Directed by:
Henry BeanScreenplay:
Henry BeanCinematography:
Jim DenaultComposer:
Joel DiamondCast:
Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Theresa Russell, Billy Zane, A.D. Miles, Chuck Ardezzone, David Bailey, Henry Bean, Tovah Feldshuh, Sascha Knopf (more)VOD (1)
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Raised Jewish, Danny (Ryan Gosling) now runs with an anti-Semitic skinhead gang in Queens. Attending a meeting held by prominent self-proclaimed fascist Curtis Zampf (Billy Zane), Danny is noticed when he proposes killing Jews as a solution to society's problems. Danny's words create excitement not only for their racist content, but also for his articulate way of expressing himself and his knowledge of the Jewish faith. Zampf sees potential in Danny and takes him under his wing. Working with the enigmatic extremist, Danny meets the sadomasochistic Carla (Summer Phoenix). Between rough sexual encounters, Danny teaches Carla Hebrew and facts about Judaism. Carla becomes interested in the Jewish faith while Danny becomes disillusioned with his neo-Nazi lifestyle finding it as hypocritical as he found Judaism to be. Haunted by his past and questioning his own beliefs, Danny finds himself a prime suspect in the assassination of a respected Jewish figure. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (1)
“It’s a romantic movement. It always was." The best movie about the threat of neo-Nazism that I have yet seen. Better, much better even than the outstanding American History X which somewhat unfairly overshadows The Believer. Because it looks at the topic from a completely different perspective than other “similar" movies - here the most important aspect is the crisis of being Jewish and Nazism is only secondary. As a result, the movie is many times more worrying and indescribably more powerful, mainly in the second half when Danny stops “hanging around on street corners" and starts to speak out at seminars. This is made all the more powerful by the gala performance from Ryan Gosling, who proves that both he and Jake Gyllenhaal are rightly considered the most promising young blood in Hollywood. This movie give you a worrying, niggling feeling in your head because it doesn’t have a black and white approach to some questions that really require some concentrated thought. The outstanding experience cannot be spoiled even by the occasionally imperfectly pointed motivation of some characters. The ingenious epilog significantly reshuffled my top fifty most powerful endings.
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