"Confederate States of America: The Movie"

The Boston Fishwrap ^ | 2/26/06 | Burr

[pabianice]

Kevin Willmott's ersatz documentary "CSA: The Confederate States of America" is an act of provocation that's sheer genius in its conceptual simplicity. Fairly unoriginal, too. Writers and historians have been penning "what-if" scenarios predicated on the War Between the States going the other way for decades; I recall MacKinley Kantor's "If the South Had Won the Civil War" on my elementary school reading list years ago, and more recent authors such as Harry Turtledove and Roger L. Ransom have addressed the matter as well.

Willmott isn't interested in academic niceties. He wants to make you laugh and hurt at the same time, and then he wants you to think. So his film -- ostensibly a British documentary being aired on a local San Francisco station -- opens with an ad for Confederate Family Insurance, complete with a happy white family, soothing banjo music, and a smiling young African-American slave tending the garden. What follows is nothing less than a satiric takedown of our assumptions about racial progress.

Presented by Spike Lee and constructed as a finely tuned parody of the Ken Burns school of filmmaking (period music, old photos, talking-head experts), "CSA" sketches out a disquieting alternative history of the United States. It begins with the South winning Gettysburg thanks to the appearance of French and British troops alongside the Confederate Army, Europe's intervention having been won with the assistance of diplomat Judah Benjamin. (This prompts Jefferson Davis to later say, "Don't you evah forget, suh, that it was a blood-sucking Jew who saved this country.")

[LeoWindhorse]

May I?
"I'm of southern descent and my people fought for the CSA"
same here
"Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, fought a total war for victory against our people. It could not have been otherwise. "
sure it could have
"Lee refused to march on Washington after Bull Run."
General Lee was not in charge at that time
"It was open and undefended"
Not so , the Union Army although routed at Manassas was still a large and formidable force.
"That decision ended southern prospects."
the South always did have a problem with ambivalence. The lesson they left us is to trust the qualified officers in the field and do not let political or government staff officers mess things up trying to second guess their own good people in the field
"You cannot fight a gentleman's war."
Back then...sure you can . Even today and especially today , honor and nobility are priceless virtues that some of our leaders and many of our soldiers still have.
"Southern boys are fighting in Iraq now"
and may God bless them all , and our Yankee men and women too!
Thanks

[Maven]

That done right enough for you?

Another Harry Turtledove fan!

Have you started the "Days of Infamy" series yet, where the Japanese successfully invade Hawaii?

Maven

[Non-Sequitur]

Don't really see how, as the Nazi goals fit more along the same lines as General Order 11

But the whole master race concept fit the view of blacks as fit only for slavery as espoused by Lee, Davis, Jackson, etc., etc.

[Non-Sequitur]

A most prudent military move indeed, however he WAS NOT UNDER ATTACK, and moved into the most provocative position in the area.

If he waited for an attack then he would have been stuck in a fort that could not be defended from the landward side. The reports of plans to seize the fort were well known, Charleston citizens had warned him of them. He actually moved to the least provocative, albeit most easily defended post. He moved his men away from the civilian population.

Maybe he should have folded his banners and moved his Garrison elsewhere...

You mean surrender and turn his posts over to the forces of the rebellion without orders from Washington to do so? What is prudent about that?

[Non-Sequitur]

Have you started the "Days of Infamy" series yet, where the Japanese successfully invade Hawaii?

Seen it, but haven't tried it yet. Have you read Newt Gingrich's alternate history about Gettysburg and its aftermath?

[billbears]

But the whole master race concept fit the view of blacks as fit only for slavery as espoused by Lee, Davis, Jackson, etc., etc.

Come now, more revisionism? We know Lee's beliefs on slavery (against), we know Jackson's belief on relations with blacks (taught a Sunday school for blacks prior to the war), and the loyalty his former slaves held for President Davis.

Surely you don't want to compare racial attitudes of these men to Grant, Sherman, and the union president do you? The Southerners could be said to have attitudes of enlightened men of the day (while we disagree with them now), while the other three were just outright racists, then and now.

