directed by tony kaye . written by david mckenna . running time : 117 minutes . rated r ( for graphic brutal violence including rape , pervasive language , strong sexuality and nudity ) . racism is a horrible thing that has not been really put to film much . a few films stick in my mind as anti-racist but most films that stand up for other religions . schindler's list was the last great anti-racism film . american history x is the newest . derek vinyard has had a tormented life . his father was murdered while he was a teenager and derek's life changed completely . he became the leader of a nazi group in venice beach , california . after a horrible crime is committed derek is sent to prison . he leaves with him his mother doris ( beverly d'angelo ) , his sister davina ( jennifer lien ) , and his younger brother danny ( edward furlong ) years later when derek is let out of prison he comes to see a shaved head nazi danny . derek has been reformed the hardness of prison and he is shocked at how evil danny has become . he tries desparately to change his younger brother . he shocks his former friends with his reformed self and this sets off a night long adventure of running and trying to set things right . edward norton gives the performance of his career as derek . flashback scenes show him musclebound , which is not like his tall and skinny self , which norton pulls off the know-how many veteran actors don't reach . he conveys the evil that is rippling in every tattooed muscle in flashbacks and a older brother approach for his present day scenes out of prison . edward furlong also does a great job as danny who is titering between good and evil when derek gets out of prison . he still looks as he did in his debut terminator 2 : judgement day but he can act a lot more now . director tony kaye , who's only past credits were commericals , was not happy with the final print . he claims edward norton took over the film and made a lot of cuts . if he did than he should be actor and editor for the next movie . kaye is very good in his debut doing both directing and cinematographing . i don't know how much was kaye's original product but maybe we will see his cut on dvd as a director's cut in the future . the current cut is good enough for me though . this film is brutal . the nazi scenes are violent , bloody , and hateful as are the prison scenes . the flashbacks of derek's past in prison and as leader of the venice beach groups are all filmed in black and white much like schindler's list . i'm not exactly sure why kaye decided to film the flashbacks like this but it doesn't effect the flow of the movie . some complaints i've heard about this film are mostly script related . i can't find anything wrong with david mckenna's script . my only complaint is that the film is awfully short . this lessens the epic or classic feeling a film like this usually has . that's a very small complaint though and doesn't change my rating much . i've heard a lot of horrible racist stories in my life . thank god i've never had to experience any though . i grew up hearing stories about how my ancestors who lived along the civil war times and as recently as their teens in the 1950s and 1960s . the stories are sickening and shock you into not creating stories of your own . american history x feels just like one of these stories only we actually get to see the carnage . doug galecawitz from darien , illinois wrote into the internet movie database ( www . imdb . com ) and posted a review to this film . he typed in it that he saw american history x with his friend who had been a nazi and a raccist before . doug says his friend hung his head in shame while walking out of this movie . this film will scare both current nazis and people who want to be nazis into a life of happiness . this is the kind of film that should be mandatory viewing for high schoolers . no school violence or discrimination would be fantastic . 
