Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.mp4

The movie, adapted from Allan Gurganus's 1989 book of the same name, chronicles the life of Lucy Marsden, a 99-year-old North Carolina woman who at age 14 married a 50-year-old Confederate veteran of the Civil War and bore nine children (reduced to six for television). Diane Lane stars as Lucy from her teen-age years into middle age, and Anne Bancroft plays Lucy approaching her 100th birthday, telling her story in flashback.

Lucy's saga spans more than a century, from the Civil War to the present day and explores issues like -- take a deep breath -- feminism, interracial relationships, sexual repression, spouse abuse, adolescent betrayal, gun control, pacifism and social stratification in the South, to name a few. No wonder so many people close to the mini-series differ on its theme (or whether it even has one).

For Larry Sanitsky, who produced "Confederate Widow" with Frank Konigsberg, the movie tries to show that "even though there is tragedy -- and there's a lot of that -- you can still have a meaningful, fulfilling, productive life." To Mr. Konigsberg, the story, which was filmed just outside Atlanta, "looks at how war has damaged this man and affected his relationship with this woman."