The Believer

The Believer is an intense and gripping drama about a young Jew, Danny Balint, who is a neo-Nazi. Danny refuses to acknowledge his Jewish origins, because he is sick and tired of the Jews' role as victims, so none of his neo-Nazi acquaintances know the truth. Better executioner than victim seems to be his motto.

When the bourgeois intellectual fascists Lina Moebius and Curtis Zampf meet Danny, they immediately spot his obvious intelligence. They see an opportunity to use his powers of argument in their political struggle, even though they do not immediately sympathise with Danny's racial hatred. On the same occasion Danny also meets Lina Moebius' daughter Carla, with whom he begins a relationship. Carla is just as complex as Danny, but when she finds out that he is Jewish, she does not reject him; on the contrary, she shows an intense interest in the Jewish faith. Nor is Danny able to free himself from his roots.

Together with his neo-Nazi comrades, Danny plans to murder a prominent Jew and - when that fails - to set off a bomb in a synagogue. Danny begins to have doubts about his plans, however, after meeting some Holocaust survivors, and when he sees some Jewish childhood friends again, the inner conflict becomes unbearable. In addition, his identity is in imminent danger of being exposed. So there is only one way out.

The Believer is a harsh and intelligent film that raises several interesting issues without moralising or simplifying. Another asset is Ryan Gosling, who is enormously convincing as the anti-Semitic Jew.