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Tony Kaye

Tony Kaye

Director, cinematographer, producer and writer · Born July 8, 1952 (74) · London, England, UK

A director of films, music videos, advertisements and documentaries. Kaye has made several iconic music videos, including the video for "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, which won a Grammy Award; "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers; "What God Wants" by Roger Waters; and "Help Me" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash. Kaye is a six time Grammy nominated music video director. He won a Grammy in 2006 for the famous Johnny Cash video God's Gonna Cut You Down with cameo appearances by Bono, Johnny Depp, Kanye West, Patti Smith, Terrence Howard, Iggy Pop, The Dixie Chicks, Brian Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Keith Richards, Chris Martin, Sharon Stone, Lisa Marie Presley, Flea, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Sir Peter Blake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Mick Jones, Jay-Z. His feature film debut was American History X (1998), a drama about racism starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. Norton was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film. Kaye has completed his second feature film, Black Water Transit (2010) starring Laurence Fishburne, Karl Urban, Evan Ross, Brittany Snow and Stephen Dorff. Kaye is currently in pre-production on the film Detachment (2011). A surrealist drama about the decline of the education system in American high schools. Kaye also has a book of his artwork called "Epicomedy" being published by Phaidon Press. Kaye has made several documentaries, including a self-financed film on the abortion debate in the United States called Lake of Fire, which opened in Toronto to astounding reviews in September 2006. Lake of Fire made the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences short-list for Best Documentary Film. It was also nominated for Best Documentary Film at The Independent Spirit Awards, Chicago Film Critic Association Awards and the Satellite Awards. He also directed the web short This Is Not Sex, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks of Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tony Kaye (director), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
July 8, 1952 (74)
From
London, England, UK
Works as
Director, cinematographer, producer and writer
Titles
5 on MovieCove · 9 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 37 days to Oct 26Down 32% in 30 days

What are Tony Kaye's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Morality.

Themes

share of theme weight
Society
49%
Morality
26%
Self
12%
Bonds
8%
Survival
6%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 4 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 1 · Serious 0 · Dark 3

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

A split, not a type: Grounded 2 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1

Intense: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their intense movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 3

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 1 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 1

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

A split, not a type: Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 1

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1

Heavy: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their heavy movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

Easy watch 1 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 3

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 0 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
2
Contemplative
2
Bittersweet
2
Absurd
1
Cold
1
Other
4

How their films linger

Thought-provoking3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteDevastating2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Tony Kaye's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Tony Kaye's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

9 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Humpty Dumpty X (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Director · as Self

  • The Trainer(2024)

    Director · Cinematographer · Producer · as Maimonides / The Backwards Guru

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • Detachment(2011)

    Director · Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • This Is Not Sex (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    Director · Cinematographer

  • Lake of Fire(2006)

    Director · Cinematographer · Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • Spun(2002)

    as Emcee

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • American History X(1998)

    Director · Camera Operator · Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films

  • African History Y (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Josie Ho & The Hong Kong Sound (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

Career shape

A full career of 9 titles, 7 of them dated from 1998 to 2026.

Biggest box office

American History X (1998)

$24M worldwide

Highest rated

American History X (1998)

Midcredits 99th

Film career

  • 2003Screen debut· Spun

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting2 of 9: 1 only acting, 1 with another roleDirecting8 of 9: 2 only directing, 6 with another roleWriting2 of 9: 0 only writing, 2 with another roleProducing3 of 9: 0 only producing, 3 with another roleCinematography5 of 9: 0 only cinematography, 5 with another roleOther crew1 of 9: 0 only other crew, 1 with another role

9 titles, 6 with more than one role — directing and cinematography overlap on 5 of them.

By decade

1990s1 · crew2000s3 · 1 acting · 2 crew2010s1 · crew2020s2 · 1 acting · 2 crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Tony Kaye's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 96th percentile, the median of all 5; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 94th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

94thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Approval · how many liked their films

96thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Reach · how many have seen their films

80thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Midcredits score across 5 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up3
  • 50th to 74th1
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

3 of their 5 titles are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved3
  • Divisive1
  • Crowd Pleaser1

Most divisive · actor, director, producer, cinematographer

The Trainer (2024)

99th percentile spread · 54% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director, cinematographer

American History X (1998)

Midcredits 99th · 94% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 78/100 and the pacing 55/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Tony Kaye work with?

People who share at least 2 of Tony Kaye's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Beverly D'Angelo shares the most, 2.

Actors

Composers and editors

Producers