American History X is a 1998 American
drama filmA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by
Tony KayeTony Kaye is a director of films, music videos, advertisements and documentaries.Kaye has made several well-known music videos, including the video for "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, which won a Grammy Award; "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers; "What God Wants" by Roger Waters; and "Help...
and starring
Edward NortonEdward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
and
Edward FurlongEdward Walter Furlong is an American actor whose best known film roles are John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Daniel Vinyard in American History X. He is a two-time Saturn Award nominee, winning the 1992 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for his performance in...
. It was distributed by
New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
.
The film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Norton) and Daniel "Danny" Vinyard (Furlong) of Venice Beach in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Both are intelligent and charismatic students. Their father, a firefighter, is murdered by a black drug dealer while trying to extinguish a fire in a
South CentralSouth Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Derek is drawn into the
neo-NaziNeo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
movement. Derek brutally kills two black gang members whom he catches in the act of breaking into the truck left to him by his father, and is sentenced to three years in prison for
voluntary manslaughterVoluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
. The story shows how Danny is influenced by his older brother's actions and ideology and how Derek, now radically changed by his experience in incarceration, which includes violent rape by white inmates, tries to prevent his brother from going down the same path as he did. The film is told in the style of nonlinear narrative.
David McKennaDavid McKenna is an American screenwriter and producer. He worked as executive producer of E-Ring.He used the screen name Zachary Long for Bully....
scripted the film and shooting took place in Los Angeles, California. The film was released in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 30, 1998 and went on to gross over $23 million at the international box office. It was given an "R" rating by the
MPAAThe Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
for "graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity."
Critics mostly praised the film and Edward Norton was given an Academy Award nomination for
Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
. It was also named by
EmpireEmpire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine in September 2008 as the 311th Greatest Movie of All Time.
Plot
Flashbacks throughout the film show Derek's transformation into a vengeful white supremacist in Venice Beach. Having already been influenced by his bigoted firefighter father's latent racism, Derek is driven to action when his father is shot and killed while fighting a fire in a suspected Compton drug den. Eventually Derek becomes second-in-command of a neo-Nazi street gang, The D.O.C., and entices young whites to join. The gang commits acts of intimidation, such as damaging a store owned by a Korean and challenging black players to basketball games to win the court as turf. These incidents go unnoticed by the family until Derek has an argument (involving
Rodney KingRodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
) with his mother's new boyfriend Murray (Elliot Gould), who is Jewish. Later that night, while Derek is having sex with his equally white supremacist girlfriend Stacey (
Fairuza BalkFairuza Alejandra Balk is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz...
), Danny informs Derek that three
CripsThe Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...
members are attempting to steal their father's truck. Derek runs outside and shoots at two of the men with a pistol, killing the first one instantly. He shoots and wounds the second man, one of the black basketball players, and vows to "teach him a lesson" for trying to steal the truck his father gave him. He forces him to put his mouth on the curb, then brutally kills him with a
curb-stompCurb-stomping is a violent assault in which the attacker forces the victim to lie down prone on the street and "bite the curb" , following which the attacker stomps on the back of the victim's head resulting in crushed teeth, a broken jaw and/or skull, and possibly death...
. Danny watches in horror as this unfolds. The police arrest Derek as he smiles at a shocked Danny.
After being convicted of
voluntary manslaughterVoluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
, Derek is sentenced to three years at the
California Institution for MenCalifornia Institution for Men is a male-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California. It is often colloquially referenced as "Chino." In turn, locals call the prison "Chino Men's" or just "Men's" to avoid confusion with the city itself...
in
ChinoChino is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located in the western end of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area and it is easily accessible via the Chino Valley and Pomona freeways....
. There, he joins the
Aryan BrotherhoodThe Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
prison gang. After about a year, he becomes disillusioned with the gang, especially over the group's friendly dealings with a Mexican prison gang member, and their trafficking in narcotics. When he voices these opinions, he is first ignored and then reprimanded by the other white supremacists. Derek also develops a friendly rapport with black prison inmate, Lamont (
Guy Torry-Early life:Guy Torry was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, along with his brother, actor and comedian Joe Torry. He attended Southeast Missouri State University where fellow comedian and St. Louisan Cedric the Entertainer attended. While attending college, Torry developed his talent for comedy...
