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In 1998, Tony Kaye made a name for himself in the film criticism community with the controversial "American History X." A film (Kaye's first) that tackled the "revanchism" of Nazi ideology in America during the years straddling the new millennium. A tough, courageous work, appropriately rhetorical, where an excellent Edward Norton lent his face to the protagonist, Derek. Themes, formal choices, and atmosphere have made this feature film one of the most successful in dealing with the Nazi "cultural" legacy in the USA of the melting pot and multiethnicity. Within this vein, but with partially different coordinates, we also find "The Believer", directed by Henry Bean and released in theaters in 2001.
A young Ryan Gosling portrays Danny Balint, a character directly inspired by Dan Burros, who was a member of the American Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan. Burros's character is revisited in his contradictions, while the film's story deviates from his life. Therefore, it is not a biopic about his figure, but instead, it is used only as a starting point.
Danny is a neo-Nazi skinhead, even though his origins are Jewish. His personality is split between the two contradictions, which are inevitably opposed to each other. He knows the Jewish tradition, reads and studies the Torah, but at the same time refuses to embrace those teachings. The flashbacks taking us back to his past during his religious education already show us the formation of a critical personality towards his culture of belonging. As he grows, Danny distances himself from that vision to embrace, albeit not entirely, the racial ideas inherent in National Socialist ideology. Precisely for his knowledge of the Jewish "underbrush" and his oratory skills, Danny becomes a respected member of a new "bourgeois" neo-Nazi formation.
The peculiarity of Bean's film (his first work) lies in inserting the ideological "duel" not so much as a clash between the protagonist and the external reality, but as an inner conflict. A twist that manifests mainly in the second half of the film, leading to a dramatic and final ending that unfortunately was already "telegraphed" by the director in the "change" of course occurring halfway through the film. Bean surrounds Danny with a series of characters embodying all the typical clichés of neo-Nazism, lived more as fashion than as real involvement in its political coordinates. Danny's friends don't even know what they're fighting against; they are only tied to stereotypes. In this world full of uncertainties, where the line between things is thin, Danny internalizes the drama of his people, ending up accumulating the contradiction of his position. He is both Jewish and Nazi, unable to reject either half of his being. This is the most successful and intriguing aspect of Henry Bean's work, which otherwise suffers from an excessively schematic direction, almost documentary-like for most of the film's duration. The references to "American History X," already mentioned at the beginning, are also clear: the choice to alternate between black and white (here, in truth, less present), as well as certain sequences explaining the protagonist's ideology. In this sense, the interview sequence in the bar recalls the scene where a "barbarized" Norton by his belief exposes his positions against a Jew.
"The Believer" is a courageous film, exploring a world that has been brought to the limelight particularly in recent years. The global neo-Nazi scene is now evident and still manifests itself today in some European political formations. Bean particularly focuses on the religious aspect, and from the middle of the film onward, chooses to embrace a more poetic and inward vision which detracts from the genuineness of its original intent. This makes the work rhetorical and redundant, as it lacks a precise thematic definition, also due to an excessively faltering screenplay.
A young Ryan Gosling portrays Danny Balint, a character directly inspired by Dan Burros, who was a member of the American Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan. Burros's character is revisited in his contradictions, while the film's story deviates from his life. Therefore, it is not a biopic about his figure, but instead, it is used only as a starting point.
Danny is a neo-Nazi skinhead, even though his origins are Jewish. His personality is split between the two contradictions, which are inevitably opposed to each other. He knows the Jewish tradition, reads and studies the Torah, but at the same time refuses to embrace those teachings. The flashbacks taking us back to his past during his religious education already show us the formation of a critical personality towards his culture of belonging. As he grows, Danny distances himself from that vision to embrace, albeit not entirely, the racial ideas inherent in National Socialist ideology. Precisely for his knowledge of the Jewish "underbrush" and his oratory skills, Danny becomes a respected member of a new "bourgeois" neo-Nazi formation.
The peculiarity of Bean's film (his first work) lies in inserting the ideological "duel" not so much as a clash between the protagonist and the external reality, but as an inner conflict. A twist that manifests mainly in the second half of the film, leading to a dramatic and final ending that unfortunately was already "telegraphed" by the director in the "change" of course occurring halfway through the film. Bean surrounds Danny with a series of characters embodying all the typical clichés of neo-Nazism, lived more as fashion than as real involvement in its political coordinates. Danny's friends don't even know what they're fighting against; they are only tied to stereotypes. In this world full of uncertainties, where the line between things is thin, Danny internalizes the drama of his people, ending up accumulating the contradiction of his position. He is both Jewish and Nazi, unable to reject either half of his being. This is the most successful and intriguing aspect of Henry Bean's work, which otherwise suffers from an excessively schematic direction, almost documentary-like for most of the film's duration. The references to "American History X," already mentioned at the beginning, are also clear: the choice to alternate between black and white (here, in truth, less present), as well as certain sequences explaining the protagonist's ideology. In this sense, the interview sequence in the bar recalls the scene where a "barbarized" Norton by his belief exposes his positions against a Jew.
"The Believer" is a courageous film, exploring a world that has been brought to the limelight particularly in recent years. The global neo-Nazi scene is now evident and still manifests itself today in some European political formations. Bean particularly focuses on the religious aspect, and from the middle of the film onward, chooses to embrace a more poetic and inward vision which detracts from the genuineness of its original intent. This makes the work rhetorical and redundant, as it lacks a precise thematic definition, also due to an excessively faltering screenplay.
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