A Powerful, Eye Opening Story About Change

Rating: 10/10 (16 March 2018)

When I first came across the movie American History X it was while I was looking through Edward Nortons films on his profile. Having seen Primal Fear and Fight Club just a few weeks prior to this I was intrigued to see what other roles he could take on. Furthermore, I was a huge fan of Edward Furlong in Terminator 2 and was happily surprised to see him on this cast list as between 1991 and 1998 when this was released, he did not have many major roles.
The story is told through switching from present to past and the way it is done is simply outstanding. The flashback scenes are in black and white to firstly make it clear when the time period is and arguably also to show the darkness that was consuming Edward Nortons character when following the neo-nazi way of life that he did for so long. Edward Norton himself also adds to this effect and his performance makes it seem like he is playing two separate characters. His brother in the movie 'Danny' is played by Edward Furlong who gives a very gripping performance as we see his character change his ways completely in front of our eyes. The time period of only one day also adds the severity of this change and in a very powerful way shows the effect of influence that one person can have on another.
For people that haven't seen this movie it is without a doubt one of the most powerful movies I have personally seen and one that I believe everyone should watch. Because of this, I have not given away many details of the movie and I believe that words cannot convey the true message that this 'masterpiece' conveys.
10/10. Cinematic Brilliance