The most powerful movie you will ever see

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2002)

A while back, my roommate and myself decided to see a movie with a mutual friend of ours; as we couldn't come up with an idea by ourselves that sounded interesting (Clerks and L.A. Confidential came up, but we had both seen those), we asked our friend if she could bring a movie that none of us had seen but that was supposed to be well-made. Though a tall order to fill, I have to say she more than delivered when she brought American History X over. It was powerful, brutal, beautiful, and compelling; the last type of movie most of us college freshman typically see with friends on a friday night. American History X follows the story of a young, brilliant, and very charismatic leader (stunningly played by Edward Norton) of a gang of Neo-Nazis in California, as well as his younger brother's (played by Edward Furlong) involvement in the same group. I'm not going to tell you any more than that; one of the things I enjoyed most about it was that I knew nothing more than that, so the plot was truly captivating. Not that it cannot stand on it's own; far from it! To tell the truth, I had absolutely no interest in what I thought would be yet another p.c. movie hollywood decides to throw at its consumers of "Racism is the ultimate evil"; it's one of those subjects that has been beat to death, which makes Tony Kaye's (the director) job that much more difficult. However, Mr. Kaye does so in breathtaking fashion. Much like Memento (which, of course, came after X), a great deal of the film is told via flashback in black and white. Many of the movie's most violent and compelling scenes are set to a powerfully dramatic, classical score that would simply come off as cheesy in any other film I can think of. What all this does is sober you up, grab your attention by the throat and make you seriously consider what this movie has to say. And what it has to say is both easily comprehensible, and brilliantly correct. Instead of portraying all Neo-Nazis as stupid rednecks, demonic villains or unknowing pawns, Kaye creates characters with real dimensions to them. Most people would find it hard to believe, but it isn't long after the movie starts that you actually care about two young racists, and even understand where these young men come from. Another brilliant move by Kaye and X's writer, David McKenna, was to present the logical, intelligent arguments that Neo-Nazis use, and precisely show where exactly those arguments are flawed. Unlike most movies, Kaye actually has the balls to show Ed Norton arguing with a teacher from school against integration, and shows him winning the argument! Another important element of this film is the reason it is rated R: horrific violence. What is so unfortunate is that many, many people will not see this film simply because of its graphic content, yet that is what makes it so horrifying, so gripping, and so mentally lasting. It, along with Schindler's List, is a movie that everyone should see at some point in their life; after that, you probably won't ever want to see it again.