Show C4 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday March 13 2002 hr- SHERMANS LAGOON 9 KN71T FAR MORE iMPORawntBemfr WHomeinm MOST toaCTf PfFINt - Controversial skinhead 'it' tale 'Believer’ hits cable rnoaooT i n PYoortmitmum FROGOta LOS ANGELES (Aip -- 7 Henry Bean’s directing debut finally is graduating from the film school of hard knocks “The Believer” premieres at 9 pra Sunday on Showtime more than a year after die disskinhead turbing portrait of a Jewish won the top dramatic prize at the Sundance Film Festival beating contenders that included nominee for “In the Bedroom" a this month’s Academy Awards Since Sundance “The Believer” has been heaped with praise from critics and audiences Yet it was shunned by film distributors that found it too hot to handle prompting Bean to sign with the premium- cable channel And its television debut was pushed brick six months after the Sept lf attacks because of the film’s ending cratering on a bomb planted at a Jewish house of worship That’s a lot of baggage for a film that Bean initially viewed as something of relaa dark comedy examining the love-hationship Jews have with their faith Raised as a Jew and married to the daughter of an Orthodox rabbi Bean knew his story might discomfort the faithful But he thought Jewish leaders would “see the honorable intentions behind it and see that it’s really a good Jewish' film" Bean said “It always felt to me that this was my love poem to Judaism It really was about how much I liked it" Bean said ’To me one of the great things about that religion is how it is and how much the religion itself is in love with contradiction and multiple points of neo-Na- CATHY best-pictu- If ’ 'MU LOST FOUNDS iwrr IF 1L0SV Stt POUNDS " Of WATER 1 NW SREAT START' QMUO! DO THE NEXT THINS THE NET SAWS TD DO f! fst n was JUST WATER CRTHN' zi re film-festiv- al ter-ror- ist writer-direct- or te BEETLE BAILEY ” ' Ryan Gosling left and Joshua Jiarto appear In a from the film The Believer" wNch premieres Saturday March 1 6 on Showtime scene about “The Believer” among potential distrilv utors Studio interest “disintegrated fairly quickly after the Wiesrathal Crater spokesman came out against die picture” said Daniel Diamond duced “The Believer” and whose distrib anji will handle a limited theatrical release in May Wiesenthal Center officials in turn are miffed with the filmmakers saying Bean and the producers depicted die crater as campaigning against “The Believer” Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center said his group did not “invest ah a postage stamp didn’t even make a single phone call” about the film view” Cooper said he expressed his opinion about “The Believer" stars Ryan Gosling as Danny “The Believer” only when asked — once by a Balint a bright young man so conflicted about studio that wanted his reaction and in a number his Jewish heritage that he denies his faith of interviews requested by reporters sentiments and plots violence spouts “I didn’t think the film worked” Cooper against Jews The character was inspired by a said Unlike “American History X” a tale of a e who killed himself after it skinhead who renounces his fascist ways by was revealed he was Jewish film’s end "The Believer” leaves viewers with Even as he rails against Jews and what he few clues about die source of the character’s perceives as their passivity during the Holohatred “You never really know much about d caust Danny reveals reveience for him by the end of the film” Cooper sad “You the religion meticulously iteaching a new girlwant some meaning You want to know why friend how to read Hebrew and salvaging a what motivated him Wtu it because his teacher desecrated Torah from a skinhead attack rapped his knuckles back in the second Danny fantasizes about playing both rads of grade?” the Holocaust imagining himself as a Nazi Cooper also objected to a scene in which Jewish boy on a thug impaling a Danny and his cronies desecrate a synagogue bayonet and as the child’s father fighting back saying the “detailed nature” of the sequence in rage Gosling and Bean would have prewas unnecessary While larger film companies ferred to see “The Believer” debut cottuner- -' shied away from “The Believer” Bean said some small distributor still were interested daily in theaters rather than on television For one thing Gosling said moviegoers who have But Showtime offered a better financial deal and had no rtserVaffoils about thfiliq’s syb paid the ticket price would be more inclined than TV viewers to stick with the difficult film ject matter he said “Can people really watch this on TV? Are “Places like Showtime and HBQ they want you going to turn this on and keep watching controversy They want to stand out” Bun when you see a kid stalking a Jewish student said “The Believer” potentially will be sera by or the subway beat the hell out of him then millions of viewers on Showtime a far bigger walk away?" Gosling said “Will you Change the channel? My gut feeling is you'll probably audience than it was likely to find in movie theaters Showtime was eager to add change the channel You’re in die comfort of “The Believer” to its list of premieres which your own living room and this movie is a lot have included such thorny films as “Bastard to bring into it" After Sundance Bean had Out of Carolina" and the remake of “Lolita” requests from Jewish groups wanting to see "The Believer" He was quick to make videq “Honestly I don’t think' we had any hesitation when we saw thq film Our tagline is ‘no copies available hoping endorsements from those groups would help win over film distrib- ' limits’ within the bounds of good taste” said utors hesitant to take on “The Believer” Jerry Offsay Showtime president of programHie opposite happened Negative reaction ming “It’s provocative interesting smart from theSimon Wiesrathal Center a Jewish edgy Why wouldn’t we want to put it on the human rights group helped solidify misgivings air?”' self-critic- HAGAR THE HORRIBLE AP Photo pro-Na- real-lif- al ail zi anti-Sem- ite deep-seate- PEANUTS true! false! true! maybe! WHO KNOWS? WHY NOT COULD BE ! TRUE AGAIN ! ABSOLUTELY FALSE! A 5URETHlNfi!N0WANDTMEN! WHO CARE57TKUE AGAIN! ? IF THE GOOP LORD IS UNLUNS AND THE CREEKS DON’T RISE xREREAay WEiRq sy ! - art-hou- se MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM v vMooPVP Mew on By DnvM Germain AP Movie Writer ducerJeremy Thomas provide sparse but engaging commentary DVD $2998 occa-sional- v Selected hornet-videreleases: “Sexy Beast” Bra Kingsley earned an Osrar nomination Tor supporting actor as Don Logan a repug- nant thug in this British heist !:K thriller Ray Winstone stars as a retired thief trying to fend off Logan who insists he return to the fb)d for one more big job Cast arid crew interviews are notable for everyone’s descriptions of Logan (“a lunatic” “a frightening character" “your worst nightmare” “a com' plete psychopath”) Most of the cast “got involved with this film because of Don Logan” says director Jonathan Glazer “He’s such an extreme character” Kingsley and pro- foul-mouth- ed REAL ilFE ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME ' 7HIS MfDDtNG OF NCRDtBL Win PtlGS OF LAUNDRY INVISIBLC IMPGRVlOOS TO YOU AND70 ABOUT NOT : TO GUILT DOING THINGS viVv over-trick- si It person’s bad news is often someone dse’ji good news ' Thisdeal is a good example' What do you think happened in three redoubled? 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