only a german could make a movie about lynching in the united states where the victim of the mob is a white man. i really hated the extremely contrived salted peanuts plot hinge. while watching this morning, i kept thinking about how people bemoan the loss of community groups, but this film illustrates how a strong community bond can result in mob justice…and i’m now realizing that this film is obviously an allegory for fascism. the male lead in has strong kirk douglas vibes. although the villain of this film is the mob, it does give us one guy at the centre of it. as he is represented in the film, he’s a peripheral character who comes out of nowhere, but the narrative does isolate him as the avatar and a key instigator of the mob…a hitler figure, if you will…