The Believer (2001)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Henry Bean

Writers:

Henry Bean (screenplay)
Henry Bean (story) ...

Release Date:

23 August 2001 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young Jewish man develops a fiercely anti-Semitic worldview. Based on the true story of a KKK member in the 1960s who was revealed to be Jewish by a New York Times reporter.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | New York City | Self Loathing | Holocaust Survivor | Desecration

Awards:

5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Ryan Gosling	...	Danny Balint
Peter Meadows	...	Orthodox Student
Garret Dillahunt	...	Billings
Kris Eivers	...	Carleton
Joel Garland	...	O.L.
Billy Zane	...	Curtis Zampf
Theresa Russell	...	Lina Moebius
Summer Phoenix	...	Carla Moebius
Jack Drummond	...	Old Coot
Sig Libowitz	...	Rav Zingesser
James G. McCaffrey	...	Young Avi
Jacob Green	...	Young Danny
Frank Winters	...	Young Stuart
Ronald Guttman	...	Danny's Father
Heather Goldenhersh	...	Linda

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:18 | Brazil:14 | France:U | Peru:18 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:MA | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Fuller Films

Trivia:

Inspired by the story of Dan Burros, an American Jew, who joined (and left) the American Nazi Party, and then joined the United Klans of America (KKK). Not unlike "the Believer", when a journalist unmasked Burros, he killed himself. "The Believer" takes this as a springboard though, and many of the other details are quite different.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Danny (Ryan Gosling's character) sings the Jewish prayer known as "The Sh'ma," he mispronounces two of the Hebrew words. He says "YIZ-ra-el" with a Z sound instead of an S, and "El-OO-hay-noo" with an OO sound in the second syllable instead of an O. The Sh'ma is a cornerstone prayer in Judaism, and given the character's religious background and studies, he would never mispronounce these words.

Quotes:

Daniel Balint: Just take a look at the last three most well-known Jews - Marx, Freud, and Einstein. What have they given us? Communism, infantile sexuality, and the atom bomb.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Conversation with... Director Henry Bean (2003) (V)

Ryan Gosling -- Superstar!

I think I first saw Mr. Gosling in Murder by Numbers, in which he played half of a modern-day Leopold and Loeb murder team. In that good-but-not-great thriller, he did a fine job with an easy role: the smarmy manipulator who's convinced his Intellect is so superior to everyone else's that he has the right -- no, the obligation -- to kill those inferior to himself.

In The Believer, Gosling plays the young fascist who really seems to believe the antisemitic vitrol he spews. His skinhead punk is just as scary, believable and *common* as Edward Norton's in American History X -- with the added layer of being from an Orthodox background. He has apparently convinced those around him that his fascination with all things Judaic is only an effort to "know his enemy thoroughly" -- nothing more.

Gosling is nothing short of astounding in this role. He richly deserves all the honors bestowed upon him. If he continues to only get roles like Murder by Numbers, it will be a waste of a wonderful natural resource, kind of like strip mining in Yellowstone.