Excellent movie, although very violent

Rating: 9/10 (1 August 2010)

American History X is a story about two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) and a black drug dealer while fighting a fire in a neighborhood in Los Angeles murdered Daniel Vinyard (Edward Furlong), who fight racism after their father, who was a firefighter. Derek goes to prison for 3 years after brutally killing black gang members who he catches breaking into his families car. Daniel follows his brother's footstep until Derek gets out of prison and tries to stop Daniel from going down the same path. Derek finally gets Daniel on the right path and Daniel is dropped off at school where a black kid shoots him in the bathroom; a black kid that Daniel had confrontation with earlier in the film. The theme of the film is about racism. The family battles it after a black drug dealer killed their father. The movie focuses on problems and conflicts between the family and black people. There is a scene where Derek organizes a raid on a foreign owned grocery store. He organizes people to go into this store and raid it, tearing up the inside in the process and confronting the owners. In the beginning of the film Derek kills, black gang members after they are caught breaking into his family's car. He shots at them, then makes a man put his teeth on the curb, and kicks the back of his head. Derek is then arrested. Daniel follows Derek's footsteps and joins the white supremacist. While Derek is in jail, Dr. Sweeny (Avery Brooks) visits him and Avery convinces him that racism is pointless. Derek realizes that the only reason he stayed alive in prison was a black person that he became close friends with. Time in prison was life changing for Derek and he was determined to change the family's lives when he got out. Derek and Daniel were committed to a better lifestyle without racism when Derek drops Daniel off a school Daniel goes into the bathroom and is confronted by a black boy from the previous day. They look each other in the eye and Daniel is shot to death right in the bathroom. American History X and Crash are identical in theme and plot. They both are about people who are racist in the beginning but then open up by the end of the movie. Both of these movies start out harsh in relevance to racism and by the end, all people are getting along. The lighting and color choice were very appropriate for this film. The film went from color to black and white, which was appropriate for the scenes they were showing. For example, the scene where Derek shots the gang members is black and white and I think it added feeling and dramatization to the scene. The color scenes were not overly bright which sets the mood for the film and how Derek's family is unhappy and racist. The lighting was not very bright and was dull throughout the movie. Both the lighting and color choice set the mood and tone of the entire movie. The motif in this film was the swastika as it was portrayed throughout the film. It was tattooed on Derek's chest, it was on posters in Derek and Daniel's room and it was seen many times throughout the movie. This shows or proves that the movie is about racism and white supremacists. This symbol was a fit for the theme of the movie and it was evident when they were taking there posters down that they were going to attempt a better life and a life without racism in it. This was an excellent movie and I enjoyed it however, I feel that it was very violent and should not be viewed by everyone. Not every individual can handle this film because of the graphic nature and the extent of the violence and the language. I think that everything was needed to get the theme across but once again; I would not recommend this movie to everyone especially if you are easily offended.