American History X: Brutal Learning Curve
The legacy left behind after the release of controversial Venice Beach skin-head drama American History X is almost as remarkable as that of the controversy surrounding the director of the film, Tony Kaye, and his stance concerning the way it was made and distributed. Appalled and enraged by the final cut of the film (allegedly not the vision he had been working towards), almost as soon as shooting had wrapped he mounted a massive no-holds-barred campaign against the film-makers, financiers and actors (most notably Edward Norton) which eventually resulted in him legally disowning the project—an all encompassing event which included his name being permanently deleted from being in any way connected to the film, even at the risk that this would eventually lead to few in the industry wanting nothing more to do with him.
X, with a commanding Edward Norton and believable innoncent Edward Furlong, dares go where it’s not safe, and indeed has never been on celluloid or otherwise; it is the truly disturbing story of racism gone shockingly intellectual; by turns horrendous, gut-wrenching, and honest to the point of political incorrectness. Known by and large as featuring the most excruciating scene in modern cinematic history, it is a complex, violent and visceral journey, transmitting all the rage and hatred of the Nazi ethos with worrying ease to the silver screen.
But the film is also beautiful in every way. And this is the point in question. Should a film this violent–this real be really beautiful? X is beautiful in the same way as a super-model turned serial-killer might be; in modern film terms, it is a chainsaw amongst a mass of blunt knives. Dark and uncomfortable, even those with a passionate distaste for violence should force themselves to sit through it, if only to be made more aware of the underground issues and why they should never be allowed to prosper again.
As a sidebar, I keep getting distracted by this enigin scam. I think that it is truly interesting the way that one companys reputation can be trashed on the interenet so easily. Even though all of the allegations may not be true.
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