10 Accidental Masterpieces From Otherwise Bad Directors

By Alejandro Castro /

1. American History X €“ Tony Kaye

Some directors have made a career of the relationships they've with the actors they put in their films: Scorsese and DeNiro, Burton and Depp, Hitchcock and Stewart, etc. British director Tony Kaye, however, seems hell bent on burning all the bridges to Hollywood. More recently he made enemies with Bryan Cranston for his film Detachment of which Cranston was politely quoted as saying, " I don't believe I'll be working with him (Kaye) again". Tony Kaye directed American History X (1998), a taut, tense and emotional tale of a Neo-Nazi skinhead who tries to break free from his racist past. Actor Edward Norton Jr. and Kaye had an epic squaring-off over the films final cut. Kaye wanted to cut the film down to 87 minutes, but when Norton stepped in to assist in editing the film to a length that would do the story and characters justice, Kaye tried to remove Norton's name from the film. Kaye told Entertainment Weekly that Norton was, "a narcissistic dilettante" who "raped" his film. Furthermore, Kaye spent $100k of his own money to fill the trade papers with advertisements denouncing and bad-mouthing Norton and the films producers. For the record, Norton went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for the film and Kaye was blacklisted in Hollywood. He has just started to earn some small favour around town again, but as evidenced with his pairing with Bryan Cranston, things haven't changed much. Sure, actors and directors don't always get along €“ David O. Russell is nearly notorious for the way he's been known to treat some actors, but to his credit he continues to make good films. Maybe there's reason Tony Kaye doesn't.