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Movies / Upcoming / The Order of Myths
The Order of Myths

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The Order of Myths (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 31

Fresh: 31

Rotten:0

Average Rating: 7.7/10

Consensus: 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.

Rated: Not Rated

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:Jul 25, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: As winter turns to spring, Mobile, Alabama, buzzes and flutters with the floats, parades, masquerade balls, and secret mystic societies of Mardi Gras. The oldest Mardi Gras celebration in America,... As winter turns to spring, Mobile, Alabama, buzzes and flutters with the floats, parades, masquerade balls, and secret mystic societies of Mardi Gras. The oldest Mardi Gras celebration in America, this time-honored ritual has always been racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown, herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city's two carnivals to explore the complex contours of this hallowed tradition and the elusive forces that keep it organized along color lines.

Taking a wonderfully restrained, observational approach that allows viewers to draw their own conclusions, Brown unveils the vibrant pageantry under way as ornate masks are donned, luminous gowns fitted, bejeweled trains painstakingly stitched, and the king and queen of each royal court trotted out at public appearances, parties, and coronations--within their distinct black and white realms, that is. Playfulness, reverence, and camaraderie suffuse the spectacles, generating genuine mirth and dignity in each community. Yet stories of a lynching as recent as 1981, and of the white Mardi Gras queen’s slave-trading ancestors, as well as subtle interracial social codes, cast a shadow on the proud Mobile heritage the white residents invoke. Do the recent formation of a racially integrated secret society and the attendance by this past year’s black Mardi Gras monarchs at the white folks’ ball augur cracks in a mysteriously enduring social order? --© Sundance Film Festival
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Director: Margaret Brown

Director: Margaret Brown
Screenwriter: Margaret Brown
Studio: Cinema Guild

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Reviews for The Order of Myths

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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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

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
04/03/09
Jennifer Merin
About.com

Reveals ceremonies that are exotic, unexpected, colorful and incredibly ritualized, layered with vast amounts of denial, submerged agendas and hypocrisy.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
02/11/09
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Separate but equal is alive and well in America; see how it works at Mardi Gras in Mobile

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
01/20/09
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

A good time is had by all even in light of public displays of racial segregation in the Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras celebration.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
01/19/09
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

An informative behind-the-scenes look at America's oldest Mardi Gras.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/05/08
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

[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.

Full Review Source: Movie Eye | comment Comment
12/04/08
Frank Ochieng
Movie Eye

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.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
12/03/08
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

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.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/07/08
Dan Kois
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/24/08
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

[A] beautifully restrained, intelligent documentary about how complicated race relations can be in the modern South.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/24/08
Stan Hall
Oregonian

Entertaining and provocative.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/18/08
Noel Murray
AV Club

An invaluable portrait of us-and-them America, a smart, generous, poignant, quietly disturbing movie about secrecy and hospitality.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/18/08
Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brown presents a complex, provocative view ...

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
08/08/08
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Less a vitriolic critique than a considerate, despairing depiction of the intractable sway exerted by long-held, unpleasant traditions.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
07/27/08
Nick Schager
Cinematical

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.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/25/08
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/25/08
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The cast of characters trailed by the crew is a compelling batch.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
07/25/08
Matthew Nestel
Boxoffice Magazine

Engrossing if discomfiting.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
07/25/08
David Noh
Film Journal International

Wise and soberly affecting documentary about the separate but unequal Mardi Gras festivities that take place each year in Mobile, Ala.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
07/25/08
Manohla Dargis
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
07/24/08
David Fear
Time Out New York
 
 
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