Daughters of the Dust (1991) is a dramatic rendering of a struggle and refusal of letting go of the ancestral past. Throughout this film, there is a central focus on the women of the Peazant family, Nana (Cora Lee Day), who is the matriarch of the family that continuously is challenged by the idea of traveling to the mainland and rejecting the Gullah islander culture.
A theme I followed throughout this film was the spiritual and religious context. I identified three major contributors; traditional African beliefs, the Islamic faith, and references to Christianity. This confused me a little. I wasn't sure which was prioritized exactly but I knew that there was tension between Nana and the family members that wanted to leave behind their ancestral traditions.
Another interesting part of this film was the pacing. It had a slow build and a very quick ending. It felt pretty theatrical. The build reminded me of One Night in Miami (2020), directed by Regina King. This film was actually adapted from a theatre production first performed in 2013. And just like Daughters of the Dust, it took its time to build the context and the setting until the action happens. Which seems very unlike Hollywood. This pacing gives us more time to understand what we are watching; a story of a family battling with their cultural and familiar identity it seems.aIf No man's land, no man's land, no man's land, no.
I also found it very interesting that the pacing was really slow and all of a sudden we had an ending. It kind of made me feel like they needed to finish the film quickly as if they were running out of time, budget, or something else. Also, in general I find films that have ideas of clashing from their cultural norm are very interesting. This film does that and I can trust more of the clashes with the director and writer being an African American so we get a more realistic a different perspective on this rather than a typically Hollywood film that would be by a white guy that changed stuff so he would find it more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also found the addition of the Islamic faith into the film really interesting. If this was a traditional Hollywood film those parts would probably have been cut, because they don't add much to the story. While I don't mind that those parts are there, I do find them unnecessary. But it does add to Dash's building of place at Ibo landing, so that is is a good thing about it.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that one of the many ways Dash defies Hollywood in her movie is in the pacing too. Usually I dislike slow buildups but I definitely think it works in this film. -Davis Wukovits
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