American History on the letter X American History X is one of the most controversial films of the twentieth century. On the one hand, there are strong images, a sharp topic, a drama that changed the fate of several people. On the other hand, it is a propaganda craft (not a fake), a false depiction of the life of such closed systems as prison and street subcultures. It is known that already on time of filming, the producer decided to replace some episodes in the script, quarreling with the director. "Thanks" to this move, some part of the film looks inorganic (for example, the episode in which the brothers rip off the Nazi flag was not in the original version - it was written in the script a few hours before filming).
The main characters of the film are a group of teenagers who are characterized by neo-Nazi views. The word “teenager” in this case refers to a person whose behavior is controlled by hormones, not mind or life experience. At the head of the group is a certain Derek Vinyard, who after the death of his father became an ardent nationalist. His younger brother Danny, like his younger brothers, copies Derek’s behavior, blindly adopting his ideas. The rest of the gang are left to themselves, mostly unemployed and without any education.
In the minds of these teenagers there is the idea that the power of the white race on earth will come simply - it is enough to beat non-white saleswomen, win Negro basketball and wear various things with a swastika. Getting an education, joining the power and economic structures, raising their own children, according to the heroes of the film, will not improve their own lives, but the expulsion of the “churoks” is a must. The director skillfully shows this regressive thought, for which he was applauded.
But sooner or later, such a lifestyle leads a person to a place from which it is not customary to renounce. Derek from the street goes to jail. Many people may think that it’s basically the same thing – the director even shows Derek’s quick adaptation of the zone – but the difference between prison and the street is huge. The fact is that the zone is inhabited by adults who have absolutely no illusions about the life and world domination of any race. Failing to understand this, the “ideological” neo-Nazi Derek enters into an unequal battle with his “sale” brothers, and, as expected, is defeated (by deprivation of honor). Immediately after this moment, the film turns from genius into an ordinary “cranberry”.
Many people know what happens in the zone with the “descended” – people become outcasts, without the right to live a quiet life even for a few minutes. In the film, Derek continues to live normally and even eats at the same table with “authoritative boys”. Here you can see the hand of the producer, who either did not want to show the prison life without anal rape (as it was originally) or did not want to show the further disenfranchised life of Vinyard (as logic requires). Both options, according to the producer, were harmful to the film.
At this time, the beheaded group does not run away, as it happens in 90% of cases, but continues its activities. In real life, the leader can be either strong or smart, but after the conviction of Derek at the head of the gang does not appear like him, which is absolutely contrary to logic. Apparently, the producer, to the detriment of logic, decided to show the conflict of the ideals of the liberated Derek with the ideals of his friends, who never got smarter.
Only Derek’s brother understands him, and in just one day he changes his point of view to the opposite. From the producer’s point of view, teenagers, especially during their maturation, behave exactly this way – changing everything that distinguished him from his peers on demand.
Again, in the original script laid completely different ideas (not for nothing the director wanted to cross his name from the credits, and even crossed himself off the list of writers), but that film, if it was shot, would not attract the attention of the audience and would not pay off at the box office. But knowingly crippled, he sets a new bar for dramatic cinema, which is very difficult to overcome.
9 out of 10
Original