Movie Suggestion: The Believer

The Believer (2001)
Just three years after American History X was released in 1998, The Believer debuted at Sundance and won the Grand Jury Prize but due to protests it was only released through an independent distributor months later. The film is based on the true story of Dan Burros, a Jewish man who joined the KKK and eventually committed suicide when a reporter published his religious heritage. See where there could be controversy? In The Believer, Ryan Gosling plays Daniel Balint, a disillusioned Orthodox Jew who strayed from a promising childhood and became obsessed with fascism and anti-Semitism. Gosling’s simply stunning performance carries along the rest of a mediocre cast and is accompanied by a script bound to make you cringe. Far more jarring than the scenes of hate-fueled violence are the passionate rhetoric and arguments that Balint espouses. I’m not saying he’s necessarily convincing, but the arguments are made with such conviction that many film critics and audience members alike thought that the film was too dangerous or sensitive to be released widely to the public. As the film progresses we see that he is a paradox, torn between what he says and has willed himself to believe versus what somewhere deep down inside he may know to be undeniable. The Believer’s plot is a bit forced at points, but Gosling is brilliantly passionate and thought provoking. To me, it's a bold, great film, but the subject matter is shocking and disconcerting enough that some simply will not enjoy it. I don’t mean to scare anyone off and I hope that you are as intrigued by the initial description as I was years ago. Give it a chance and you'll find a film bound to stimulate discussion and make you think.

Fun Fact: (spoiler alert) There was an alternate ending to American History X that was never filmed. After the last school scene, Derek is seen back in his own bathroom shaving his head. What kind of message would you take away from that? Easy to see why this ending was nixed before it got off the ground.