3. American History X
In Tony Kaye's troubling examination of a US white supremacist, Ed Norton plays Derek, a thuggish neo-Nazi paroled for the killing of three men attempting to steal his car. The story moves back in time, prior to Derek's incarceration, and is narrated by his younger brother. The film depicts the mindset of the racists in that world - the depressing, self-serving ideology of those characters is deftly held up and examined and this in turn paves the way for redemption of sorts for Derek, now determined to see his kid brother never repeat the error of his own ways. As a piece of social commentary, American History X does a commendable job at tackling a mostly avoided subject matter. The problem is that for many, they won't get beyond one key scene - a scene of brutality so unpleasant, the film barely manages to recover from shock it inflicts on the audience. We get to see the moment a bare-chested Derek struts out into the street, the night they tried to take his ride. He's armed and he effortlessly guns down two of them, then demands the last put his teeth on the curb and not move. With the man belly down on the road, biting the curb, Derek lifts his foot and stamps down hard on the base of the victim's neck, smashing teeth, jaw and face into the concrete. The sheer calculated hostility of the act hits hard. Such inventive, resourceful brutality is hard to process at first glance. The moment is made so much worse by the chilling smile on the face of Derek as he walks away from the mess he's caused, casually giving himself up to the police.