The Order of Myths (2007)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 33
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 0
More than a documentary about the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the south, Order of Myths encompasses the eccentric characters of Mobile and the still-lingering racial tensions that surround them.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 0
More than a documentary about the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the south, Order of Myths encompasses the eccentric characters of Mobile and the still-lingering racial tensions that surround them.
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In director Margaret Brown's The Order of Myths, she explores the parties, parades, and lesser-known gatherings that encompass the hedonistic event known as Mardi Gras, discovering that complex issues of class, race, and politics are seldom left behind, even in the name of celebration. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
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All Critics (33) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (33) | Rotten (0)
A well-constructed documentary about a surprising remnant of segregation in the new South, The Order of Myths gracefully explores Mobile's Mardi Gras celebrations and profiles the young people playing at royalty at these ceremonies' hearts.
Top CriticAn invaluable portrait of us-and-them America, a smart, generous, poignant, quietly disturbing movie about secrecy and hospitality.
On both sides of the Mobile Mardi Gras divide, people seem to be edging toward a desire for reconciliation, but there remain significant differences about what that might entail.
Wise and soberly affecting documentary about the separate but unequal Mardi Gras festivities that take place each year in Mobile, Ala.
This microcosmic look at race relations is a great reminder that, even in the year of Obama, we remain a nation divided between black and white.
To say each group takes this tradition seriously can in no way convey the absolute nuttiness and frenzy that filmmaker Margaret Brown has captured.
Mobile and its still-segregated Mardi Gras tradition seem to be world unto themselves, presented without reference to the wider world's pressing issues--the failing economy, environmental concerns, war in Iraq. The documentary's impressive compilation of
Reveals ceremonies that are exotic, unexpected, colorful and incredibly ritualized, layered with vast amounts of denial, submerged agendas and hypocrisy.
Separate but equal is alive and well in America; see how it works at Mardi Gras in Mobile
A good time is had by all even in light of public displays of racial segregation in the Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras celebration.
An informative behind-the-scenes look at America's oldest Mardi Gras.
[An] affectingly insightful and well-informed documentary. Myths taps into a special kind of Southern tradition%u2014with underlying racial overtones as a societal hovering factor.
A revealing anthropological portrait and reminder of American places where young people grow up surrounded by tradition, both positive and negative, and stay to carry it on.
Trapped under the weight of hundreds of years of racial animosity and mistrust, with few clues as to how to work themselves free, the celebrants of the oldest Mardi Gras in the country take refuge in their traditions.
[A] beautifully restrained, intelligent documentary about how complicated race relations can be in the modern South.
Entertaining and provocative.
Brown presents a complex, provocative view ...
Less a vitriolic critique than a considerate, despairing depiction of the intractable sway exerted by long-held, unpleasant traditions.
Ostensibly about Mobile, Alabama's annual Mardi Gras tradition, which dates back to 1703, Margaret Brown's documentary is actually an examination of the racial divide in a city that claims there is none.
The cast of characters trailed by the crew is a compelling batch.
Engrossing if discomfiting.
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[font=Century Gothic]But there are signs of hope which include the election of the first black mayor in the city's history. One member of the white court is much more liberal and open to new ideas than others of her ilk. But come on, guys. This was 2007. What is taking so long? [/font]