), who works with him in the prison laundry. His fellow neo-Nazis take notice of this and savagely beat and rape him in the shower.
While still recovering from the attack, Derek is visited by his black, former English teacher Dr. Bob Sweeney (
Avery BrooksAvery Franklin Brooks is an American actor, television director, jazz musician, opera singer and college professor. Brooks is perhaps best known for his television roles as Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and in the...
), whom he asks for help to be paroled. Although Derek later became an anti-Semitic neo-Nazi, he had always maintained a level of respect for his black teacher. Sweeney informs him of Danny's aspiration to become a neo-Nazi like Derek. Sweeney confides in Derek that he used to hate white people as a youth, and he realized that racism is pointless. Sweeney asserts that Derek has spent his life pursuing answers, and then asks: "Has anything you've done made your life better?" This proves a turning point for Derek, who further distances himself from the Aryan Brotherhood and changes his outlook on life. Lamont emerges as Derek's only true friend in prison, and is part of the reason Derek stays alive as he uses what influence he has to persuade a contingent of black prisoners to protect Derek from his former Aryan Brotherhood associates.
The morning Derek is due to be released from prison, Danny's history teacher, Murray, reports Danny to the now-principal Dr. Sweeney on account of Danny's history paper on
Mein KampfMein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
, Hitler's autobiography. Dr. Sweeney convinces Murray to give him another chance. He tells Danny that he will no longer attend Murray's class, and every day Dr. Sweeney will teach Danny history, a class they will call "American History X". For their first lesson, Dr. Sweeney asks Danny to write a new paper on the events leading up to Derek's incarceration. Danny reluctantly agrees after Sweeney threatens expulsion.
In the evening, when Derek returns home, he finds that Danny has become a white power skinhead and then tries and fails to convince him to leave the gang. Later that night, at a neo-Nazi party which Derek and Danny are both attending (despite the fact that Derek made Danny promise he wouldn't go), Derek confronts and tells the leader, Cameron Alexander (
Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
), that he will no longer associate with him and the gang and tells him to "Stay away from him and Danny", at which point Cameron provokes and insults Derek who beats him up and knocks him unconscious before leaving his office. During an ensuing confrontation, Derek's neo-Nazi friend Seth Ryan (
Ethan SupleeEthan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...
) runs after Derek and aims a pistol at him, which Derek wrestles from him, and points it at the angry crowd before running away from the party. Danny angrily confronts Derek, who tells him about his time and transformation in prison. The confession seems to prompt a change in Danny.
The following morning Danny finishes his paper, and Derek gets ready for a meeting with his parole officer. Derek walks Danny to school before his meeting, and on their way they stop at a café where they are met by Dr. Sweeney and a police officer. They tell Derek that Cameron and Seth were attacked the previous night and have been hospitalized. Derek claims no knowledge of the incidents, yet they ask him for help. Derek reluctantly agrees.
At school, after Danny uses the urinal in the bathroom, he is confronted by a young black student with whom he had a confrontation the previous day. The student shoots and kills Danny. When Derek arrives, he runs into the bathroom and tearfully cradles his dead brother in his arms. The film ends with Danny narrating part of his paper, in which he quotes the conclusion of
Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural addressAbraham Lincoln's first inaugural address was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln, on Monday, March 4, 1861, as part of his taking of the oath of office for his first term as the sixteenth President of the United States...