[billbears]

And I might point out the union officers didn't hold disdain for just blacks but all non-white races. Or were Sherman's views on Indians and Jews just another example of his 'enlightenment'?

[billbears]

'Days of Infamy' drags. And I mean drags. It took me two weeks to finish that book. Good premise, and I hate to say it, but Turtledove may be running out of things to write about. The 'World in the Balance' series was even good, for about 5-6 of the books, but this latest one was too predictable

[Maven]

Re "Days of Infamy," et al.:

Seen it, but haven't tried it yet.

Oh you must - the two books so far are terrific.

Have you read Newt Gingrich's alternate history about Gettysburg and its aftermath?

No - it is worthwhile?

Maven
Turtledove - write faster, dammit! You, too, Cussler!

[stainlessbanner]

Please Non, you are not going to defend Spike Lee's vision of American history are you?

[Bean Counter]

Spike who??

[Alouette]

"Don't you evah forget, suh, that it was a blood-sucking Jew who saved this country."

No Southern gentleman would use a vulgar slur like "Jew" to describe one of the Conmfederacy's most admired figures. Mr. Benjamin and others of the Mosaic faith were referred to as "Israelites."

[smug]

With virtually all of his garrison in Fort Moultrie, totally indefensible from the landward side,

Having lived right their I think it would have been far easier to defend Fort Moultrie. I know all it's gun emplacements face the sea. But, Sullivan's Island would have been one tough nut to crack. You hunker down for the cannonade and then blast the little boats out of the water as they tried to cross. I think reinforcement would have even been easier.

[billbears]

You liked it? It took me forever to get through the first in the series. Now the Gunpowder Empire series looks promising, the second book was better than the first

[Bender2]

And here I thought it was Lee sending my Gatling gun to support Pickett's charge that won us Gettysburg...

Awwww Darren, how we'll miss you...

[Oztrich Boy]

I read a novel some years ago by the same name that was a fictional account of "what if". It was fairly well written, and I considered well thought out. There was no hatred to speak of, and the roles of north and south were reversed.
The north was a wasteland, and the south immensely prosperous (fairly visionary by today's standards).

For completeness, it should be pointed out that a similar situation existed after the CSA won the War of Southern Independence in Ward Moore's superbly wriiten Bring the Jubilee which was published 8 years before MacKinley Kantor's "If the South Had Won the Civil War"

[BillyBoy]

>> Without the south, Albert Gore would be president. <<

Not likely, since Gore would be a citizen of the CSA, and therefore ineligible to run for President of the USA. Both Al Gore Jr. and Sr. launched their political careers in the south. Slick Willie would also be a citizen of the CSA, and based on tne number of southern states he won in 1992 and 1996, would have have a good shot at being elected President of the CSA.

>> Tennessee kept him from the presidency, his own state. <<

Yeah, and Illinois, Adlai Stevenson's own staet, voted AGAINST him as well, giving the Presidency to Einsenhower instead (this didn't stop most of the south from supporting liberal egghead Stevenson over war hero Ike)Your point being?

>> Try winning a presidential election without us. <<

Well that's true, the south's collective electoral votes pack quite a punch, though in 1924, the evil yankee states succeeded in electing conservative Republican Calvin Coolidge (who was a Reagan Republican 60 years before Reagan invented the term) while the southern states voted overwhemingly for segregationist RAT candidate John Davis:

I wish the same could be said for the 1976 election, because the north ALMOST elected a Republican, but the south just managed to put Hamas luvin', Panama-canal sellin' southern boy Jimmy Carter (who's nickname in college was "Johnny Rep") over the edge.

And don't get me started on the 1940s elections where Dewey and Wilkie ran neck-and-neck with FDR in the north, but Franklin's socialist agenda was racking up about 70-80% of the vote in the "conservative" deep south.

