A thought provoking film with a masterful leading performance

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2002)

When the nominations were announced for the 1998 Oscars I wasn't surprised that Edward Norton had been nominated again. He had lost out in 1996 for his performance in Primal Fear, although I felt at the time the nomination was more of a recognition for a combination of his work which included The People vs Larry Flynt and Everyone Says I love You.
The thing that bothered me was the film... American History X. Why had I not heard of it, let alone seen it. Unsurprisingly it had got a very limited distribution in the UK, I guess because of it's content. I waited for the video release and I was not disappointed...!?!
Many people have lauded Norton's performance and rightly so. As a demonstration of his range it is masterful. A physical transformation akin to De Niro in Raging Bull, together with an emotional performance that takes in extreme violence, intellectual reasoning, regret, remorse and fear.
But there is more to this film than Norton's performance. Avery Brooks' understated Dr Sweeney allows those around him to bring out the emotion of the piece. Stacey Keach's Godfather-like quiet menace is his best role in years. Much must be said too for Tony Kaye's directing, the starkness of the black & white flashbacks works superbly on several levels. It demonstrates how Derek's reasoning was as black & white as the images on screen, together with the sheer bleakness of the life he was leading; out of date film for out of date attitudes.
Much has been said of the subject matter and the violence; the subject matter simply cannot be approached without reference to the violence, unfortunately that is the world we live in. David McKenna's script does not pick sides, but skillfully tells it's story without prejudice. Derek is a victim of circumstances, he's avenging the injustice of his father's death, falling under the spell of Alexander, leading the struggle on the streets against the politicians who haven't got a clue what's happening in the real world. Dereks journey from a bright schoolkid to a violent criminal seems so straightforward. Yet the real struggle is the journey back.
My one moan would be that we didn't get the opportunity to see more of Derek dealing with life after prison. Norton's portrayal of 'violent' Derek is the lasting image I had of the film, simply because the performance was so good. It's fair to say had he had the chance to explore 'reformed' Derek, Norton with his range would have done a fine job and the film may well have been more widely accepted.
All in all a brave film that demonstrates the actors craft perfectly. One of those word of mouth films, like Shawshank, that will be talked about for many years.