Edward Norton Classic

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2012)

Powerful, hard hitting, provoking, touching. AMX is truly a classic on a controversial social theme. It is one of those movies where the viewer is left stunned when the end credits start rolling and it takes a moment for him to realize that he just viewed a good work of cinema. Though many movies try, but very few leave such an impact on its audience. AMX has this quality.
For me, three things stood out in this movie - Direction by Tony Kaye, dialogues (written by David McKenna) and above all, Edward Norton's portrayal of Derek Vinyard.
Tony Kaye has been known to come out with work on social themes, his other known work being a documentary on abortion debate, Lake of fire (2006). Through AMX, Tony has depicted the impact of the black-white divide in a very impactful manner. His depiction of the struggle that the youth go through and the impact on their impressionable minds is spot on. But more importantly, he was able to convey the message by building up a story which conveys the impact of this racial hatred on the vineyard family - father's killing, Derek's violence, Danny's death. The sequence of events could have been done sequentially without any voice-over. But having this told by Danny's voice with flashbacks made the story more honest and real. Derek's character transformation inside prison made sense and was not random. Tony was himself the director of photography for AMX. He made sure that the shots which needed impact were done differently - slow motion, face shots.
The story/screenplay is by David McKenna. Since there was no credits given separately for dialogues, am assuming David wrote the dialogues as well. Unlike other movies handling the same theme, I found the dialogues of AMX were much more though provoking & amazingly articulate. The dialogues weren't just swearing and shouting obscenities - they had meaning and made the viewer understand how clear the character's thought process was. This was amply displayed multiple times - Derek's speech to his gang before they busted the departmental store or the lunch table conversation. The same clarity wasn't showed for Danny's character and rightly so - he was simply confused whether to follow his brother's footsteps or be the good family kid.
Tony's and Danny's work would have been unreal had Edward Norton not brought Derek's character to life. I would rate this as one of Edward Norton's classic (along with Fight Club). He powerfully portrayed Derek's pre-prison character as an intellectual youth misguided by neo- nazi propaganda. The extremities of his youthful obsession came out beautifully when the cops arrest Derek for the killing of two black youths, but all he does is smile. There is a look of triumph on his face, a sense of pride. Pure hatred, no regret.
Overall, AMX is a thought provoking work of cinema which is well written, nicely directed and brought to life by one of the best actors of our generation, Norton. I rate this movie 8.5 out of 10.