Any opinions on this? It's kinda become a cult classic over the years and an american masterpiece. I always thought it was a strong and powerful film. Edward Norton is one of our best actors!
i heard a lot of stuff about norton really trying to man-handle this film; probably cuz he was a history major at yale.
AHX is an okay film. It's not nearly as good as most people say it is, but it's pretty decent.
Tony Kaye flipped out and threw a hissy fit about it because Norton's cut was pretty much picked by the studio and Kaye was told to fuck off. He got all upset, running ads in Variety and what not.
I don't know how different Kaye's cut would have been, but you can only change one film so much with editing. I mean I have a hard time believing that this mildly above mediocre film would have been the masterpiece Kaye was hailing his cut to have been.
My conclusion is that TK is a fucking nut.
See also: http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=5159
it was okay, but it had more insights on neo-nazi theories than racism or anything else. Its portrayal of racism was pretty one-dimensional--racist firefighter father brainwashed his kids, got murdered by black people, voila. And then after all that intellectual attacks on the Jews, his hatred was finally cured by the gangrape-fostering American prison system and a dirty-joke telling inmate?
It feels like a Good Will Hunting-type of film to me; a weak story brought around by good acting, some nicely written dialogues, and this indie "edge."
I think the film has its mind in the right place, but got too stuck with this neo-nazi fascination to place anything else in there, and the 24-hour narrative structure really didn't help either. Seems like the only guy in America tackling these issues is Spike, by himself.
tony kaye...i think his name's an adjective now
and regardless who's film this is i like it alot......but i still can't get the fact that mrs. griswald looks skanky in this film.
i have to agree with regularkarate, altho i think he's giving it just a little bit more credit than it deserves....i didn't care for the film, and stories i've heard about tony kaye make him irritate me to no end....
Quote from: peteIt feels like a Good Will Hunting-type of film to me; a weak story brought around by good acting, some nicely written dialogues, and this indie "edge."
I think the film has its mind in the right place, but got too stuck with this neo-nazi fascination to place anything else in there, and the 24-hour narrative structure really didn't help either. Seems like the only guy in America tackling these issues is Spike, by himself.
Agreed. No one's ever really covered all the bases as skillfully or evenly as Spike did in Do the Right Thing.
But the worst thing a director can do in a film about race relations is not have a firm point. I think this brought down AHX (though I think what it is is a decent enough film and I also agree that Tony Kaye would not have been able to do much more with it) and it also brought down The Believer, another film about neo-nazis. It seemed to me that the point of The Believer was basically "Hey, here's a Jewish skinhead. Isn't that messed up?" It is messed up but there was something missing from the story that kept it from really hitting me hard. Heavy movie? Yes but too easily forgettable, as was American History X.
Unfortunately, I don't think fiction film will ever be able to effectively capture exactly what is so wrong and terrifying about neo-nazis; it's going to take one hell of a documentary to drive that home.
...or a few good Jerry Springer episodes.
which reminds me of this:
http://users.pandora.be/dieter.iemants/po_nosu_nagievu.wmv
I remember really liking the film when I first saw it in 1998 (early '99). I really, really wanted it to be a great film because I had loved Norton's performance in Primal Fear so much. I had never heard of Kaye, but I thought Norton playing a neo-nazi would have to be brilliant. And, I saw it and liked it, although I had my reservations of which I tried not to think about (certain scenes bordered on melodramatic, a few things felt force-fed to the audience). But, as time moved on and my tastes changed and improved (well, I like to think so) I've grown less attached to the film and its flaws have become more apparent and less excusable to me. I still like Norton's performance, but the film is not what it or I wanted it to be. I finally had to accept that. Speaking of melodrama...
Quote from: SoNowThen...or a few good Jerry Springer episodes.
Naturally... I figured that went without saying.