Release date: 1998
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Tony Kaye
Starring: Edward Norton / Edward Furlong / Beverly De Angelo
Douban score: 8.5/10
IMDb Rating: 8.5/10 (IMDb250 TOP031)
Awards: Nominated for Best Actor at the 71st Academy Awards
plot
Brief introduction
Derek's (Edward Norton) father was shot dead by a black drug dealer at an early age, sowing the seeds of hatred in his young mind. It turned out that Derek had good homework and was a good student in the eyes of the teacher. But since his father's death, he has focused everything on dealing with people of color. He actively organized a group of white youth to fight against people of color everywhere. At one point, he shot two black men and went to jail for it.
After being imprisoned, Derek joined a gang of neo-Nazi whites. Later, because of his work relationship, he became friends with a black man, and he began to reflect on his past. When he tried to get out of the neo-Nazi group in prison, he was punched and kicked. After Derek is released from prison, he is determined to break off his relationship with the gang he organized before, and takes his brother away to start a new life. He bids farewell to his girlfriend and organization and leads his family to move. But at this time, his brother Danny was killed by the Black Man. Horrified to discover that his brother's death was due to the revenge of the sins he had previously created, derekly, he was once again confused.
Film critics
The film is a classic anti-racism film. The protagonist, Derek, was once a racist who had become extremely black-hate because of his father's death, and after shooting two black people, he was imprisoned for three years, and in prison he was gradually awakened by a black inmate, but finally found out that it was too late. The plot of the protagonist Derek's change of mind in the film is too short to explain the process of his being reformed, which is the hard wound of the film. However, the flaws are not hidden, it can still be shocking and thought-provoking.
The superb acting skills of the actor Edward Norton are impressive. One of the most memorable moments was when Drake was arrested by the police after killing two black people, looking into the eyes of his brother Danny, which contained an extreme hatred for black people, a sense of pleasure and accomplishment from torturing and killing black people, a sense of confidence and superiority as a white man, disdain for the upcoming prison life, and some perverted love for his brother. The last time I saw the same infectious look was marlon Brando's grief when he saw the body of his eldest son killed in "The Godfather".
After three years of living behind bars, Derek woke up, embraced the idea of equality, and let go of hatred and prejudice. But did he really feel complete repentance for the sins he had done? Not really. After his release from prison, in the face of those who had been influenced by him to become extremists, as the spiritual leader of the former organization, he did not choose to actively persuade them to repent, but chose to simply escape for fear of revenge. But an understatement of "I quit" cannot eliminate the evil he has done before, and the death of his loved one is his final evil retribution.
Everyone is responsible for what they have done in the past, and don't think that choosing to live today and tomorrow can escape yesterday, after all, yesterday is also a part of life.
Then again, let's talk a little bit about racial equality. The film's protagonist Derek has the germ of extreme ideas because his father's prejudice against black people affects him, and his father's prejudice comes from the fact that the two black people in his fire brigade have worse abilities than the original white people, but they work instead of white people, which makes his father feel very unfair, resulting in hostility to the black community. The black drug dealer then shoots his father, who went to fight the fire, which makes the bud of Derek's hatred grow the fruit of evil. Derek was hateful, but he was also pathetic.
The current West advocates political correctness and provides more rights for the vulnerable, which is of course understandable. But many times they will overcorrect and become "who is weak and who is reasonable, disagreeing with you is discrimination." In this case, racists will only become more dissatisfied, more radical, and lead to more tragedies like this.
Of course, helping the weak and minorities is the right thing to do, but it is still necessary to build on fair competition and equal human rights, and excessive protection can only exacerbate racial contradictions. At the same time, everyone should have a basic understanding of the actual situation and development needs of society, and cannot be full of false slogans and doctrines, and think that they are great saints who promote equality and fraternity in the world, but in fact can only reflect the naivety of thought and the shallowness of cognition.