Welcome to Leith (2015)

Just what I expected

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The story is fascinating, but the execution is lacking. Despite the filmmakers' attempts to market and portray the film as a thriller, it misses the mark. (SPOILER) The only "violence" committed by Cobb and Dutton is antagonistic speech intended to provoke reaction. Whether unwittingly or not, the filmmakers almost help the viewer empathize more with the supremacists than the townpeople, because more film time is dedicated to the supremacists' reflections. Personal hateful behavior is displayed more thoroughly on the townpeople's side -- (SPOILERS) the gathering of angry mobs verbally berating the supremacist newcomers, the burning of supremacists' homes. The film leaves you feeling a profound sense of dissatisfaction. Cobb doesn't get the justice the townspeople think he deserves. The viewer is left unsure as to what the proper amount of justice would be, who is the true victim, and which group has a worse mob mentality. WELCOME TO LEITH is thought-provoking as a documentary but not the fast-paced thriller it was hyped to be.

This one got hard to watch. So much hatred, so many derogatory epithets and swears being tossed around. Definitely NOT for the kids. Currently showing on netflix. The film opens with the towns-people introducing themselves, and how they first got to see or meet Craig Cobb,a white supremacist leader. The (true) story of how Cobb bought up land and encouraged other skinheads to come move into the town. A whole lot of people's religious beliefs and general statements being tossed around, from both sides. The writer/directors Nichols and Walker film the supremacists, the townfolk who just want the old, quiet way of life, and even the sheriffs who are caught in between. We meet the inter-racial couple who have lived here for years, and hope it doesn't get rough for them. For various reasons, Cobb ended up in jail, was subsequently released, and has since sold some of the property in Leith. Overall, interesting to watch. Kind of a lesson in legal rights and the line between legal and illegal activity.

Leith, a registered ghost town in North Dakota, is home to twenty people and a single shop. The almost entirely forgotten town suddenly becomes the most discussed settlement in America as renowned white supremacist Craig Cobb moves in to buy up land and property to rent out or give away to the country's most notorious Nazi groups. Cobb's grand plan is to become mayor of the town and create America's first legal white-only town. This startling documentary details the events of the subsequent months.With its isolated small town backdrop and bleached, low-contrast colourisation of the stock, Welcome to Leith gives the impression of a fictional horror movie. During the winter months, you could be watching Fargo. As the feeling of threat and dread hover over the dinner table during the resident's mealtimes, it appears to come straight from a M Night Shyamalan nightmare.Cobb's appearance is part aging thrash metal guitarist, part Peter Stringfellow with jovial smiles that betray the viciousness below the surface. Dutton is an Iraq war veteran with possibly the worst Hitler moustache in history who seems to gain more sympathy from the audience than loathing. It feels that Dutton, although harbouring abhorrent beliefs, is principally concentrating on receiving approval from Cobb, who takes on an adopted father figure role. It's Dutton's girlfriend Deborah Henderson who is the truly chilling one, with a vicious uncompromising hatred for non-whites and a predatory growl constantly smeared across her face.What Nichols and Walker do exceptionally shrewdly is to give both corners of the ring the time to discuss their particular point of view. What this effectively does is give access to all of the players, something rarely achieved in a documentary about extremism, and this produces a wonderful insight into evil-doer's everyday life. Seconds after seeing Dutton performing aggressive sieg heils at a town meeting in the face of Leith's only black resident, Bobby Harper, we see him making banana fritters in his kitchen discussing his dreams of becoming a celebrity chef. The writers realise that given enough rope, the white supremacists will happily hang themselves anyway; the exasperated cries from the Cheyenne plains are clearly audible as Dutton argues that white births are now in the minority for the first time in American history. Cobb takes a DNA test on national television to prove his racial purity, only to find out he's fourteen percent African.This even handedness rightfully reaps rewards towards the end of the film as they manage to obtain video footage from Deborah Henderson's smartphone. This shows Cobb and Dutton marching through the town with loaded rifles shouting racial slurs at the residents. It is at this moment, with whispered comments such as 'Make sure they shoot first', the realisation sinks in that for all the talk and arrogant discrimination, there is a true threat of lethal violence involved here.Another attractive observation is the charming naivety the original residents have to extremism. Mayor Schock freely admits to not even knowing what a white supremacist was before meeting Cobb. It is refreshing then to observe how a community can pull together to defend one another's rights, and you get a stimulating insight into the way America works at ground level as the council try to work around the first amendment excuses Cobb obsesses on so well. When does one's right to freedom of speech become another's illegal hate- crime discrimination? The town's council at one point pass a new law requiring every living accommodation to have plumbed sewage, in one clean sweep making the majority of Cobb's rental properties, housing the white supremacists, illegal. This is a fascinating move to counteract Cobb's completely, and astonishingly, legal Nazi hate- speech and threats of gun violence.Welcome to Leith is a terrifying yet fascinating account of a dark recess of American society and culture. It is made with clarity and observed impartiality and stands out impressively against previous documentaries of a similar ilk.

This is a feature length documentary filmed in the small North Dakota town of Leith. When I say small I mean there were only 24 inhabitants and one bar. It is the sort of place with dirt roads a slow way of life and a sense of community.They like to welcome new comers and then one day Craig Cobb moved in and started buying up lots. The recent oil boom in the area had made real estate suddenly more valuable. Cobb though is one of the top (if that is the right word) white supremacists in the USA and probably the world. He and his followers (seemingly recruited in a trailer park sale) decided they would move in enough of his anti Semite and racist mates to be able to take over the town council – through democracy obviously – and then the town would be theirs etc.This is filmed over a period which saw things coming to a head. It is not an action fest of bad stuff happening but it is alarming at how this could happen. He had flags of all the white countries and this includes the Union Flag (Jack) with a ruddy great swastika stuck in the middle of it. The man has nothing going for him and best bud Kynan Dutton was equally as vile. This is not a show stopper but it is eminently watchable and tells its story in as balanced a way as it probably could have. There is a lot of profanity and offensive language but it only exemplifies the level of feeling that such people provoke in others. If you are a documentary fan then this is well worth a watch.