C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004): You Must See this Movie

All posts in this blog are intended to highlight movies (either really good or really bad) that run the risk of being overlooked by the public. Great movies that are well known to the general public need not apply.

The following movie is in the Good category:

This movie looks at an alternate history where the South won the US Civil War, as depicted through a mock British documentary aired on TV, complete with mock commercials. The specific focus is on white people maintaining black people as slaves into the modern era.

Unusual for great works of fiction, there aren’t really any major characters that you follow throughout, though some characters do “talking head” historical lessons. Rather, it examines the alternate history starting from the end of the Civil War and continuing on over the years. We see real life events reshaped by white supremacy. Even more brilliant are the mock commercials. Some of the products seem over the top at first glance, but unfortunately every product in every commercial in the movie existed in the real world at some point. And the music reinforces the “British documentary feel”, as does the earnestness of the “talking heads” actors. I don’t normally discuss the ethnicity of the filmmakers, but in this case it’s important to note that the writer/director, Kevin Willmott, is black. While white filmmakers can certainly cover this territory intelligently, there is a personal feel to this that I don’t think someone who wasn’t black could really capture about the black experience.

My one quibble is that the movie doesn’t spend much time examining non-racial implications of the south winning the Civil War. But that’s okay, because it’s examination of the racial aspects are sharp, well thought out, and funny. You really feel like you are watching a TV documentary being viewed in an alternate reality. If you like mock documentaries, parallel Earth stories, and/or examinations of social issues, you should give this a try. You must see this movie.