A Brilliant Film!

Rating: Null/10 (19 April 1999)

Yesterday, I went to the local video shop and took out the AHX without having any idea what it was about. I was totally unprepared for what I was to receive.
It's been a long time that a film has moved me to experience more than one emotion at the same time. Anger, because of the violent killing of one of the black burglars. Sadness, because of the moving moment when Dr. Sweeney asks Derek Vinyard if he had done anything to improve his life. Humour, because of the grudging reluctance on the Derek's part to see the irrepressible Lamont as a human being. I thought the performance given by Ed Norton was one that will never leave my mind and the film falls into the category of impact films such as Taxi-Driver, Made in Britain, Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever and of course, Malcolm X.
But there were a few things that I wasn't happy with. It bothered me that there was no rebuttal against Derek's powerful and challenging speech. Here was an angry intelligent man articulating a lot of stuff but there was nobody, say, of Malcolm X calibre, to offset some of the things he was saying. Especially at the dinner scene, Derek says so much that Murray (played by Elliot Gould) appears speechless which makes him look inept and weak. I desperately wanted him to say or do something. Even if that meant the scene ending with a physical fight between the two, at least it would give some satisfaction that Murray stood up to him.
The other thing that got on my nerves was the depiction of the black gangs. At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to two black youths committing an act of crime, later on in the film we see one of the youths elbowing Derek in the face in a game. And then later, Derek gets his own back by brutally killing the same youth in the most barbaric way possible. My point is that what comes across is the contempt black males have for the law and whites, seems manipulated in such a way to justify Derek's heated rhetoric. The liberal outlook of Dr. Sweeney with his 'two PhD's' plus the raw anger of the black gang is not enough to counteract Derek's diatribe.
Having said all of that, the cinematography was creative - the contrast between the black and white scenes juxtaposed against the coloured ones, the musical score was aptly appropriate successfully heightening emotional tension. I look forward to seeing more films by Tony Kaye, and more films featuring Edward Norton. Mr. De Niro and Mr. Pacino, it's time to move over!