Daughters of the dust Review- a slow poem in motion

The story line even though was clear was still vague at the same time. I know that the story is about a Gullah family who move from the Sea Islands to the mainland but there are so many aspects of the story we have to figure out for ourselves because they have been left out. This movie I feel is focused mainly from a woman’s point of view and even the whole movie focuses more on women than on men.the movie I think can be said to be African-American because that is what is focused on a lot, African-American women and their ties to slavery.

First of all the narration was a bit weird for my tastes. I thought it was pretty cool that there were three narrators but the fact that an unborn child who would run around without being seen was a narrator was weird. Another thing is that the sense of time or the order of events was not present. Did they move in a week or a year? It was just weird for me. This is a way that shows this is an alternative film narrative style film. One thing I did like was the portrayal of culture. Every movie that has a strong portrayal of culture will always give it an extra 15 points in my grading exam. The imagery is beautiful and the language seems very vivid and rich. The movie is pretty much a moving poem.

This was definitely in the alternative film narrative section because the movie definitely undermined the centrality of a main character. There was hardly a main outstanding character so in a way all of the characters were equally important. Even the little girl that was unborn was very important as she was a narrator and she was very important as she portrayed spirituality that Christianity does not agree with. The differences that this movie has compared to others is definitely purposeful because we are made to see the movie in a different point of view.

Speaking in terms of cinematography, the movie was very beautiful. The scenes were amazing, the colors great and the music was excellent and very relevant. The use of slow motion when necessary as well as running the film in real-time was well done. The portrayal of the unborn baby was pretty good as well from the running around. She was portrayed in a way that showed she wasn’t completely part of this world. It was like a see through look that wasn’t exactly see through I felt.

Another thing that was weird was the accent or dialect. To me it sounded a bit Jamaican and the accents were very thick so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. They talk about Ibo-land a lot of the time and I know that the Ibo are a tribe of people in West Africa and I know this because I come from Nigeria and a large population of Nigerians are Ibo. Why then did I not understand a lot of what they were saying especially if they kept their culture from old and how did it go from a Nigerian accent to a Jamaican one? That really threw me off.

Overall, to be honest I wish I was less tired when I watched this movie because I might have concentrated a bit more. I personally thought the movie was well done but too slow for my taste. No, no, this is a film review so I am going to be completely honest. Even though the movie was very rich and vivid, this had to be one of the most boring and slowest movies I have ever watched! Sorry, there I said it.