All rights reserved. Director Tony Kaye may be a pompous whiner, but through whatever vagaries of the collaborative process of moviemaking, American History X came out splendidly despite Kaye's moaning that someone dared touch his masterpiece. Kaye's film demonstrates where movies may be headed, as they jump in and out of scenes and time frames with abruptness and speed but with logic and coherence.
Perspectives shift with novelistic facility.
American History X deftly deploys techniques that have made many recent, content-vacuous TV ads and music videos visually interesting. It's the content of American History X , however, that will stir most of the discussion. Some of his goons may be mental slugs, but Norton is smart, as masterful with contemporary invective and street-corner rhetoric as was Hitler. In the end, American History X offers a glimmer of hope that people of good will can decide to break the cycle of hatred and mistrust that grips many of our cities.