: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Cast
- Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
as Derek Vinyard
- Edward Furlong
Edward Walter Furlong is an American actor whose best known film roles are John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Daniel Vinyard in American History X. He is a two-time Saturn Award nominee, winning the 1992 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for his performance in...
as Daniel "Danny" Vinyard
- Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
as Doris Vinyard, Derek, Daniel, and Davina's mother
- Jennifer Lien
Jennifer Ann Lien is an American actress, known for playing the alien Kes on the television series Star Trek: Voyager.-Early life:...
as Davina Vinyard, Derek and Daniel's sister
- Ethan Suplee
Ethan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...
as Seth Ryan
- Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Alejandra Balk is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz...
as Stacey, Derek's girlfriend
- Avery Brooks
Avery Franklin Brooks is an American actor, television director, jazz musician, opera singer and college professor. Brooks is perhaps best known for his television roles as Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and in the...
as Dr. Robert "Bob" Sweeney, Derek's former English honours teacher, Danny's history teacher, and principal at Danny's secondary school
- Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
as Murray, Doris Vinyard's Jewish ex-boyfriend and Danny's former history teacher
- Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
as Cameron Alexander
- William Russ
William Russ is an American actor, best known for his role as Alan Matthews on Boy Meets World.-Early life:Russ was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is the son of a naval officer...
as Dennis Vinyard, Derek, Daniel, and Davina's deceased father
- Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
as McMahon
- Guy Torry
-Early life:Guy Torry was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, along with his brother, actor and comedian Joe Torry. He attended Southeast Missouri State University where fellow comedian and St. Louisan Cedric the Entertainer attended. While attending college, Torry developed his talent for comedy...
as Lamont
- Joseph Cortese
Joseph Cortese is an American actor who has been in Evilspeak and American History X. He was married to Kim Delaney from 1989 to 1994.-External links:...
as Rasmussen
- Jason Bose Smith as Little Henry
- Antonio David Lyons as Lawrence
- Alex Sol as Mitch McCormick
- Keram Malicki-Sánchez
Keram Malicki-Sánchez is a Canadian actor, singer, writer, new media guru, and music and film producer.-Early life & acting career:...
as Chris
- Giuseppe Andrews
Giuseppe Andrews is an American film actor, writer, and director known for his roles as Lex in the 1999 film Detroit Rock City, a bizarre sheriff's deputy in Cabin Fever , a small role in Never Been Kissed , as well as appearances in The Smashing Pumpkins videos "1979" and "Perfect".Andrews has...
as Jason
- Cleo Adell as Lizzie
- Jonathan Fowler Jr. as Jerome
- Christopher Masterson
Christopher Kennedy Masterson is an American actor known most for his role as Francis on Malcolm in the Middle.- Early life :Masterson was born to Peter and Carol Masterson on Long Island, New York, on January 22, 1980...
as Daryl Dawson
- Nicholas R. Oleson as Huge Aryan
- Jordan Marder as Curtis
Production
With some suggestions from New Line,
Tony KayeTony Kaye is a director of films, music videos, advertisements and documentaries.Kaye has made several well-known music videos, including the video for "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, which won a Grammy Award; "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers; "What God Wants" by Roger Waters; and "Help...
, the film's director, manufactured a second heavily shortened cut, which New Line rejected as it bore little resemblance to the first. Film editor Jerry Greenberg was brought in to cut a third version with Edward Norton.
Kaye disowned the third version as the final cut of the film, as he did not approve of its quality. He tried (and failed) to have his name removed from the credits, openly telling some interviewers he tried to invoke the
Alan SmitheeAlan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
pseudonym which the
Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
used to reserve for such cases. When refused he then tried "
Humpty DumptyHumpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
" as an alternative name.
Joaquin PhoenixJoaquin Rafael Phoenix , formerly credited as Leaf Phoenix, is an American film actor. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his family returned to the continental United States four years later...
was offered the role of Derek Vinyard but turned it down.
Box office
American History X grossed $6,719,864 from 513 theaters in the United States, and a total of $23,875,127 worldwide.
Critical reception
The film received mostly positive reviews and Norton's performance was critically acclaimed. Based on the reviews of 81 critics collected on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 81% of critics gave the film a positive review, with the consensus being "A compelling and provocative story led by an excellent performance by Edward Norton."
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three out of four stars, regarding it as "always interesting and sometimes compelling, and it contains more actual provocative thought than any American film on race since
Do the Right ThingDo the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...
".
On the other hand, some critics were not impressed with the film. Mick LaSalle of the
San Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
gave the film two out of five stars, saying that "in some places the dialogue is surprisingly stilted. Far worse, the ending is a misfire."
Awards and nominations
Edward NortonEdward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for his performance as Derek Vinyard.