Danny Balint

The Believer is the kind of film that has social relevance beyond the contents of the actual film. Highly-censored through corporate teamwork, The Believer was never picked up by a major distribution house because of its provocative subject matter. The film demands a re-examination of beliefs and a discussion. Isn't this the kind of provocative free-thinking that the medium is about? The Believer is one of the top 5 films i've seen in the last few years, in regards to disturbing consciousness. It is the kind of movie that can help us understand one another a little better. A MUST SEE!

When I read a description of this film, I thought it would go overboard in the violence and "shock sequences." I was relieved and impressed that it left most of the violence to the imagination. The shock value comes from other places--the content, the dialogue. This is a very thought-provoking and smart movie, not at all preachy (and it easily could have been preachy). The acting is unforced and its story does not fall into the "American History X" trap: Its main character does not become an "all race loving" good guy. The protagonist in "The Believer" is a tortured soul, and his fate (although somewhat predictable) is fitting after the events in the film. This movie is another example that cable movies occasionally surpass theatrical movies in their subject matter and execution. Very well done.

Inspired by real events, The Believer tells the story of a young Jewish man who is contradicted by his beliefs in neo-nazism. Ryan Gosling (Remember the Titans) plays Danny Balint, a Jew by birth and upbringing, who's ideas about the religion lead him into a world of denial and hate. Flashbacks show the viewer how Danny struggled with his early teachings of the faith and his lack of understanding would result in his decision to be a practicing, race-hating skinhead.

Along the way, Danny meets up with Lina and Curtis played graciously by Theresa Russell and Billy Zane who want to recruit Danny and use his persuasive talents to advance their cause as fascists. It is in his first meeting with this couple that Danny also meets Carla (Summer Pheonix), a confused young girl who eventually befriends Danny and soon begins her quest to best understand the Jews through their language and traditions.

In a later scene, Danny finds himself at a white supresmist training camp and meets other skinheads with the same hatred and desire to rid themselves of the Jewish population. Danny befriends the group and garnishes their respect with his fighting tactics, and on one fateful night, the group land themselves in jail after initiating a fight with two blacks on the street.

It is here that the most disturbing and challenging scene of the movie takes place where the group is forced by the courts to enter counselling for their crime. This counselling would include Jews who survived the holocust who tell their story to the unappreciated skinhead audience. While the others argue that the Holocost never occurred, Danny is haunted by the story of an elderly man who tells of a German Soldier who stabbed and killed his son with a bayonette during World War II.

This then leads Danny down two separate paths. On one side, he is a race hating monger, who begins to build bombs for the purpose of blowing up a synagogue. The other, a conflicted man of the Judaism faith who teaches Hebrew to his girlfriend and still practices the basics of the religion (don't light the candles at Yom Kippur before eating).

Director/writer Henry Bean does a masterful job of keeping the pace of the movie going, while not being preachy or dumbing down to the audience. The director crafts the film and does not shy away from religious interpretations (why can Jews have cheese with meat, but they can have chicken with milk), without giving us his version of the answers. Dannys scene with the reporter from the New York Times is both honest and gripping in its language and its portrayal of a man trying to justify his racist views.

Portrayed as an articulate and intelligent youth, Ryan Gosling sparkles on the screen and gives a commanding presence that is award winning material. He reveals the character to be someone of higher intelligence who hates his religion because he just can't understand all its principles. When Danny is first confronted with an opportunity to kill a Jew, he can't bring himself to promote the results that he preaches.

In short, the movie has powerful moments, great acting and tells an unbelievable story of one man's quest to understand the world he was brought up in. B+

I am amazed how little this impact this film has made. It looks like its distribution around 2001/9/11 events and the fact that some American Jewish circles feared that it can be mis-interpreted led to a limited distribution. However, the directing of Henry Bean, the acting of Ryan Gosling, and the strong treatment of a difficult subject should have led to more respect than this movie received.

'The Believer' is the story of a young Jewish boy in today's America. Raised in a religious environment he is asking questions that are not unusual for a young Jewish person two or three generations after the Holocaut. Where was God during the Holocaust, and why did the Jewish people did so little to resist their oppressors? He is obviously giving the wrong answers, and not only loses his faith, but falls into the trap of self-hate, becoming a neo-Nazi and a Jew-hater, a self-hater in other words.

There are many things that can be said and discussed around this theme. The character may seem paradoxical, but it is not impossible. The fact that the story is loosely inspired by a true character is not that relevant, what is important is that we can believe the motivations of the character and understand his evolution. Certainly a film to watch and think about.

I found myself alone in an small theater yesterday watching "The Believer". The absence of a crowd didn't have any impact what so ever on my experience with this film.

Daniel Balint is a promising new right wing extremist who, with his radical ideas and eloquence, wins over the minds of a small group of neo-Nazis. At first he expresses that he wants Jews dead because, as he states, anti-semitism is a human instinct. But Daniel is a Jew himself. He denies his roots, But as the movie progresses he must come to terms with who he is. And that's not always easy.

Ryan Gosling who plays Daniel is a frightening good actor, who almost manages to persuade the audience of his anti-semitic views. I really can't praise Ryan Gosling enough! He could be one of the great new actors to come. The interesting aspect of this movie is the mental struggle in Daniels mind whether he's a Nazi or a Jew. Or both? It's about finding out who you are. The films poses some very intelligent questions, and provokes at times, and this is the films force. This movie is brilliant! Go see it!