CSA: Confederate States of America
Closed CaptioningKevin Willmott
Open iTunes to preview, buy, and download this movie.
Plot Summary
Bold, satirical and wildly funny, the film poses the question: What would have happened if the South had won the Civil War? Played as a straight-faced Ken Burns-style documentary with uncanny parallels to our current society, CSA presents an alternative modern day America as a land in which slavery is alive and well throughout the 50 states, other non-whites and non-Christians are relegated to reservations, the country is in an ongoing Cold War with Canada and a Slave Shopping Network plays on TV. In the words of Spike Lee, an Executive Producer, the film is "eye opening and jaw dropping."
Credits
Director
Producer
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
78%- Reviews Counted: 65
- Fresh: 51
- Rotten: 14
- Average Rating: 7.0/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: CSA is rough around the edges, especially where the acting and some of the film's invented characters are concerned. But the way CSA works out its ideas is so provoking that its drawbacks are not difficult to ignore.
Fresh: A brilliant and irresistible counterfactual overview of American history.
Fresh: Kevin Willmott's ersatz documentary CSA: The Confederate States of America is an act of provocation that's sheer genius in its conceptual simplicity.
Rotten: Rarely does a promising premise get such lackluster execution as in the satiric CSA: The Confederate States of America.
Customer Reviews
You just don't get it, do you?
Ok, first off, this movie is brilliant. Speaking as one of the few people who reviewed this who actually saw it, and didn't just watch the trailer, it is a good movie. It is done entirely in Ken Burns' style, though it was not supposed to be him. This presents an alternate past, which is entirely plausible. First off, if, as the film makes happen, Washington D.C. was sucessfully invaded, the union government would be put on the run. As no one has yet noted, Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Congress did indicate a yearning for unity, just not under a regime that was opressing them (yes, the north DID opress the south! Remember, the war was NOT fought over slavery. Economic commodities were being stolen from the south, and most of the profits went to commerce centers in the north, leaving poor southern farmers). If there was an oppurtunity to re-unite the states under Confederate rule, they most certainly would have taken it. Secondly, slavery could still have survived in the south, just not if the north would have stayed the economic center, which, if the CSA had won, would have certainly shifted, if only out of spite. Therefore, the premise behind the movie is entirely plausible. It was never meant to be accurate, stop saying that! As for the WWII section of the movie, where the Confederacy teams up with Hitler, that would depend on the leaders in place during that time, and, if you paid attention during U.S. History, there were actually a lot of Nazi supporters here in the United States, so that's plausible too, especially with a *more* discriminatory government in place. You'll notice, however, that the movie does NOT condemn all persons of African descent or darker toned skin to slavery. One of the mock historians is actually a black WOMAN. There would still be freed people, and thus, there is not one thing that could be disputed about the possiblity of the movie, had certain battles during the Civil War tipped to the opposite side. That said, once again, brilliant movie. If you watch it from an academic standpoint, it's genius. There are a few parts that are a bit far-fetched, but not any of the big points being debated on the board. (Oh, and I'm a white female, in case any were wondering. There is no way that this movie promotes hate, which people would realize if they actually sat down and watched it.)
Funny and disturbing but ultimately inaccurate.
The film, while toted as a mockumentary, is less a historical rewrite than it is a dark fantasy. Slavery would not have continued into the 20th century under any circumstances, most historians agree. The film does a good job of examining how certain Southerners thought 'back then' through the eyes of modern persons today, but it fails at showing us what really might have happened "if the South won." Disturbing and worth a look if you have $10 to throw around, but ultimately inaccurate.
Not a "mockumentary" but an alternate universe
I think some of the other reviewers may be missing the point on this one. This movie is about imagining a whole new, scary, different, and in some ways, not at all different America. The film treats the central question -- What if the South had won the war? -- with honesty and historical accuracy in mind. Thought-provoking, the kind of movie that will stick with you for days afterward. Really worth watching. Should be shown in schools.
Viewers Also Bought
- Unbreakable
- M. Night Shyamalan
- View In iTunes
- W.
- Oliver Stone
- View In iTunes
- Gallipoli
- Peter Weir
- View In iTunes
- The Invisible
- David S. Goyer
- View In iTunes
- K-19: The Widowmaker
- Kathryn Bigelow
- View In iTunes