I'd heard about this film when it won the Sundance prize, and immediately thought, given the accolade and the premise, that it had to be great. I also assumed it would be ultra-disturbing, so being somewhat squeamish, I waited a long time to actually see it.
What a disappointment.
The idea that a religious Jew could become a Nazi is indeed compelling, but this film never lets the viewer in on the WHY behind the main character (Balint's) decision, so, to continue watching, you just have to take it on faith that for some reason he has his reasons for inspiring a group of fascists to begin executing Jews. This, maybe I could have lived with.
But when this anti-Semitic Jew brings his thuggish skinhead buddies into a temple and has misgivings, here is where the lack of character development really becomes a problem. I could live with the assumption that for some reason this Jew's a Nazi, but, without any insight into the character, this business of his conflict, a seeming revelation of complexity, is just plain confusing.
Then, it commits the sin so many independent films do...by believing its overlong dialogue and speech scenes are compelling enough to drive a story forward. But this is minor in comparison to the nonsensical protagonist and the un-paid-off story lines: Balint shoots a fellow Nazi, Drake, when Drake discovers that Balint is wearing a prayer shawl under his skinhead clothes (again -- WHY???) I assumed he killed Drake, but, he doesn't...shouldn't there be some resolution to this turn of events, perhaps some jeopardy for Balint? For example -- your fellow Nazis find out you shot one of their own...shouldn't there be some sense that maybe Balint's life is now in jeopardy? Also, the leaders (played by Theresa Russell and Billy Zane) find out off-screen that Balint is a Jew. Shouldn't this also be a moment of high tension? This is a great, intriguing premise, but, the film is an extreme disappointment. I expected at some point that everything would tie together in a way that formed a cohesive, powerful, compelling, morally ambiguous narrative, but it doesn't. It's extremely unsatisfying throughout, and I really believe that its status and acclaim come from the premise alone.
What a disappointment.
The idea that a religious Jew could become a Nazi is indeed compelling, but this film never lets the viewer in on the WHY behind the main character (Balint's) decision, so, to continue watching, you just have to take it on faith that for some reason he has his reasons for inspiring a group of fascists to begin executing Jews. This, maybe I could have lived with.
But when this anti-Semitic Jew brings his thuggish skinhead buddies into a temple and has misgivings, here is where the lack of character development really becomes a problem. I could live with the assumption that for some reason this Jew's a Nazi, but, without any insight into the character, this business of his conflict, a seeming revelation of complexity, is just plain confusing.
Then, it commits the sin so many independent films do...by believing its overlong dialogue and speech scenes are compelling enough to drive a story forward. But this is minor in comparison to the nonsensical protagonist and the un-paid-off story lines: Balint shoots a fellow Nazi, Drake, when Drake discovers that Balint is wearing a prayer shawl under his skinhead clothes (again -- WHY???) I assumed he killed Drake, but, he doesn't...shouldn't there be some resolution to this turn of events, perhaps some jeopardy for Balint? For example -- your fellow Nazis find out you shot one of their own...shouldn't there be some sense that maybe Balint's life is now in jeopardy? Also, the leaders (played by Theresa Russell and Billy Zane) find out off-screen that Balint is a Jew. Shouldn't this also be a moment of high tension? This is a great, intriguing premise, but, the film is an extreme disappointment. I expected at some point that everything would tie together in a way that formed a cohesive, powerful, compelling, morally ambiguous narrative, but it doesn't. It's extremely unsatisfying throughout, and I really believe that its status and acclaim come from the premise alone.