The making of American History X is a tale of Hollywood politics that does not, unlike the film itself, end with a moral. David McKenna, a struggling screenwriter, banged out the script while nursing an injury that left him mostly helpless for a few weeks. Edward Norton, an exciting young actor Oscar-nominated for his first movie role (in Primal Fear), was eventually cast as American History X's antagonist-turned-protagonist. British performance artist Tony Kaye, who had never before helmed a motion picture, was hired to direct McKenna's screenplay. He wound up photographing it, too, an uncommon practice for studio pictures.

Somehow, this edgy and buzzed-about project unravelled to the point of being pulled by the studio from the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival line-up. Kaye wanted his name removed from the credits and replaced with "Humpty Dumpty", and Norton put the finishing touches on what is ostensibly a producer's cut of the film. American History X arrived in theatres last November with little fanfare; I'm a tad surprised that New Line didn't capitalize on the controversial statements Kaye was making in the press. "Edward Norton is a prissy dilettante," he told Entertainment Weekly. In the same article, he boasted, "I am the greatest British director since Alfred Hitchcock." We'll never see Kaye's movie--he butchered his own rough cut then agreed to a second director's cut but didn't complete it in a timely fashion. What wound up in cinemas and on home video is the only complete version of American History X.

Norton stars in the film as neo-Nazi Derek Vinyard. We meet him first when, during a bout of rough sex with his belligerent girlfriend (Fairuza Balk), three black criminals attempt to steal his truck. Derek takes sickening vengeance on two of the men and goes to prison for it. Fast forward a few years: Danny (Furlong), Derek's impressionable younger brother, has joined a skinhead gang, much to the chagrin of Sweeney (Brooks), his African-American history teacher, as well as Derek, who has emerged from doing time with a reformed attitude.

American History X eschews a traditional three act structure; remarkably, despite post-production jiggering by everyone and his mailman, the film is not only coherent but also, for the most part, electrifyingly told. It is not until the halfway mark that we are given, in a flashback that lasts almost a half-hour, the details of Derek's life in the big house. Because Derek is a born leader, a thoughtful and eloquent speaker, he's able to talk his hostile "friends" into terrorizing local minorities. His monologues are galvanizing, if politically unfair. Derek is, fortunately, bright enough to see the error of his ways once he's in the penitentiary. This sort of redemption is unique to motion pictures, but thanks to Norton's Oscar-nominated turn as Derek, we buy into it.

Some actors exude charisma (Denzel Washington), others decency (Tom Hanks)--when we see Edward Norton, we see someone who's quick on his feet but not a gun-jumper, a guy who assesses all situations with utmost logic. That's not to compare Derek Vinyard or any of Norton's other memorable characters to Mr. Spock(!); for all his cerebral abilities and fast-talking bravado, there's a vulnerability in his eyes that is unmistakably human. Derek, and to some degree Isaacman, the beleaguered lawyer Norton portrayed in The People Vs. Larry Flynt, gets on a soapbox to conceal his fear, or perhaps with the hope that sheer bluster will exorcise it.

Some of American History X's narrative experimention is not successful. The racially charged murder of Derek's fireman father (William Russ) is the biggest motivating factor in Derek's initial conversion from nice guy student to skinhead, but when we meet said father very late in the picture, he doesn't quite fit into this family (Norton, Furlong, Jennifer Lien as their sister, Davina, and Beverly D'Angelo as Doris, the guilt-wracked mother) that has been established for 100 minutes or so prior. Perhaps it's a case of miscasting. The scene itself also unnecessarily reinforces a point that has already been made abundantly clear. Lastly, this final flashback tests our patience--after Norton tells Furlong his lengthy prison story, we want to get back to the present and stay there, where certain subplots have remained unaddressed for far too long.

Kaye sometimes resorts to the most obvious stylistic clichées. For example, if I see one more slow-motion shot of a guy taking a shower, I'll go ballistic. (The hilarious "slo-mo" shower gag in Steve Martin's L.A. Story has forever subverted the new agey poignance of such a moment.) Hitchcock he's not, though his camera does observe well, and in the film's best sequence--the dinner gone awry--I dare say American History X is shot, edited, and performed to perfection. Rarely have I felt so mortified by content--Derek berates his mother's Jewish guest (Elliot Gould) while simultaneously defending Rodney King's attackers and abusing his irate sister--yet so exhilarated by craftsmanship.

Most impressive is that American History X doesn't let anybody off the hook. "Hate is baggage," intones a key character in its closing moments. While the filmmakers do get preachy, their ultimately obvious but seldom so succinctly expressed message that racism is a complete waste of time is an irrefutable statement worth reinforcing. American History X is likely to leave audience members bobbing their heads in agreement rather than inciting anger, as so many similarly-themed movies have.

High marks to New Line's DVD, also. The studio's last two releases have mixed black and white and colour stocks to powerful effect, though Pleasantville stands slightly above American History X in terms of image quality. The latter is presented letterboxed at 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. Predictably, the flashbacks look better than the present day sequences; there appear to be infinite shades of grey on the streets of L.A. and on the stone walls of the county jail. Metaphorically speaking, that's most appropriate. The colour exteriors are breathtaking, too, though underlit interiors leave something to be desired in their slightly muddy rendering. Of course, Pleasantville was granted a digital-to-digital transfer, and American History X was not.

Two soundmixes are included on this disc: Dolby 5.1 and Dolby 2.0. I watched the film in only the former. This strong and subtle soundtrack deftly handles both quiet, tender dialogue exchanges and white supremacist music, which is fittingly obnoxious, loud no matter what position you set your volume control. The rears are used to handle Anne Dudley's epic score and there is some split surround activity during crowd scenes and the like.

Some on-line DVD stores inaccurately advertised American History X as a special edition before its release. It's understandable that New Line did not want Kaye participating in the production of the disc--he has lambasted them at every turn thus far. However, New Line has included, in addition to a 16x9 enhanced, 5.1 trailer, and cast and crew bios, three deleted scenes (also anamorphic). I've seen perhaps hundreds of deleted scenes on SE-type LDs and DVDs in the past, and never have I felt so strongly about them the way I do these excised bits: they belong in the final cut of American History X. The first, in which two skateboarders (friends of Danny) terrorize an elderly black woman, out-Kids Kids. The second explains what happened to Cam, the "chickenhawk" leader of the California neo-Nazis played chillingly by Stacy Keach. (Yes, "Mike Hammer"'s Stacy Keach.) The third and final one is very short, and its exclusion is an absolute mystery to me: redeemed Derek converses with an adorable little black girl, and the girl's nervous mother cuts it short. This sweet encounter illustrates exactly what I wrote about Norton above: there's a reticence in his expression that belies his confidence as a rabble-rouser.

There's no better reason to see American History X than Norton's performance, but I doubt viewers will be disappointed by the movie itself.-Bill Chambers

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