Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

GusF This is a rather entertaining mockumentary which explores what would have happened had the Confederacy not only won the Civil War but annexed the entire United States and reintroduced slavery to the North, which is still going strong both North and South in the early 21st Century. Now, obviously this completely fails as a believable alternate history but that's fine as it is intended as satire. The premise is that we are watching an extremely controversial documentary about Confederate history made by the British Broadcasting Service.As well as through talking heads, the history of this expanded CSA is illustrated through authentic photographs and newsreel footage and clips from fictional historical films such as D.W. Griffiths' 1915 silent classic "The Hunt for Dishonest Abe" and the 1946 RKO film "The Jefferson Davis Story". In the latter, Davis' slave Popsy is played by a white actor in blackface. As part of the documentary's broadcast on Confederate television, advertisements for various products and businesses with racist names and caricatures, most of which are based directly on actual ones which thankfully no longer exist, are shown. We also see ads for TV series such as "Runaways" (a parody of "Cops") and the kids' show "Uncle Tom and Friends" as well as the Department of Racial Identity, an online slave auction and a new electronic shackle for slaves with a microship to track them down if they run away. All of this makes for uncomfortable viewing but that's good since satire should be uncomfortable for people to watch when it needs to be.On the negative side, the film is paced rather poorly. Even at a relatively short 82 minutes, it's perhaps a tad too long as the joke begins to wear a bit thin and it loses much of its momentum in its second half. Even at its best, it is seldom as intriguing as its premise. It's also a very low budget production which suffers badly from amauterish acting. By and large, I thought that the fake ads worked better than the "actual" documentary as there seemed to have been more thought put into them. The other day, I watched "Curse of the Blair Witch", a 1999 Sci-Fi Channel mockumentary made to promote "The Blair Witch Project", which was far better. The major reason for that was the acting and writing made it seem if it could be real. It looked as if it could have been an episode of "In Search Of...", "Unsolved Mysteries" or a similar program. Even though from the absurd alternate history premise it is far more obvious that this is fake, I feel as if the film could have benefited from the same approach. The basic key to good acting is not to make it look like you're acting and this is too obviously staged.

Theo Robertson The writer/director of CSA Kevin Wilmott is black . I thought I'd point this out to guard my back . I also thought I'd mention that I seeked out this film because it received a rave review on Richard Schieb's Sci-Fi movie review page which can be accessed on the external reviews of this page . I feel the deep need to do this simply because CSA is a film of such biting , brutal bleak and brilliant satire featuring an America that still enforces slavery that it'd be very easy to be picked up wrongly by saying I laughed outloud at a great many scenes . Often it was nervous laughter and this was no doubts Wilmott's intention . I did feel very foolish at the end credit scenes . Again this was no doubt Wilmott's intention The premise involves the South winning the American Civil war and Abraham Lincoln being jailed as a war criminal . With great credit Lincoln is portrayed as an opportunist who wanted to get his hands on the South's cotton fields and one suspects Spilebergs upcoming bio-pic starring Daniel Day Lewis might just miss out this very important detail . As it stands history takes a diverted path where the USA become The Confederate States of America ( CSA ) and all the fall out this involves . The biggest divergence being that slavery is not abolished The story is told as a mockumentary by the " British Broadcasting Service " which hints as how unsubtle CSA is . Credit to the makers because at the outset we're shown a public information film called Why We Fought which does give a rather Eurocentric view of America then we start the documentary proper and everyone will be jumping on the outrage bus at one point . Try suggesting a scenario where " Union forces flee in the face of British and French fire " and you'll get the impression red necks aren't going to enjoy this as much as they were hoping . Of course African Americans will take the brunt of the outrage via stereotypical portrayals but if you've seen BIRTH OF A NATION then you'll realise this is an attack on moral climates of early 20th Century America . And it's the Hollywood sections that are the most scathing and unsubtle which is not a criticism . Quite the reverse because these are the most identifiable parts of the mockumentary to an international audience - Hollywood where men are men , where myths are made and where Europeans with a brain shake their head . The mockumentary is cut with advert breaks and trailers for spoof TV shows such as " Runaway " a send up of COPS complete with banjo music . This type of brutal and scathing satire outdoes the ones seen in the ROBOCOP movies As much as I can praise CSA in its witty satire where it fails very badly is in its alternative history aspect . For example if a scenario is created it can be clumsily forgotten about as in America creating a South American empire but later on we're told the rest of the world has brought in sanctions against the CSA because of its attitude to slavery which means the government has to bring in rationing ? In reality America is more than self sufficient in food and raw materials and widening this to South America means more food supplies so why introduce rationing ? There's also illogical ridiculous aspects such as women never having a vote in this alternative America and at the same time an America crippled by sanctions and citizens on rations this alternative America can still fight wars in Vietnam and lead Operation Desert Storm and land men on the moon In summary CSA is a very memorable mockumentary . It's unsurprising that there's a lot of mixed reviews on this page . Some people will have seeked it out on the grounds that it's an alternative history documentary and they'll be slightly disappointed in it . I certainly enjoyed the satirical aspects of it only to feel foolish when at the end when the " satire " was slightly closer to home than I thought it was . I will point out that I do realise that the photos of dead native Americans and lynched blacks are in fact real photographs and that William Wilburforce deserves to be remembered more than Abraham Lincoln

bryanmillsfist This film is both funny and jarring in its use of actual and fake racist products. But the basic premise of the film is terribly flawed.As others have pointed out, the South did not desire to possess the North, only to become a separate nation. But more important than this is the fact that the South lacked the capability to conquer the North. The South had a nation of 9 million(half of whom were slaves) and the North had 22 million. The North had most of the industry which in turn permitted them to arm their larger forces with an ease the South could only dream of. The South's navy consisted mainly of a few ironclads and blockade runners. In sum, the North had more people, more arms, and more ships by a large margin. This is akin to saying that the US could have conquered and occupied England in the aftermath of the Revolution. The entire premise of the film is rendered ridiculous by historical facts. Satire always has a bit of the absurd element to it, but in order to be effective it must exhibit a grasp of the basic facts. This film does not exhibit such knowledge.Secondly, the Allies in WWII would not have defeated Nazi Germany. England would have fallen as France, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, et all. If Russia would have won Europe would have been enslaved by that Communist Leviathan. Both continents would have in the embrace of despotic governments.This film is amusing on its face, but a closer examination of the historiography indicates that the producers of this film have a poor grasp of the American Civil War. This is an intellectually light, comedy heavy film. Treat it as nothing but comedy.

mkeram What shocks me, is that many people who've seen CSA, and, have found it 'offensive,' don't know that the man who created this (Kevin Willmott) happens to be black.If you read the opening quote from George Bernard Shaw('If you're going to tel people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they'll kill you'), then, you'll understand, that Mr.Willmott grasped this, when he crafted this picture.In the past decade, or so, we've had a horrible injustice done - a 'hypersensitivity,'(called 'politically correct) that has made any REAL discussions almost taboo.Mr. Willmott ISN'T afraid to show this alternate history, and, he understands that the common language is humor.The sad thing, is that, some people who've watched this (and, many did not know Mr Willmott's ethnicity),thought it was some 'horrid' film made by whites, and, didn't understand what Mr. Willmott was trying to show - instead, only viewing it FOR the caricature that it is.I give Mr. Willmott MUCH credit, for making this film.