American History X
American History X is a 1998 film directed by Tony Kaye which tells the story of a white supremacist who learns that his beliefs are wrong while in prison, and tries to save his younger brother from following in his footsteps. It stars Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien, Ethan Suplee, Fairuza Balk, Avery Brooks, Elliott Gould and Stacy Keach. The screenplay was written by David McKenna.
Norton was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the lead role.
There was a controversy about the film in which director Tony Kaye tried to have his name removed from the credits because supposedly actor Edward Norton had had the movie re-edited to give himself more screen time. However, the Directors Guild of America had a rule at the time that if a director took his name off the credits, and had it replaced by the Guild's pseudonym Alan Smithee, the director could not explain his reasons for it. Kaye was denied use of the pseudonym as he had already spoken about the controversy in Variety. He sued the Directors Guild and New Line Cinema, claiming they had violated his First Amendment rights.
In one of the most horrifying scenes, Derek Vinvard kills a black youth by stamping on the man's head while he is biting the curb.
External link
- IMDb entry for "American History X" (http://imdb.com/title/tt0120586/)
de:American History X
Categories: 1998 films