American History X

Strange, but I suspected it was coming to exactly that ending – the ending of the movie, that is. For me, the story doesn't end. I'll still be caught up in imagining what came next. How this last event played out in the lives of these "fictional" people. And I regret it; the foolishness, the ignorance, the rudeness, the hatred, the understanding, the leader, the indelible mark. What a strange picture. It's just that my heart isn't beating enough for it to get 5 stars. (11/12/2008)

From skepticism to crushing punchlines and feelings. Each storyline has its meaning and power, and in combination with the amazing Norton, which will often give you chills, and the meticulous Kaye's camera, relatively purposeless material becomes a rightfully celebrated study of the darkest human aspects. (10/13/2006)

Damn well written, acted, and directed. Tendentious in relation to "how people should think about this film" and what conclusion they should then draw from it. The whole "bad boys gone good" storyline (or, in the case of Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad) is commercially brilliantly handled, sold, squeezes out the emotions, and willy-nilly pushes the viewer into the philosophy of believing that all hate and anger is tiresome and life-threatening. It's just... it's just that even though almost everything in this film works as it should, in this work there’s no amount of deeper thought that would also make you think more deeply. Paradoxically, the pissed off main character, with all his resentment and hatred, remains the driving force of the entire film, which is a bit funny with the final quote that urges us not to get pissed off and hate our fellow human beings. I'm certainly not saying that American History X is a bad film. Formally and commercially, it is truly a work of art. On the other hand, it boggles my mind how many people get sucked in and fooled by such an essentially linear and superficial story (okay, even I succumbed a bit for a while). 4 stars, but no more. (03/05/2012)

An excellent film with a superb Edward Norton about the fact that scum can be found among both whites and blacks – but that’s something every sane person knows already. The film, however, doesn’t answer the question of how to solve this problem, provided, that is, that the viewer is not supposed to subscribe to the naive idea of the re-education of a Nazi in prison. But even if it was a stupid film (which is not, it’s just a little intellectually half-baked), Norton’s performance would still keep it afloat. (01/03/2009)

Racism is a problem that we must deal with even here in our little country. Whether those who are racists are truly just idiots or in some cases it may be behavior based on experience and observation, we won't address that, but in general, I believe that labeling is wrong, even though we all do it, so we will have to accept it. However, the racism that is presented to us is wrong. It shows that there is not much distance between the idea and the act, and that should not be the case. While it is true that racism is generally bad, I personally believe that mindless humanism is equally evil. But let's move on to the movie "The Cult of the Swastika." More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/03/kult-hakoveho-krize-1998-85.html (04/10/2013)