American History X

American History X is a 1998 American drama film directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. It was distributed by New Line Cinema.

The film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Norton) and Daniel "Danny" Vinyard (Furlong) of Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. Both are intelligent and charismatic students. Their father, a firefighter, is murdered by a black drug dealer while trying to extinguish a fire in a South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Derek is drawn into the Neo-Nazi skinhead movement. Derek brutally kills two black gang members whom he catches in the act of breaking into the truck left to him by his father, and is sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. The story shows how Danny is influenced by his older brother's actions and ideology and how Derek, now radically changed by his experience in incarceration, which includes violent rape by white neo-Nazi inmates (because of a friendly relationship with a black inmate, brought on in part by the neo-Nazis' hypocrisy in Derek's eyes), tries to prevent his brother from going down the same path as he did. The film is told in the style of nonlinear narrative.

David McKenna scripted the film and shooting took place in Los Angeles, California. The film was released in the United States on October 30, 1998 and went on to gross over $23 million at the international box office. It was given an "R" rating by the MPAA for "graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity."

Critics mostly praised the film and Edward Norton was given an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. It was also named by Empire magazine in September 2008 as the 311th Greatest Movie of All Time.