When it comes to contemporary American auteurs, there are few who have as wild and incendiary a career asTony Kaye. Known for iconic music videos from artists likeJohnny Cash,Roger Waters, andRed Hot Chili Peppers, Kaye broke through in a major way with 1998’sAmerican History X, a provocative film about a reformed neo-Nazi played byEdward Norton. However, Kaye quite infamouslyclashedwith New Line Cinema and Norton about the final cut of the film, punching walls and putting out virulent trade ads to prove his point. Kaye disowned the final cut we all saw, and has since worked only sporadically on films. Now, as Deadline reports, he’ll back in the director’s chair, working with material once again tied to America’s battles with racial justice.
Civil, written byAustin WrightandAdam Knox, is set in 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, a monumental time and place for the American civil rights movement. The film will follow two men with opposing points of view learning more about themselves and equality, while tragedies rage around them. Kaye will direct the screenplay – his first narrative feature film since 2011’sDetachment– alongside producers Wright, Knox,Tina Treadwell(Elle: A ModernCinderella Tale),Dru Davis(The Trial of the Chicago 7),Kim Coleman(BlacKkKlansman), andJoshua Uduma(The Swing of Things). While no cast members have been announced, the plan is to start shooting early next year.
Though it’s hard to know with such a short synopsis, this film feels like it could be a “reset” for Kaye. Rather than the purposefully provocative politics baked into the central premise ofAmerican History X(“come watch and empathize with this modern day hate-filled monster!"),Civilsounds more in line with other period explorations of the American civil rights movement, with a promise for a clear lesson learned by the end. Will Kaye complicate this vision, or get into more arguments with his team? Or doesCivilinherently contain more muckraking complications than it would seem? Time shall tell.
For more onAmerican History X, check outNorton breaking down some of his famous characters.
