The answers are endless

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 1999)

This is a powerful movie with a harsh reality overshadowing it to great effect. The hateful rhetoric becomes almost plausible as you listen to Derek's (Edward Norton) views at the dinner table, or his recruitment campaign to the other young neo-Nazis. The writer/director cohorts do an impressive job of accentuating the vicious circle of racism, and the actor portraying the main character, Edward Norton, carries out a brilliant performance worth remembering.
I found the symbolic effects used throughout the movie were very effective, some being more subtle than others. The most obvious was the use of black and white film for the flashbacks, when Derek (Norton) was a neo-Nazi, and the contradicting use of colour when he was released from prison, reformed. The suggestion that everything was black and white for him when he had his racist, bigot and white-power beliefs; everything was so clear and sensible to him; he was right, they were wrong, was ambitious and significant. White was good; black, or any other tone for that matter, was bad. The switch to colour during scenes when he was reformed was a hint at the refreshing nature of what life can be when you look at it from a different angle, when you take down your wall of hatred.
Another little symbolic reference was the bowl of jellybeans. Seth picked out the one black one before chugging down the whole bowl of white ones. Although at first glance it may seem like a joke, as if you think he's picking out one jellybean to eat it, but as a reference to his excessively overweight condition, swallows the majority of the candy, if you think for a second it's fairly easy to spot the white/black ratio, and his reaction to it.
One other quick symbolic gesture was Derek's move at the coffee shop near the end of the movie. He held open a door for a woman who was not white. Quite subtle, but effective. There were quite a few other events or items with a similar purpose that I noticed at the time I was watching the movie, but which I unfortunately cannot remember at this moment.
To end this ferociously long spiel on American History X, I just wanted to respond to a comment that another IMDB member who reviewed this movie said:
"So neo-Nazism isn't the answer, but what is? The movie leaves you dangling on this point, not really resolving anything."
But that's the exact point. Nothing is resolved in this world. People look for answers in the wrong places, and most of the time never find them. Leaving the movie unresolved, yet establishing a blockade against neo-Nazism is not, in my opinion, unrealistic or unfurnished quality. Nay, in fact, it's the opposite. It IS realistic, because whether you search for answers in religion or gangs or hate, etc. etc. etc., you aren't going to find it. The answer to life is within yourself. And the answers are endless. I feel that's what this movie was trying to explain.