The documentary chronicles the attempted takeover of Leith, North Dakota by white supremacist Craig Cobb.
What begins as an 'enemy within' story, turns into something more sinister, as the local townsfolk realise that the man buying their land is trying to create a hub for America's neo- Nazi movement.
As Cobb's disciples arrive the locals rise up, and what was at first, a predictable war of nerves, turns into something deeper, questioning the concrete Amendments placed by the US government.......
When seeing the documentary on face value alone, it's another perfunctory documentary made to exploit something that is already beyond exploitation, radicals and there abhorrent positive opinions on racism.
It follows the same style as most documentaries do, have the good old talking head section, footage from cameras and news reports, acting as a narrative charting the occurring events.
And whenever we see the main protagonist, or his 'disciples', there is this weird haunting musical score, like moans in a warehouse, which, if on a compilation of incidental music, would be called 'the epitome of evil'.
And of course, the makers of the film are almost godlike in the way they can edit the footage. They alone decide how to make Cobb look during the film. Pure evil, snivelling wreck, pathetic loner, they use all the tricks they can to make him look powerful at first, and slowly lose his grip on reality. But to be fair, it wouldn't take much trickery, the man is a despicable piece if work.
But if you took away all these simple tricks of the documentary maker, you can see the bigger picture, not only was Cobb trying to create his own little supremacist village, according to the first amendment, he was doing the majority of it legally.
It's a fascinating insight to the legal system, and just how twisting the system ever so slightly can veer one persons judgmental perspective on a stale cult that should have ended over a century ago, can tilt in his favour.
It's a scary though that even in today's climate, this sort of frantic hatred is still active and almost imperative to some peoples way of life.
It's just desserts that Cobb becomes the 'fugitive' of the piece come the end, and he is the one banished into the middle of nowhere.
Powerful stuff for sure, it will anger you, as you would expect it to, but it's a reminder that there are some absolute maniacs about,thinking that what they do is perfectly acceptable.
What begins as an 'enemy within' story, turns into something more sinister, as the local townsfolk realise that the man buying their land is trying to create a hub for America's neo- Nazi movement.
As Cobb's disciples arrive the locals rise up, and what was at first, a predictable war of nerves, turns into something deeper, questioning the concrete Amendments placed by the US government.......
When seeing the documentary on face value alone, it's another perfunctory documentary made to exploit something that is already beyond exploitation, radicals and there abhorrent positive opinions on racism.
It follows the same style as most documentaries do, have the good old talking head section, footage from cameras and news reports, acting as a narrative charting the occurring events.
And whenever we see the main protagonist, or his 'disciples', there is this weird haunting musical score, like moans in a warehouse, which, if on a compilation of incidental music, would be called 'the epitome of evil'.
And of course, the makers of the film are almost godlike in the way they can edit the footage. They alone decide how to make Cobb look during the film. Pure evil, snivelling wreck, pathetic loner, they use all the tricks they can to make him look powerful at first, and slowly lose his grip on reality. But to be fair, it wouldn't take much trickery, the man is a despicable piece if work.
But if you took away all these simple tricks of the documentary maker, you can see the bigger picture, not only was Cobb trying to create his own little supremacist village, according to the first amendment, he was doing the majority of it legally.
It's a fascinating insight to the legal system, and just how twisting the system ever so slightly can veer one persons judgmental perspective on a stale cult that should have ended over a century ago, can tilt in his favour.
It's a scary though that even in today's climate, this sort of frantic hatred is still active and almost imperative to some peoples way of life.
It's just desserts that Cobb becomes the 'fugitive' of the piece come the end, and he is the one banished into the middle of nowhere.
Powerful stuff for sure, it will anger you, as you would expect it to, but it's a reminder that there are some absolute maniacs about,thinking that what they do is perfectly acceptable.