Review

Creating a film where religion and racism are the central themes is an ambitious task for a first-time director. Using one character to painfully explore the core of both topics is generally unheard of, making Bean’s jolting debut a bit of a miracle. The Believer has an astonishing energy that hooks you before the opening credits are finished and doesn’t let go until the final credits roll. Plus, in its 99 minutes, it has more to say about the intricacies and ironies of religion than a year’s worth of church sermons. In a performance that must be seen to be believed, Gosling plays Danny, a young Neo-Nazi who looks to fellow skinheads and Fascist groups to help him eradicate the influence of Jewish culture in the city. But flashbacks show us his background and struggles as a young Jewish student. Feeling the strained pull between a still small faith in his religious origins and the hatred he has developed toward those who share it today, Danny lives a life that is hard to justify or comprehend. And Bean’s film doesn’t see the need to try to crack open Danny’s dualistic mind to find resolution, which makes the character all the more elusive and haunting. Bean is more concerned with the questions of faith and their relationship to race and heritage in contemporary society than with providing simplistic answers. At once nomadic and staid, The Believer is wholly unique in the world of independent cinema. And it lives and breathes ideas to contemplate long after its compelling conclusion.