So, last week, Ellen invited us to the Drafthouse premiere of The Order of Myths, the new documentary from Margaret Brown, the director of Be Here to Love Me: A Film about Townes Van Zandt and 99 Threadwaxing. Margaret conducted a Q&A after the film, and her presence in the crowd really made it a very interesting screening. The film follows the 2007 Mardi Gras process in Mobile, Alabama, which had the first Mardi Gras in the United States (suck it, New Orleans). Despite many generations of cohabitation of the small town, there is still immense segregation and racial division in the town of Mobile. Built partially on the remains of Africa Town, a community built by the passengers of the last recorded slave boat brought into the country, Mobile celebrates its Mardi Gras every year twice: once for the blacks, and once for the whites. Following the King and Queen of both communities, Margaret's muckraking film reveals some of the hidden (and often visible) racism and classism in the town. The film is often very funny, and at other times disturbing and heartbreaking. Some who see this film may be quick to point out that the editing style, which focuses on the richest of rich in the white community and the poor, downtrodden members of the black community could be forcing the race material too much. I think that any documentary, especially a social commentary doc, will have some amount of necessary manipulation to it, but one needs only looks as far the gilded mansions, centuries-old secret societies, and creepy ceremonies of the white elders to realize that there is some definite class disparity in Mobile, Alabama.
8 comments:
I really liked this film, and it oddly enough resembled the tension between whites and people of color in my hometown. I thought the film had just the right amount of every emotion throught its playing. There was times when you felt awkward, pissed off, confused, happy, like dancing, and most importantly hungry for one of those MOONPIES!!!!!
I thought aesthetically the film was great and had a New Orleans feel to it. In the interview shots with the white individuals you had a southern-comfortable settings on a porch in a nice neighbor hoods with nice trees that crack the concrete. In the interviews with the African Americans there was a less-classy atmosphere that, to me personally,was more comfortable and welcoming than that of the white folks. The characters were portrayed well and my eyes, and I can see with 300+ hours of footage that there has to be some magical moments in there.
One thing that really came out to me in the film, was the subtle moments of racial turmoil. An example of this was in on of the ceremonies when one of the white ceremonial males passed by an African American lady with an empty glass and handed it to her as if that was her purpose in life. There were more examples of this, but I just can't seem to revive that memory at this time. I would like to see it again and pick out more occasions where those kind of subtle messages are present.
Ultimately I thought it was a great film covering a tough topic that is important to bring to our society's attention. Next time I'm in Louisianna, I will pay more attention to the historical ceremonies than the ladies trying to get my beads......
Hahaha. oh ya...girls are jockin' my shit and flashing me and I'm thinking about history and segregation...that'll be the day...John, you crack me up...
Anywayyy, I found The Order of Myths to be a very well put together documentary. It had a way of not only hooking you, but keeping you hooked through its entirety, which, especially with my short-term attention, can often be difficult. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly why this is, but I believe it has a lot to do with the way it was edited and the direction of the documentary.
The documentary was edited by interlacing the two stories: white and black Mardi Gras. This technique is done in many documentaries, but, of course, not all of them succeed in the way Order of Myths did. My best guess for the reason it was so successful is simply precision editing. Knowing the exact right time to go from one story to the next in order to maintain interest and keep the story flowing. I could not imagine how difficult this would have been with over 300 hours of footage. It must have taken a very good eye and countless hours in front of the computer watching, cutting, re-watching, re-cutting, and repeat.
But I definitely think the subject matter of this documentary excelled it to it's high success. The exposition of segregation, racism (not outwardly present, but with mild undertones), and cultural values in Mobile gave this film a depth not always found in event documentaries. I really wonder what the film would have been like if this was if these themes were absent. I have a hard time believing it would have been nearly as good--and unless I'm mistaken she had not foreseen any of these characteristics prior to beginning the film?
Related, I think it's interesting how you can start a documentary and halfway through it realize there is a deeper meaning than what you had originally thought--and now your documentary is that much better. It's a good feeling. My friend and I back home did an event documentary on a big food festival in California this summer and halfway through realized there was a much deeper correlation with the community that we had not foreseen. Our docu. changed slightly while (hopefully) our material grew significantly. That is a digression...
Returning to the film, I am sure it was also invaluable that Margaret was from Mobile and had a connection with the community. When you have that initial in, starting a documentary gets much easier. This showed through what great access and footage she was able to obtain.
Lastly, I want to see a documentary about moonpies... or at least have a box brought to class. They appear to be a pivotal piece of southern life that my western blood has yet to indulge in.
Ben, John, Alex--
THANKS for the thoughtful, insightful and intelligent comments on ORDER OF MYTHS.
