls but I couldn't find anyone better than him. And one advantage of having Edward was that we had a shared vision of how to improve the script. In casting him I was really buying another writer. The shoot went smoothly. That much is evident from the parts of the picture that work. It was the endgame that I wasn't savvy enough to win. That was when everything fell apart, including me. The first screening of my cut had been a success. Then the studio gave me pages and pages of notes, as did Norton. Let's just say that I was not what you'd call "user friendly". I understand now that when someone offers advice, you shouldn't flare up and throw some prima-donna hissy fit. Better to come up with answers to their questions - or to lie and say you'll give it some thought. I couldn't grasp that. Their first reaction after I bawled them out was to ban me from the cutting room. Eventually they let me in, and I worked with them on re-edits for a year. In that time, I found a whole new film, one that they never allowed me to finish. At one point, they even let Norton work on the editing. I was so staggered by what he was doing to my film, and by the fact that New Line approved, that I punched the wall and broke my hand. Whenever I argued with Norton, I didn't have a leg to stand on. He could wipe the floor with me because he's a great articulator. My problem all through 'American History X' was that I could never tell anyone what I wanted to do with the film. Sometimes I didn't even know myself. More often, I was so intimidated by the process that I went into meltdown if I wasn't left alone to work things out. Of course, if you actually listened to what Norton was saying, you could hear that none of it made sense in film-making terms: that's not his forte, as you'll know if you saw the movie that he directed, Keeping the Faith (2000). "Pretty fucking awful" hardly covers that one. The version of 'American History X' that got released was 40 minutes longer than my cut. I had done a hard, fast, 95-minute rough diamond of a picture. But the movie they put out was crammed with shots of everyone crying in each other's arms. And, of course, Norton had generously given himself more screen time. [The Guardian, Oct. 2002]