An Introduction To The Film American History X
By taking a look at this article, you will be able to get a good inside look at the film “American History X.” There are so many different things to understand and appreciate about this film, and most of these will be covered in the upcoming paragraphs. Through a plot synopsis and reflection on the nature of the film, you should be able to understand the motion picture a little better.
It is often speculated that this movie was derived and based on real events, though there is nothing to suggest this or mentioned of it in the film. The reason for this is that this film is believable in that it is very candid and very raw. There is little that is left to the imagination in this film, and well acted characters have to learn hard lessons the hard way.
That is precisely what happens to the main character, Derek Vinyard. Through the scenes that get the film moving, you are introduced to Danny Vinyard who is Derek’s younger brother and still in high school. He is asked to write a paper on his brother by his history teacher after a paper that he has written and submitted has landed him in some hot water with the officials of the school.
Derek is a leader of a gang of white supremacists in the neighborhood where they live. They believe that black people are the problem with the world, and that the world might be a much better place if there were no black people. You are briefly given a reasoning for this belief, as you see Derek watch his father killed by a black drug dealer when Derek was very little. A white supremacist took Derek under his wing and brought him up with his Neo-Nazi ideals.
You also learn that right now Derek is in prison, serving a sentence for a rather violent crime on a couple of black kids that were trying to break into Derek’s car. He, pistol drawn, came out of the house and shot two of the three culprits. He killed one with the shots. The other is the victim of likely the most violent act ever portrayed on film, where he forced the other man to place his teeth on the curb and he stomps on the back of the man’s head.
However, Derek learns rather quickly that there is no real protection or support for his beliefs in prison. Ironically, through the course of the film, Derek is paired with a black man many times and they become friends. When Derek learns from Danny’s history teacher that he is headed down the same path, Derek decides that when he gets out that he and his brother are headed far away from this mess.
He is released and meets up with his girlfriend at a welcome home party. He asks her to move with her, but she refuses. He is also forced to face the man that taught him to be a white supremacist and tells him that this is no way to live. He and his brother leave, and Danny is able to finish the paper which you hear as the narration for the ending of the film.
The story ends with Danny being shot to death by a black kid in the bathroom at school. Powerful acting from Edward Norton (Derek Vinyard) and Edward Furlong (Danny Vinyard) bring this story to the screen and give it the perfect acting that such an impressive movie requires. American History X might be hard to watch at times, but it is a grand reflection on how people could be so confident in what they believe to be right.
Seeing this film, I would not have guessed it would have won so many awards. Download Movies Off Internet Lowest on the totem pole is not always the least powerful. Or listen to music that you enjoy, you could even use audio books or any different CD’s or things you could listen to.
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