From the opening credits and first scene of Tony Kaye's American History X, it is quite apparent that this is a heavy movie. The film opens with main character Derek Vinyard having sex with his girlfriend, when younger brother Danny hears glass breaking outside in the middle of the night. The ensuing events are shown throughout the duration of the film, gradually giving the audience a better understanding of the night that got Derek incarcerated.
About two-thirds of the way through the movie, the audience is shown the most graphic and famous scene in the entire film. This scene takes place right after Derek catches thieves breaking into his car, and involves a bone-chilling act called a "curb-stomp," which consists of teeth and curb interaction. This is one of the most memorable scenes in recent cinematic history, as every audience member will have to struggle not to cringe. Kaye does a phenomenal job of using texture as a method of illustrating the graphic detail involved in the violent act. The audience gets to hear the victim's teeth grinding against the concrete of the curb, placing them in the situation personally.
An interesting factor of this film that separates it from other heavy films is that American History X is a heavy film you can watch casually. Obviously it should be watched start to finish, in one uninterrupted sitting with no commercials, as all movies should be watched. However, it also makes a great movie to find on TV halfway-through and watch. Other heavy movies of this general standard do not maintain this characteristic; see The Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, The Green Mile, Crash, Requiem for a Dream, and Memento for examples.
Memento needs to be seen from beginning to end, otherwise the effect caused by the nonlinear method of storytelling is wasted. Crash and Requiem for a Dream are both films that center around character development, and while American History X would arguably fall in that category, it does a better job of reinforcing the development. The flashbacks of Derek's bigoted past remind the viewer constantly how much the former neo-Nazi has evolved, compared to Crash and Requiem, which both show the characters in one phase of their lives, then as the movie progresses they change to a different phase (in Crash, the characters were mostly bigots initially, then eventually they all grow to accept each other; in Requiem, the main characters are originally rather upbeat kids who occasionally use heroin, then eventually they become desperate junkies and ruin their lives).
The central themes in American History X are not disguised thoroughly; it is clearly a story about race, class, forgiveness, growth and cruel fate. The final message Kaye sends to his audience is of the latter. When Danny has just completed his transformation from a youthful neo-Nazi to a "reformed" troublemaker, he is brutally murdered by an African-American boy. This is followed by a tragic image of a hysterical Derek discovering the bloody and lifeless body of his young brother. With this scene, Kaye is attempting to present a message to the audience that rapper Nas did in 1993 with his track "Life's A Bitch," the concept that no matter how good or bad of a person you may be, you could still be killed at any moment. Danny had just decided to make an active attempt to get over his blatant racism, and that very day was shot point blank multiple times by an African-American boy at his school.
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