Review of Mardi Gras Made in China

David Redmon's Documentary About Carnival Beads Released on DVD

Jul 29, 2008

'Mardi Gras: Made in China' follows the beaded necklace trail from production in Fuzhou, China, to consumption in New Orleans, Louisiana.

With the tagline: “Beads, Breasts, and Business: A Story of Globalization Gone Wild,” it’s obvious that Mardi Gras: Made in China isn’t going to be a dull, dry documentary about international trade. Instead, this film produced by Carnivalesque Films describes (in Mandarin and English) how impoverished young girls in China toil over threading cheap plastic beads into necklaces that drunken young revelers at Mardi Gras in New Orleans will do almost anything to receive.

Beads Made in China

The multiple-award-winning film introduces four teenaged girls who work in the largest bead factory in China. First-time director David Redmon (who went on to direct the documentaries Kamp Katrina and Intimidad) sensitively presents their family situations, living conditions, and work environment during his two-month stay in China. In addition to his goal of chronicling the workers' lives and showing how the beaded necklaces are actually made, he also explores whether or not the girls know anything about the end result of their product (i.e., the debauchery at Mardi Gras celebrations). He shows the workers pictures of drunken revelers to get their reactions.

While working very long hours for low wages in hopes of fulfilling their dreams (and those of their families), the girls face strict discipline from their bosses at the factory. With few options available to them, however, the workers accept their situations without much complaint. The girls’ often-tragic lives make an interesting juxtaposition to the partygoers at Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras Beads in New Orleans

While in New Orleans at the Mardi Gras celebration on Bourbon Street, Redmon also shows pictures of the Chinese bead factory workers to the partygoers. He asks if they know anything about how their beads were made, who made them, or if they even care. It’s not so surprising, though it is disheartening, to find that the revelers remain blissfully clueless about the source of the plastic beads for which they beg, threaten, fight, expose their breasts, and more. The post-Mardi Gras street scenes are especially poignant.

In Mardi Gras: Made in China, as the beads move along their journey from China to America, viewers are shown the money trail as well. Redmon captures the essence of how globalization affects cultures differently, through the questions he asks, the images he chooses, and the underlying theme of the film. This documentary entertains and enlightens about a subject far more significant than you might imagine.

The copyright of the article Review of Mardi Gras Made in China in Documentary Films is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Review of Mardi Gras Made in China in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.