Confederate States of America – review

This is a quick little review because I don’t necessarily have a lot to say about the film. This is a satirical faux-documentary (mockumentary, if you prefer) that details the history of an America where the South won the Civil War. Framed like a Ken Burns documentary we pick the story up during the Civil War, where a fateful turn changes not just the war but the nation. Instead of the North winning the war, the South prevails and with their victory they take control of the nation and begin imposing their will on its people. Breaking the ‘documentary’ into segments of historical importance, we learn how the Confederate States of America waged a war of imperialism that stretched into Mexico and South America and which used slavery as its base. In between breaks of this television broadcast (the film is presented as if it were a BBC documentary airing on CSA TV) we are shown commercials offering products for the modern Confederate American and their slaves.

This film is rough, to say the least. It’s a very dark comedy and shows a light on not just what COULD have been but what was and still is. Too many of the commercials feature products and businesses that were all too real for far too long. The movie is a grim telling of a history that feels all too real and the film shows the sweeping ramifications of the move to Confederacy. While some of the logic in how things played out is sketchy, and some of the places the film strays are not great, this is a darn good look at what might have been, and if you are at all interested in alternate histories, this is a heck of a story and is very well done.

8 out of 10