The first third of this film is so profoundly lyrical and soars so completely clear of the expectations on might have of any established genre, that you will smell the scent of magnolias on the breeze and hear the mockingbirds chattering to each other from across the hazy cotton fields. As poetry, the beginning of this film is absolutely matchless. The "sound" of the film is particularly important. If you listen closely, there is a distinct "drone" effect created by the sound of voices or what occasionally sounds like rich buzz a harmonium throughout the film. As a matter of fact this low "drone" seems to shift between the notes of C and D, at critical points during the film's progression. The voice of the narrator hovers above this grounding element in a way that taps into some deep, almost primal, set of aural codes. It reminds me very much of the music of Peadar Ó Riada, whose work is characterized by interplay between melodies and what in Irish is called the airlár -- literally the "floor" or grounding element. The film's strength as poetry is, for the most part, matched by an equally lyrical explorations of the Georgia landscape and reflections on decaying interior spaces. Unfortunately, the General Orders No. 9 takes a disappointing downturn, and while there are moments of brilliance throughout this film, the second half moves into territory which some of us, might find a bit off- putting. In short, the filmmaker does two things, which serve to at least partially undermine an extremely strong start: 1) The film creates a simplistic and binary opposition between the city and the country which are built on very weak foundations. The director ties city life to disorientation and disconnection. For him, the city has "no sense of place," no enduring character, and ultimately no real meaning. The way the director presents this argument is so extreme and absolutist that he misses the opportunity to explore the more subtle truths associated of the negative impact urbanization. He seems to be attempting to reach back to gasp a natural wholeness, a sense of harmonious order, which many would argue never really existed in the first place.
2) The same is true of his conception of the South. This film is deeply nostalgic and it sometimes comes close to constructing an image of the Old South that is so idyllic that it ignores the immense weight of human suffering that held the old, rural south in place. In many ways, cities have been a lifeline for the countless victims of southern neo- feudalism. For many African-Americans who left the South at the beginning of the twentieth century, the scenes of the southern country- side that the director conjures up in this film would be bittersweet reminders of southern beauty mixed with direct experience of southern oppression.
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