ES
I liked the editing. I like use of parallel editing, it was so appropriate for this film. I mentioned to Ellen after the film that this film was the first time that I'd really seen modern day segregation right before me. I've always been aware of it, and I've read it in history books. However, I've never actually seen real people act on it. Call me ignorant, but let's all remember that I come from way out in West Texas (El Paso) where we are very much cut off from the rest of the world. It was a very insightful piece with lots of personality.
I really enjoyed the change in moods and tone. I didn't feel like I was getting a somber history lesson, yes we all know about segregation and its history, however the director found a way to inter-cut the narrative so that at times it was playful, at times it was serious.
The moment that I felt most involved in, was when she gives us beautiful images of trees, and dialogue about how important they were in the history of a neighborhood and the following stills were of victims who lost their lives on trees. I remember the moment, there was a gasp amongst the crowd and everyone shared silence during the stills. It was powerful, and the film showed them to us just at the right moment. For me, it gave the film so much more depth. The film didn't hold back, the film maker didn't hold back, and the overall piece was just so great. Its really great to see film makers put their films before themselves, she didn't seem like she was making choices with her reputation on the line, she was much more interested in the issue.
I am the only woman in my family to have not gone through the Debutante circuit. Luckily, I moved at the end of high school to a town that did not have a debutante organization and I was saved. Also, my mother said that she wouldn't allow me to go through with it, after her entire family was presented.
It was very interesting watching the inside politics of a community I was so close to being apart of. My family comes from Louisiana and I couldn't help but put my own family members in the positions of many of the characters and wondering how they would have handled being involved in a "separate but equal" society.
The Order of Myths is a great example of how great documentary ideas are hiding in plain view. Mardi Gras is so widely recognized but the race relations that play out in the King and Queen parades are evidence that institutionalized racism hasn’t been completely eradicated. Margaret had the family ties that gave her access to the closed-doors events but she saved the brilliant reveal to the end in a moment that gave a new dimension to the importance of the story. The first scene perfectly encapsulates the message of the documentary—and is hilarious. It was clear from the candid footage that Margaret had spent a great deal of time with her subjects. It’s so hard to get people to discuss race relations these days because the color-blindness exemplified by the white paraders has become in recent years the way of dealing with the touchy issue. The Order of Myths should be seen as a teaching tool. The preferred segregation of the King and Queen parades illustrates just how complex these issues are. It isn’t a story of one group oppressing another—it’s the story of separation and inequality in an event that neither side seems poised to change. The film’s structure was executed seamlessly with parallel editing and an event-based narrative. If the shots weren’t the highest quality it was completely overshadowed by the compelling subject matter. To undertake a task of shedding light on an institution whose secrecy is so ingrained into its participants and whose reputation is so fervently defended, was admirable. Especially as the filmmaker risked alienating (and according to her Q & A, did alienate) some family and friends.
If your eyes weren’t opened by the Order of Myths, you’re blind. I think the importance of the film is the reason many of us want to make documentaries. We should aspire to that kind of filmmaking.
And God, the moon pie thing. I was dying. So funny.
The Order of Myths exemplifies the power of observational documentary style. Margaret Brown made the decision of not including herself in the film and let the story reveal itself. This gave the viewer the opportunity to see the film through a relatively objective lens. By contrasting the two stories through acute editing techniques, the themes of racism and class became clear. The access Brown was able to get really makes this film. The characters appear very honest and open with her, which is why this act of simply story telling is so compelling. The only character I would have liked to hear more from was white Queen. Because of the strong emphasis on the history of her family in relation to bringing slaves over, I would have liked to hear her perspective on the fact. Films like Order of Myths remind me that stories are everywhere. Most people don’t imagine returning to their hometowns to make a film, but as this film proves, the best stories seem to be the ones closest to the filmmaker.
First of all this film was very enjoyable and quite interesting as well. It was entertaining, educational, and eye opening. Its not everyday you get to see modern racial segregation. I love the subtlety of them film. It takes a very touchy subject and portrays it in a very delicate way. I can't even imagine having 300 plus hours of film to sort through, however it was evident in the film that she had captured some amazing stuff with the sheer amount of time that she must have spent with the subjects. This all comes back to comfortability, all of her subjects seemed very comfortable and natural on the camera.. which seems to be a recurring theme in good documentary film making. It also helped that she grew up there and had family ties to help her gain access to several of these events. The parallel editing proved to be a very effective technique in comparing the two different races and their stories. One thing I wonder is how much things changed because of the simple fact that there was a camera was present? It seemed that there was progress being made with the Kings and Queens of each event being honored at the other... or did that just happen to look better on film?? I guess we'll never know, but hopefully the film will help spark progress in mobile.
Post a Comment