American History X

Movie
German title	American History X
Original title	American History X
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1998
length	114 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Tony Kaye
script	David McKenna
production	John Morrissey
music	Anne Dudley
camera	Tony Kaye
cut	Gerald B. Greenberg , ; Alan Heim
occupation
	Edward Norton : Derek Vinyard; Edward Furlong : Danny Vinyard; Beverly D'Angelo : Doris Vinyard; William Russ : Dennis Vinyard; Avery Brooks : Dr. Bob Sweeney; Jennifer Lien : Davina Vinyard; Elliott Gould : Murray; Stacy Keach : Cameron Alexander; Ethan Suplee : Seth Ryan; Fairuza Balk : Stacey; Guy Torry : Lamont; Michelle Christine White : Lizzy;

American History X is a 1998 film . He deals with the American neo-Nazi scene. Tony Kaye directed.

action

Derek Vinyard, a neo - Nazi - leaning skinhead who is very active in the scene , confronts two African-Americans one night when they try to steal his car. He shoots one and brutally murders a second by " biting the curb ". Derek receives a three-year prison sentence for " voluntary manslaughter " and finally becomes a hero of both the local neo-Nazi scene and his younger brother Danny, who, as an eyewitness, saved him from a significantly higher prison sentence.

Three years later, Danny is also firmly anchored in the scene. After he wrote a provocative essay for the school under the title "My Mein Kampf ", he receives individual lessons from the Afro-American headmaster Sweeney. If he refuses individual lessons, he will be expelled from school for good. Sweeney puts the class under the heading "American History X". Sweeney would like to encourage Danny to think for himself, so on the first day he should write an honest essay about his great role model Derek.

He served his sentence on the same day and is picked up by the family at the prison. He is no longer bald and his behavior is less confrontational; it becomes clear that Derek has turned away from the scene and its ideology. He tries in vain to talk Danny out of attending a right-wing rock concert by the older neo-Nazi leader Cameron Alexander. Derek also goes to the concert to inform Alexander, his former mentor, of his change of heart and to keep him away from Danny. Alexander wants to persuade his former crown prince to get back on board and doesn't want to let Danny go either. Derek then loses his nerve, attacks Alexander physically and brings his old friends against him. Danny also reacts angrily, whereupon Derek reveals the reasons for his entry and exit from the scene in a long evening conversation.

Looking back at the past: In a conversation at the Vinyard family's dining table, in which the young Derek talks about reading the book Native Son from his English class, his (later killed) father shows a racist attitude. He speaks negatively about the affirmative action of the authorities, who put less qualified African-American colleagues at his place of work, with better white competitors being left behind. In doing so, he convinces Derek not to take the book and the lessons of his English teacher seriously.

Father: 'Are we going to trade all good books for black books now? […] You have to question something like that, Derek. You have to keep track ... '
Derek:' ... don't know, anyway. I do not know. Dr. Sweeney, he makes such a strong impression that it's hard not to listen. Well, some of what he says is maybe ... '
Father:' ... that's nonsense ... '
Derek:' Yes ... maybe sometimes ... '
Father:' No, no, it's nigger nonsense ... you understand that, right? '
Derek: 'Yes' ...

A little later, Derek's father, a firefighter by profession, is shot dead by a black man while on duty. This loss encourages Derek, who is looking for support, in his racist development. His acquaintance with the staunch neo-Nazi Alexander allows Derek to enter the scene further. Alexander cleverly uses Derek's distinctive charisma to appeal to the younger generation.

It was only during his imprisonment that Derek realized that Cameron was not interested in ideology, but in personal gain and the development of his own power. It fits in with the fact that the neo-Nazi gang ( Aryan Brotherhood ), with whom Derek quickly made friends in prison, trades in “ Chicanos ” in order to get drugs for white inmates. In disgust, the idealistic Derek turns away from the Aryan Brotherhood. Without them he is oppressed, raped and exposed to the white prisoners in prison without protection.

While working together in the laundry, Derek makes the acquaintance of a black man, whom he begins to trust and whom he gradually thaws towards. He apparently owes it to this fellow prisoner that he can leave the prison without assaults by black prisoners, because the non-white prisoners leave him alone even after he has left the AB . After his stay in prison, his idea of "race" changed fundamentally.

After the conversation, Danny understands his brother's motives, and the two get closer to each other again. At night Danny writes the required essay about his brother, honestly with himself and with a conciliatory tone. Derek's plan to get out of the scene and also to keep his brother out seems to be successful. The next morning, however, Danny is shot in the school toilet by an African American classmate whom he faced at the beginning of the film when he and two other African American students were beating up a white boy.

The film's credits begin with an abbreviated quote from Abraham Lincoln , who is not named as the author. It comes from his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861:

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. "

“We are not enemies, but friends. We mustn't be enemies. Passion may tighten the bonds of our affection, but it must not tear them. The mystical sounds of memory will resound when - and this is certain - the better angels of our nature touch them again. "

Others

The film was cut several times before it was finally released, sometimes without the knowledge and consent of director Tony Kaye. Tony Kaye was so angry that he no longer wanted to be associated with the film by name in the credits (pseudonym Alan Smithee ). His pseudonym application at the Directors Guild of America (DGA, union for directors) failed, whereupon he sued the production company New Line Cinema and the DGA for 275 million US dollars.
The film probably inspired copycats on July 12, 2002 in Potzlow for the murder of Marinus Schöberl , which was the subject of another film ( Der Kick ) in 2006.
The film jumps back and forth between the two time levels, past and present . Scenes telling the past are therefore black and white, whereas the present scenes are in color.
Edward Norton trained 15 kg of muscle mass for his role.

Awards

Academy Awards 1999

Nomination in the category "Best Actor" for Edward Norton

Saturn Awards 1999

Nomination in the category "Best Actor" for Edward Norton

Reviews

In the Chicago Sun-Times of October 30, 1998, Roger Ebert particularly praised photography and the performance. According to the critic, the “most terrifying” and “most convincing” scenes are those that represent the cohesion of the skinheads. However, Kaye does not manage to credibly portray Derek's change to a racist. Nevertheless, Ebert summed up that the film was "effective" and "well made".

James Berardinelli said in his review on ReelViews that the film is not easy to forget. Norton's portrayal is one of the best of the year, with Derek he played as the only fully developed character in the film. American History X is not a comprehensive examination of racism, hatred or inner-city violence, but shows how these elements tear a family apart.

“Artfully nested drama that recapitulates the past from the perspective of its younger brother and cuts this into the events on the day of discharge with suggestive images. Although the challenging reflection on violence and racism is played convincingly and moves outside of the usual cinema conventions, the film, which is clear in its intentions, can still be misunderstood and even misused for a right-wing ideology. "

- Lexicon of international film

“It's a darn daring lesson. Derek Vinyard is the name of the man who is being turned into a hero here, played fascinatingly by Edward Norton [...]. One to look up to, highly intelligent, crammed with racist statistics. On the basketball court in Venice Beach he defeated the black top dogs single-handedly - and that too is staged in such a way that even the aesthetics of Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl seem harmless. What the film then creates is almost a miracle - the complete ideological reversal of the values that it built up in the first half hour. Derek has to go to jail for manslaughter, and suddenly nothing goes together: He hates all black people - but the one he works with in the laundry is kind of okay. Derek is raped - but not by the alleged subhumans, but by his own Nazi buddies. When he gets out of prison, he's a completely different person. Now it's all about saving his brother from the racism that he has implanted himself. The film also solves this problem - albeit not in the typical Hollywood way, but as disturbing as life itself. "

- Cinema