Aggressive and highly-intellectual skinhead Danny (Ryan Gosling) enjoys spending his time getting into trouble and beating up the local Jewish population, whilst proudly displaying his swastika-branded t-shirt. Only Danny has a secret, one that if revealed to his gang of like-minded hoodlums would land him in hot water and would probably lead to his murder - he was born and raised a Jew. Falling in with respected racist and anti-Semite Curtis Zampf (Billy Zane), he is forced to put his violent behaviour behind him in order to spread the hate in an intellectual way. As his hatred for the Jewish community increases, so does his guilt, and so begins a long and confused path for Danny.
I'd heard great things about this film, but I found myself disappointed as the opening scene played out in front of me, which sees Danny frighten a young Jew on a train before violently attacking him in the street. I thought this was going to be another Romper Stomper (1992) and American History X (1998) inspired neo-Nazi film that would offer nothing new. Yet as the film went on, and Ryan Gosling shows why he is probably the most talented young actor working in film today, I was completely engrossed. Danny's character is so fascinating and conflicted that he drives the entire film. There are no cliches here. One of the key scenes in the film is when Danny sits down with a journalist to talk about the Jewish problem. He is asked why he hates the Jews. Danny comes up with an unconvincing argument about the ways Jews like to have sex. He simply does not know why. And when he is confronted by the same journalist about if he himself is a Jew, Danny holds a gun to the journalists head and threatens that if he were to print that information, he will kill himself. Danny has more hatred for himself than for anything else. Fascinating stuff.
Directed by: Henry Bean
Country: USA
Rating: ****
Tom Gillespie
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