It’s never too late to change
Racism is a tough pill to swallow. It’s alive and well in America and most people, at least these days, just simply like to ignore it. American History X brought a hardcore look at one nazi-loving racist and how it affects his family. Edward Norton stars as Derek Vinyard, a recovering neo-nazi who finds himself in trouble with the law after killing a black man by ‘curbing’ him (don’t ask, just watch it once in the film and you’ll never forget it). While in prison, his hardcore attitude is curved by his time with another black inmate, who he soon befriends. Not liking his attitude, or his change in plans, Vinyard is soon taught a horrible lesson in prison about breaking away from his warped beliefs. Once out of prison, he dedicates his life to ensure his family’s survival and to make sure that his brother Danny (Edward Furlong) doesn’t follow down the same path of hate and racism.
Norton was nothing short of brilliant in his role as a recovering racist. He played both parts perfectly and frightfully accurate. When he’s racist, you have chills up and down your spine. He truly is one of the worst individuals you would ever want to meet. He brings the hate, he brings it hard. Seeing the nazi swastika tattooed on his chest is one of the most despicable visions on a human being. He wears it with pride and even when he’s around people who don’t agree, he isn’t rattled one bit. One he changes though, he’s a completely different person. He is regretful, hurt and looking desperately to change. He carries this demeanor with him as well and it is completely believable. So, basically he is playing two different parts of the same person and doing it very well.
Now, his affect on Edward Furlong’s acting in this film is self-evident. Furlong’s Danny adores Derek. Furlong plays a confused kid perfectly. You will believe that he’s conflicted on what Derek raised him on and what Derek is now trying to undo. It’s one of the best roles I’ve personally seen from Furlong. I didn’t like the kid in Terminator 2 and we won’t talk about Pet Cemetery II. He matured quite a bit from those roles and really stood out as a serious actor who bought into this very conflicted role. He played a wonderful supporting role.
You have to give credit to Tony Kaye (director) and David McKenna (writer). Without them you couldn’t have had a compelling story like this put properly together. They don’t hide the racism or the brash/harsh methods that people in this type of lifestyle present to the world. They try to translate everything to film and try not to sugarcoat it. Racism is a huge problem and most audiences don’t like seeing it, but they brought it to the screen so everyone understood that there are people who truly do believe and live by their racist ways. Kaye’s editor did a unreal job with cutting from past to present and the balance is perfect. Add all of this to what I can only describe as some of the most naturally spoken dialogue in a movie, and you have one of the most authentic, frightening films about a taboo subject.
Tough enough on DVD, too real on Blu-ray
New Line Home Entertainment’s transfer from film to HD really shows how important American History X is to the studio. The visuals will make you cringe, but you’ll appreciate how good it looks on Blu-ray. It really is a fantastic transfer. All I can say about the audio is this… enjoy the curb scene. It’s just as good (the audio that is) as the visuals of the film. Remastered and mixed perfectly.
As for features, you just get a trailer and additional scenes. I would have expected commentary or making of, but regretfully you only get the first two things mentioned. The trailer is no longer a feature, in my opinion, so that just leaves some tough additional scenes.
