Beyond the Multiplex

A hilarious, shocking mockumentary about slavery. The creepy return of "What the Bleep!?" Plus: "The Fallen Idol" rises again.

By Andrew O'Hehir

Read more: Andrew O'Hehir, Movies, Movie Reviews, Arts & Entertainment, Reviews, Beyond the Multiplex

Photo from "csathemovie.com"

Kevin Willmott (inset), and a scene from "C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America."

Feb. 9, 2006 | We can go years at a stretch in America without seeing slavery depicted on film. On one level, that's surprising -- no element of our history could be more dramatic, or more paradoxical -- but on the other hand, what can you expect from a constitutionally amnesiac nation? One could argue that the near-destruction of Native American culture has also been poorly presented on screen, despite the long-established sentimental stereotype of the noble Indian, but let's leave the comparative study for another time. (In contrast, German cinema of recent decades has been positively obsessed with that nation's historical crimes.)

So when Kevin Willmott finally gets a chance to release his mockumentary "C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America," which imagines an alternate America where the South won the Civil War and slavery is established in all 50 states (or more), what happens? Lars von Trier's "Manderlay," the much-debated film set on a Mississippi plantation where slavery has continued -- at the insistence of the slaves -- into the 1930s, comes out at almost the same moment.

During our conversation the other day in a genteel New York hotel bar, Willmott told me he hasn't seen "Manderlay" yet, but suspects there's more going on than total coincidence. "I think that in times of war and disaster," he says, "in times like we've been living in the last few years, we're reminded of our origins. How did we get here? And how did our origins influence the choices we've been making?"

Willmott, who teaches film at the University of Kansas, has been piecing together "C.S.A." for years, and its central idea goes back almost two decades. He finally premiered it amid the so-called black wave at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 -- a whole roster of promising films that have, for the most part, failed to find distribution or reach beyond what the biz calls "specialty audiences." It's an uneven film, but also both a hilarious and shocking one; it may leave you weeping with laughter one minute and wanting to storm out of the theater the next.

On the other hand, if you're in the target audience for "What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole," the new director's-cut expanded version of the massive indie hit of 2004, the sense of discomfort may emanate from different sources. Hey, I grew up in Berkeley, Calif., and in a general sense, I'm a sucker for these New Agey zones where science, philosophy and theology begin to merge, at least in some hypothetical or potential fashion. But that childhood also endowed me with a pronounced allergy to purple-clad wackos from Beyond Time who seek to wrap themselves in the raiments of real science.

No skepticism is required for the rerelease of Carol Reed's "The Fallen Idol," a 1948 British film little seen in this country since its original release. Anchored by a canny performance from Ralph Richardson as the raffish butler worshiped by a dreamy little French boy, it's an intriguingly photographed domestic drama with fragments of thriller, ghost story and murder mystery.

"C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America": A story of what-if, or of what actually is?
At the beginning of Kevin Willmott's "C.S.A.," we watch a note-perfect simulation of a typical insurance commercial, showing a suburban family with perfect dentistry enjoying its comfortable but not ostentatious front yard. A little blond girl struggles to ride her bike while the narrator praises Dad as "the master of the house, protecting his family and his property." Yeah, the tone feels just a bit off, doesn't it? And then there's the fact that, on the last word, the camera settles on a smiling black teenager who's cutting the hedge.

You see, we're watching TV in the Confederate States of America, circa 2005, and the Confederate Life Insurance Co. ("For over 100 years -- serving a People") is generously sponsoring the broadcast of the controversial British-made historical film "C.S.A.," which may not be suitable, as an on-screen crawl informs us, "for children or servants."

"Servant" is the polite term often used for the Negroes owned by many patriotic CSA citizens working to uphold our way of life. Then again, there's nothing wrong with the traditional word, which we see on a later broadcast for the Slave Shopping Network, where you can buy Jupiter and his wife and kids, piecemeal or all together, at a new and reduced price. ("What a litter of pickaninnies she's had," exclaims one blow-dried host. "Aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen!")

Next page: Life in the CSA looks pretty familiar