C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2006)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Squirm Limits

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Written and directed by Kevin Willmott, the mock documentary CSA: The Confederate States of America traces American history after the South wins the Civil War. Constructed like a BBC documentary -- complete with disturbing commercial breaks -- the film centers around one main issue: slavery. Lincoln loses power and escapes (wearing blackface) with the help of Harriet Tubman. He never attends the theater and grows old in exile. Emancipation never takes root and slavery lasts well into the 21st century. In the 20th century, JFK is assassinated in 1963 over new rumblings of emancipation. Rock 'n' roll never comes to be and Americans lose every Olympics. Willmott keeps intact Lincoln's original vision of the Republican Party -- a defiant stance against powerful slaveholders -- and so politicians like Nixon appear as "Democrats." Willmott spends a great deal of energy inventing details for the pulsing flow of his phony history, and some of his invented logic eerily mirrors some of today's school of thought. Spike Lee serves as "presenter."