>> The north is basically communist. <<

Oh yeah, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota (where they just outlawed abortion-- let's see you guys do that), Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, all bastions of communism, eh? Let's see one of your RAT leaders like Tim Kaine or Robert Byrd get elected in a "communist" state like Idaho. Actually most of the northwest has voted for conservaive Republicans far longer than most of the deep south. They were against commies like Wilson and FDR and Carter when the south was beating the door to foist more socialist nanny state programs on the nation. The south didn't get a clue and start electing conservatives until a few decades ago. Sure took long enough.

>> Southern boys are fighting in Iraq now, and have given themselves for the USA in how many wars and how many generations? <<

Probably as many years as those evil yankee boys have been fighting for freedom in World War II, et. al. The fact that the individual solders are brave and righteous doesn't mean their government is likewise. I'm sure there were a lot of personally decent German privates in WWII but that doesn't change the fact that their government was run by facists.

>> Spike Lee is a bigot and a fool. << <<

Well you'll be happy to know Spike Lee had nothing to do with the making of this movie. The movie is written and directed by Kevin Willmott and produced by Rick Cowan. Spike Lee does lend his image to do an 5 min. intro to the movie, much the way Steven Speilberg will promote a movie for another director so it gets more publicity.

That said, lifelong southern boy Spike Lee (Georgia born and bred) has shown occassional talent from time to time... I'm a pretty big fan of 25th Hour.

[BillyBoy]

>> Please Non, you are not going to defend Spike Lee's vision of American history are you? <<

Well we had a couple dixiecrats defending liberal self-hating Steven Speilberg's "vision" of Abraham Lincoln about a year back on this forum....

In any case, here is a complete list of production credits for the film "Confederate States of America". Please locate the section where "Spike Lee" is responcible for the "vision" of this movie. Take your time, I know this is hard:

Directed by Kevin Willmott

Written by Kevin Willmott

Produced by
Marvin Voth .... executive producer
Andrew Herwitz .... executive producer
Rick Cowan .... producer
Sean Blake .... co-producer
Victoria Goetz .... co-producer
Benjamin Meade .... co-producer

Original Music by Erich L. Timkar

Cinematography by Tim De Paepe & Matt Jacobson

Film Editing by Sean Blake & David Gramly

Production Management
Stephanie Smith .... production manager
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sean Blake .... first assistant director
Timothy Rebman .... first assistant director
Chris Weaver .... first assistant director
Rick Cowan .... second unit director
Niki Newland .... director of photography: second unit

Sound Department
Jeffrey D. Miller .... boom operator
Robert Sokol .... sound effects designer
Robert Sokol .... sound recordist

Other crew
Chris Blunk .... electrician
Jeffrey D. Miller .... electrician
Jeffrey Ruggles .... electrician
Leonard Short .... still photographer
Larry F. Levenson .... still photographer
Brad Roszell .... grip
Tanner Loewenberg .... grip
Jeremy Osbern .... swing grip
Matthew Osburn .... production assistant

[stainlessbanner]

Post 57: "Spike Lee does lend his image to do an 5 min. intro to the movie"

[BillyBoy]

Is it really that hard to answer my question about how Spike Lee is responcible for the VISION of this movie?

Yes, he lends his image for an intro to the movie. Robert Graves lends his image for five minute intros to films on the history channel, does that mean Mr. Graves is responcible for the content of all those movies and agrees with the "vision" of the movies? It would certainly be news to Mr. Graves that he's responcible for the content of every movie he introduces.

You guys keep attributing this movie to "Spike Lee", so really, why it is so hard to show where this is HIS "vision" being made?

Besides, Spike Lee is a good lifelong southern boy. Y'all should be proud he's making movies instead of these evil yankees. My Congressman, Bobby "black panther" Rush, is a southern transplant too. We know much you guys dislike transplants moving to other regions and telling the locals how to live. We'll take our yankees back, and you have have our all "southern transplants" back. Can't wait for Bobby and Jesse Jackson to start packing and heading back south of the Mason Dixon line.