Daughters of the Dust (1991): Julie Dash

Daughters of the Dust, a 1991 film by Julie Dash, breaks away from the typical structure of narrative cinema to piece together the story of the Peazants, a family in Gullah.  Though the incredibly stunning cinematography and mysteriously insightful narration caught my interest from the beginning, I quickly felt a sense of confusion that would last nearly the entirety of the film.  At times, my uncertainty at what exactly was happening within the plot made the film challenging to stick with.  However, the film still had an alluring aura to it that made it intriguing to watch until the plot began to fall in place towards the end of the film.

While the film follows a singular family, each member has their own story, of which we are thrust into the middle of from the film's beginning.  Bouncing between these characters and stories we only receive snippets of, it takes a while to begin to connect the dots and begin to understand the relationships between each of the characters and what is currently happening in their lives.  This is a film I would like to watch a second time, now having the context that I do, as it feels as though I spent much of my first time watching attempting to understand the interconnectedness between all of the different characters and their plots.

One thing that I enjoyed about this film was the narration of Nana and the unborn child.  It did a phenomenal job of capturing Nana's traditional spirituality that conflicted with some of the other characters' perspective.  Regardless, I thought it was beautiful to see this connection between the young and old, the one transitioning into life and the one transitioning out of life.  This felt incredibly powerful to me and served as a consistent source of structure throughout the film.

Comments

  1. astra medeirosApril 23, 2021 at 10:43 AM

    I agree with this 'alluring aura' I think there was something about how it depicted nature and the fact that they all lived there on the island away from 'modernity'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 25, 2021 at 1:01 PM

    Maddy, I think the way you described this film as both 'stunning' and 'mysteriously insightful' is an excellent representation of its contents. Your thoughts make lovely connections to this film, and I love how you phrased this entry. I, too, loved the connections between history and culture that Julie Dash presents throughout. This being said, there was a tremendous emotional pull thanks to the deep-rooted cultural ties. I'm glad you felt the power of this film as I did, and I appreciate you sharing!

    Delilah Rose

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 25, 2021 at 2:18 PM

    I like your opening paragraph. The use of cinematography is unique in this film and although beautiful, it can be difficult to follow the characters. This is one of the problems with this type of storytelling from Dash. - Davis Wukovits

    ReplyDelete
  4. AmyApril 25, 2021 at 7:51 PM

    This film really has an unconventional take on plot because it follows so many characters in a non-linear fashion. It attempts to give you a sense of place, history and time without the usual conventions of narrative film.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marelis AlvarezApril 25, 2021 at 8:58 PM

    Love your Analysis of the Film! I could see how the film can be confusing, but I feel that, like you said with this "alluring aura", the film has you stick through the movie and connect things together, which makes it so much better in reacting and engaging in the film.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kat GirodApril 25, 2021 at 9:36 PM

    I definitely agree that this is the type of film that would benefit from a second viewing. I admit that it was only upon reading about the film that I was able to effectively piece together the non linear narrative. However, once all the "dots are connected" it was truly thrilling to understand the significance behind Nana and the unborn child as narrators.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psycho (1960): Alfred Hitchcock

After watching one too many horror films as a young child (I'm looking at you  Insidious ,) I have avoided frightening movies since.  It's not that I don't find them to be good pieces of film, but rather I find them to be a little too good, especially as a young child whose idea of fact and fiction overlapped.  Good horror films also often stick with me for a while in that I ponder the chilling characters and events that took place in the story, questioning their ability to exist in our own world. Psycho did just that with its unique pacing, complex characters, and jolting twists.   The first element of Psycho  that really caught my attention was its unusual pacing.  The main character, Marion Crane, dies astonishingly early in the film.  As the narrative had been following Marion's storyline up to this point, the original narration dies in the shower scene with Marion.  This throws in a revolutionary element of surprise, leaving shocked audiences wondering how the film
Read more

Reassemblage (1982): Trinh Minh ha

Reassemblage , a 1982 documentary by Trinh Minh ha, is an experimental documentary which stands out from typical documentation norms in a number of ways. The first time I viewed this film, I found myself feeling confused and disoriented, which led me to not have a very pleasurable and entertaining initial experience with this documentary.  It was difficult for me to make sense of the sporadic sounds and voiceover which appeared to be untimely with the images shown on screen.  The film also consisted of the simple observation of people carrying out every day life in 1980s Senegal, which, without a storyline or much excitement, lost my attention as the film went on. However, once I finished the film, I read the transcript for Reassemblage  and slowly began to make sense of what I had just seen and understand its significance.  Lines like "a film about what?  A film on Senegal; but what in Senegal?" and "I do not intend to speak about, just speak nearby" stuck out to m
Read more

Introduction

My name is Madison, but I also go by Maddy.  I am a second year student from Columbus, Ohio, however, I am currently living on campus.  I intend on majoring in English, however, I also hope to connect my major to my other interests, film being one of them. I became interested in film after I got to work at a film studio for a few months and fell in love with listening to the energetic writer's room every day as they brought their ideas to life.  Watching the writers' individual ideas grow into a full production changed my perspective on film and I've been fascinated with the process ever since.  I am also particularly excited to try creating film because it encompasses many of my interests, such as art, music, and writing, into one creative practice. I am not quite sure if I would minor in film yet as there are many other interests I have at Lawrence, however, I certainly want it to be a significant part of my time both in college and beyond!
Read more