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    About This Item

    Unique ID Code: 0000035148
    Added by: DVD Reviewer
    Added on: 4/6/2002 12:42
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    Believer, The (UK)

    8 / 10
    2 votes cast
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    Inline Image

    One man`s descent into a world of violence
    Certificate: 15
    Running Time: 98 mins
    Retail Price: £19.99
    Release Date:

    Synopsis:
    Danny Balint (Ryan Gosling, in an acclaimed performance) is a young Jewish man. Living in the world`s most cosmopolitan city by night he studies his religion`s scriptures and teaches Hebrew. But by day an entirely different personality manifests itself. Danny has become magnetised by a force which stands in direct contradiction to his heritage: neo-fascism. Based on real events, this compelling psychological saga from writer and director Henry Bean charts one man`s descent into a world of violence.
    But this is not just the violence which explodes on the streets or which comes from the extremist meetings at the home of the svengali-like cultist, Lina Moebius (Theresa Russell). The Believer is about the inner violence and struggle in the mind of a man who still cannot escape his true Jewish identity. Danny`s battle to reconcile the two warring sides of his character leads him to the very borders of sanity, and on to the path of self-destruction...

    Special Features:

    Directed By:
    Henry Bean

    Written By:


    Starring:
    A.D. Miles
    Billy Zane
    Theresa Russell
    Summer Phoenix
    Ryan Gosling

    Casting By:
    Adrienne Stern

    Soundtrack By:
    Joel Diamond

    Director of Photography:
    Jim Denault

    Editor:
    Lee Percy
    Mayin Lo

    Costume Designer:
    Jennifer Newman
    Alex Alvarez

    Production Designer:
    Susan Block

    Producer:
    Christopher Roberts
    Susan Hoffman
    Calo Frank
    Kimberly N. Fajen
    Frank Calo

    Executive Producer:
    Eric Sandys
    Adam Haight
    Jay Firestone
    Daniel Diamond

    Distributor:
    Pathe

    Your Opinions and Comments

    7 / 10
    There are certain things you don`t want to know about, such as neo-Nazi fascist hatred. Henry Bean`s film, based on the true story of a Jewish boy who became an anti-Semitic urban terrorist, is anything but exploitative. The intelligence of the writing and the intensity of Ryan Gosling`s performance takes it out of the shock horror budget bin. This is a serious study of a disturbing phenomenon.

    The acting is superb, with the little-known Ryan Gosling taking on a complex and difficult role with ease. But the real plaudits belong to Bean`s script, which trawls through philosophical questions about the nature of binary oppositions - good and evil, love and hate, Semitic and anti-Semitic - without once losing its dynamic momentum.

    Reportedly, director Henry Bean was in New York when the planes struck the World Trade Centre, and his stunned reactions lead to second thoughts about the subtle irony of this film, which ends with the stark tragedy of a suicide bombing. Despite delays and anxieties about how audiences may receive its message, The Believer is nonetheless a fascinating portrait of one man`s acute self-loathing, a racial shame that generates brutal aggression, and of a troubled soul achieving self-destruction. It`s a gripping thriller, a study of an extremist character and, a very fine debut for this screenwriter turned director.

    IN SHORT: It`s amazing that a story so packed with hate can be such a compelling sit.
    posted by Aslan on 28/9/2002 23:19