Tony Kaye’s “Humpty Dumpty X” shines light on the director’s tumultuous experience making the 1998 film, “American History X”. Wild, manic, and in-your-face self indulgent, this compelling documentary is as intoxicating as its subject.

Using 23 years of personal footage with subjects both involved and adjacent to Kaye and his filmmaking hell, this is a personal purge of bad karma through the visual medium.

Like him or loathe him, Tony Kaye is a fascinating person who refuses to kowtow to “the suits,”; moving to his own rhythm and struggling to make cinema without sacrificing his vision. “Humpty Dumpty X” is no different. This is HIS story told HIS way.

The result is not only a look into Tony Kaye’s struggles against New Line Cinema (the production company behind AMERICAN HISTORY X), but a revealing self-portrait of the man.

Kaye started his career by shaping himself into a respected and award-winning commercial director. The doc opens with two examples of his work. In a strange (but welcome) addition, Kaye narrates by occasionally singing. These aren’t songs, just the director singing his remembrances and the facts we are witnessing on screen.

Make no mistake, Tony Kaye’s strange style works for this project. As the film continues its journey of long monologues from the director and self-shot footage from the time he was directing the Edward Norton-starring film, it becomes something insightful and undeniably fascinating.

One of the most interesting moments is when Kaye receives a phone call from Marlon Brando. The legendary actor caught wind of the director’s struggles on “American History X”. Brando shoots him a gracious call to warn him about getting too radical when going up against Hollywood producers. The actor has been around for decades and warns Kaye of the many times he witnessed filmmakers get crushed by the studio system.

In the film’s best scene (after Kaye ignored Brando’s warning), the two men meet in person, where the elder must once again school the filmmaker on the “business” side of show business. Once Kaye reveals his intent to legally change his name to Humpty Dumpty so the studio will be forced to use it in the credits, Brando laughs hard and gleefully approves.

Those seeking a traditional film that adheres to documentary rules will be let down. Like Kaye’s personality, the film is fractured and a bit all over the place now and again, but the intent is focused. The director’s vision here is, indeed, his own unique perspective.

The film’s only downfall is that we don’t learn enough about the struggle much beyond what we already read about in the trades all those years ago.

Edward Norton would’ve been a welcome voice in the chorus of “Why was Tony Kaye at war with his own film?”, but I don’t think a face-to-face between the two men would have been the best idea. Competing egos of that size could have melted everything in a thirty mile radius.

“Humpty Dumpty X” is a fractured and fascinating dive into a segment of a director’s life that nearly broke his spirit but ultimately inspired him.

As Tony Kaye quotes himself, “Pain, wonder, and storytelling all flow from the same vital artery.” This unique work shows the drive of a man who will bleed for his art and fight to the death for his unsullied vision.