--===============0063358317==
C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
If I were grading movies based on the ideas alone, I'd have to award an "A" to C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. What would things be like now if the South had won the war? Now, is that a great premise or what? Contemplating how the history, not just of the States but of the entire world, might have changed is absolutely fascinating.
I'm sorry to say that the sometimes interesting but ultimately repetitive and amateurish C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA never lives up to the promise of its engrossing ideas.
Framed as a British documentary in the style of Ken Burns ("The Civil War"), the movie mixes a mockumentary with television commercial breaks. The mockumentary sort of lumbers along, but the commercials, which is where the humor shines, are much better.
In writer and director Kevin Willmott's alternate version of historical reality, the South not only defeats the North, it takes it over as well. Even much more farfetched is the idea that the new nation, called the Confederate States of America, retains slave ownership, even as the rest of the world abandons the inhumane practice.
Much is made of slave ownership, both subtly and dramatically. In the introduction to the mockumentary, for example, we are admonished with text that parts "may not be suitable for children and servants." In addition to the commercials, old and hokey educational films teach about the benefits of possessing slaves. But, as to the problem with many documentaries, too much use is made of talking heads.
After the British and the French join the South's side in the Civil War, the tide is turned. This causes Abraham Lincoln to don blackface in order to try to escape Confederate soldiers who want to try him for war crimes. We are shown part of a pseudo-D. W. Griffith silent picture titled THE HUNT FOR DISHONEST ABE. In this cheesy bit of celluloid, filled with awkward acting, Abe, via title cards, says, "I ain't no pres'z. I's a darky." Our audience didn't know how to take this or any of the rest of the picture. There was little laughter or little apparent engagement with the material presented on the screen. Even in commercials advertising Sambo's motor oil, which brags that it really gets out all of that black gunk in your car, the audience just sat staring in disbelief. You could hear a pin drop.
There is a good movie that could be made from this same premise, but this amateurish endeavor isn't it.
C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA runs 1:29. It is not rated but might be PG-13 for offensive language and images and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the Camera Cinemas.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?
Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
--===============0063358317== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: inline
LS0gCnJlYy1hcnRzLW1vdmllcy1yZXZpZXdzQHJvYm9tb2QubmV0IG1haWxpbmcgbGlzdApodHRw Oi8vd3d3LnJvYm9tb2QubmV0L21haWxtYW4vbGlzdGluZm8vcmVjLWFydHMtbW92aWVzLXJldmll d3MK
--===============0063358317==--
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews