The Believer Reviews

"- Il mondo moderno è una malattia esotica.
- Quale malattia?
- L'astrazione"
www.ilariapasqua.net/apps/blog/show/43290206-the-believer-h-bean-usa-2001-

Inspired by Daniel Burros life, a jew, member of american nazi party and Ku klux klan. Could be see like the figure of self hated jew, and could be continued by the reading of Bernard Lazare, "the antisemitism, his history and his causes"

I know that 'American History X' is a real classic but, in my opinion, this unrated/unseen gem which deals with a similar subject is actually much better. Indeed, in contrary to 'American History X' which was filled with some rather obvious stereotypes, I thought that the story was quite heartbreaking, fascinating and much more subtle. At the center, you have this main character who has so many layers and who was so complex, it was quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, on one hand, he seems pretty despicable but on the other hand, you can't help feeling sorry for him. In my opinion, it is a great study about the mind of a messed up boy who got really lost and tries to find some redemption in some really f*cked up way. This movie featured the breakthrough performance by one of the most talented actors at work nowadays, Ryan Gosling, 10 years before he became the new hot item in Hollywood with ‘Drive’ in which he was indeed really impressive even though the movie itself was not that great. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie is pretty much forgotten nowadays, it is actually really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ryan Gosling’s work.

I watched this because I had heard that it was better then "American History X"... which it is not and I'm rather surprised that the two films could be compared to each other.

I'm also pretty surprised that after "Homicide" (1991) got trashed by critics for being 'yet another film about a Jewish man hating Jews', that this film was so well praised.

Sure the acting is good but really... ??? Cultural self-loathing and the rise of gangs based on hate and brutality... you can't really compare "American History X" to this film.

So, while I liked this film... I can't score it very high. The story wasn't very original and didn't give enough insight ether into the main character or the world at large. The end of the film feels hurried together and escapist.

The poster quotes read "It will pin you to your seat", "Riveting", "Volatile". It's all three thanks to a brilliant Ryan Gosling performance. However, it's hard to get behind this film too much when the story-teller omits such important things like telling/showing us what initially drove Danny to turn his hatred on to his own people. I find it hard to believe that it was built on classroom debate alone. Reverse antisemitism is a pretty inspired topic to cover and the film is a tough and emotional one, it's just that unlike the title I wasn't a believer on the whole.