The film The Believer, is a film about Danny Balint who is a Jewish boy that becomes a neo-Nazi. He grows up to be an angry, violent guy, attacking Judaism and Jews. Throughout the film, the paradoxical anti-Semitic view of Jewish self-hatred can be seen but along with this, viewers see that as much as Danny hates Jews and Judaism, he cares about the traditions as well. Although Danny kills himself, thus ending the protagonist, the ending of the film is inconclusive. One could argue that Danny chose to take his own life because of his internal struggle between being a neo-Nazi and a Jew. Danny voices many times that he hates Jews and Judaism. He believes that they are a sickness and Jewish men are not truly men. In one of the flashback scenes
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He states that even the Jews that hate Judaism cannot escape it because they are still Jews; and he is no exception. He starts off as being an individual who knows what he wants, which is to kill Jews. However, his Jewish side starts to come through and he knows it. He mends the Torah scroll, he finds himself in a Hebrew bookstore, he goes to the synagogue a few times and he eventually submits to his traditions. As much as he perceives to not want to be a Jewish young man, he is and he cannot fight it anymore. He finds himself to be a living contradiction. In the final few scenes of the movie, rather than imagining himself as being the German soldier within the Holocaust survivor’s story, Danny begins to imagine himself as being both! This is when viewers truly realize how deeply rooted his internal struggle is. Danny kills himself because the Jewish side of him is winning and this goes against how he feels about Jews. He cannot be a neo-Nazi and a Jew. He cannot be, as he thinks, weak. His Jewishness cannot win. From the beginning of the movie, he made it apparent that he wanted to kill Jews, except when he had the chance at the end he chose to save them instead. He told the individuals within the synagogue that there was a bomb, which allowed for them to escape. So, by the end of the movie, Danny chooses a side. However, he kills himself because he cannot be seen
He states that even the Jews that hate Judaism cannot escape it because they are still Jews; and he is no exception. He starts off as being an individual who knows what he wants, which is to kill Jews. However, his Jewish side starts to come through and he knows it. He mends the Torah scroll, he finds himself in a Hebrew bookstore, he goes to the synagogue a few times and he eventually submits to his traditions. As much as he perceives to not want to be a Jewish young man, he is and he cannot fight it anymore. He finds himself to be a living contradiction. In the final few scenes of the movie, rather than imagining himself as being the German soldier within the Holocaust survivor’s story, Danny begins to imagine himself as being both! This is when viewers truly realize how deeply rooted his internal struggle is. Danny kills himself because the Jewish side of him is winning and this goes against how he feels about Jews. He cannot be a neo-Nazi and a Jew. He cannot be, as he thinks, weak. His Jewishness cannot win. From the beginning of the movie, he made it apparent that he wanted to kill Jews, except when he had the chance at the end he chose to save them instead. He told the individuals within the synagogue that there was a bomb, which allowed for them to escape. So, by the end of the movie, Danny chooses a side. However, he kills himself because he cannot be seen