: The Believer
Fascinating film about a controversial subject. Difficult to watch in places, and I liked that. It’s the true story of a young Jewish boy who’s a Nazi skinhead. Surprisingly, he’s remarkably intelligent, and he gives impassioned speeches against Jews, especially of their religion. (Raised as a Jew, he knows Hebrew and everything about Judaism.) One moment he’s rational, eloquent, and persuasive, and the next he’s wildly violent. For me, that was the most significant aspect of the film, that this skinhead wasn’t an idiot. It was also the scariest aspect of the film. How many more “rational” racists are out there? The kid was a mass of contradictions, and that made him interesting. For instance, in one scene, while vandalizing a temple, he tries to stop his skinhead buddies from touching a scroll of the Talmund as it is sacred Jewish writing. He talked and talked about wanting to kill a Jew, and in the end he succeeded by killing himself. Sad and troubling. A well-done original Showtime movie.
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