The film 'Copperhead' deals with the events of the Civil War. A war movie that gets it right?

Conservatives are grabbing popcorn and lining up to catch a new historical drama with modern connections.

“Copperhead,” the new film from director Ron Maxwell, focuses on the Northern opponents of the American Civil War and stars Billy Campbell, Angus MacFadyen and Peter Fonda.


At least one conservative — Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com — emailed his audience to tell it about the movie “that every conservative needs to see.”

“[W]hile Copperhead is about the Civil War, believe me, it will hit close to home for every conservative fighting to preserve our Constitution and our American way of life,” Viguerie wrote. “Because Copperhead is about standing up for faith, for America, and for what’s right, just like you and I are doing today. In fact, I’ve never seen a movie with more references to the Constitution, or a movie that better sums up our current fight to stand up for American values and get our nation back on track.”

The movie, which is based on the novel by Harold Frederic, follows Abner Beech, a New York farmer who doesn’t consider himself a Yankee, and is against slavery and war in general.

Asked about whether he sees his film as conservative, Maxwell told POLITICO, “I think if ‘Copperhead’ has any relevance at all, in addition to illuminating a time and place from our common heritage, it’s as a cinematic meditation on the price of dissent. I’ve never thought of dissent as a political act belonging to the right or left. It’s an act of liberty, an expression of the rights of a free person — free not just in law but free from the confines and pressures of the tyranny of the majority.”

Maxwell said while the concept of dissent is as “old as time,” in the U.S., “it’s protected in the Constitution.”

“Perhaps because Abner Beech, the main character in the film, relies on the protection of the Constitution and is not reticent in saying so, noted conservatives, including some good friends of mine, see the film as that rare motion picture, which calls attention to our great founding document.”

Maxwell, whose previous films include “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals,” says his film has plenty for liberals, too.

“I also have good friends politically self-identified as on the left who, just as members of the [American Civil Liberties Union] do routinely, are also vociferous in their defense of the Constitution. I’ve now read thoughtful pieces online about my movie ‘Copperhead’ from writers across the political spectrum.”

Maxwell does add, however, that “there’s no doubt that most of the interest as well as most of the praise for the film has come from self-identified conservatives.”

”The leading character, the dissenter, disparagingly called a copperhead by his neighbors, is against the war, against the federal government’s encroachments on civil liberties, against the draft and against the prevailing public opinion of his community. He is for the preservation of the Union and for the abolition of slavery. His dispute is not with the goals but with the methods employed by the Lincoln administration. He doesn’t believe war is the answer. He argues for legal, legislative, electoral and constitutional means to address the great issues of his day.”

Maxwell says the marketing team behind “Copperhead” has “reached out to political communities across the board as well as to faith-based organizations across the board.” And he’s grateful for Viquerie’s support.

“But this is not the same thing as saying ‘Copperhead’ is a conservative film. It is not, in the narrow sense, a political film. I abhor propaganda of any kind and don’t go there in my filmmaking. Movies are poorly equipped to answer questions and excellently equipped to pose them. ‘Copperhead’ is no more or less than the filmmakers’ attempt to revisit a lost world, a forgotten corner of American history, to rediscover a dissenting voice from the 1860s.”

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