|
Amazon.com Working with a theme and history that's obviously dear to her heart, first-time writer-director Julie Dash's exquisitely alive film chronicles the last days of the Gullah, an Americanized West African people in danger of losing their identity. Dash makes up for some overly schematic dialogue and an occasionally pokey pace with some strong performances (particularly Cora Lee Day as the sternly matriarchal Nana) and an absolutely wonderful visual sense (kudos should also go to her ace cinematographer Arthur Jafa, whose dazzlingly sumptuous imagery surely inspired Jonathan Demme's later Beloved). A rapturously textured, wholly mesmerizing glimpse into the Gullah culture. --Andrew Wright ... Read more Reviews (19) 
Must see movie!
Daughters of the Dust is a richly evocative and absolutely beautiful film. Julie Dash masterfully combines her ten years of reseach in the moving film about a Gullah family on the verge of migration to the north. The performances are very strong and very moving. This movie must be seen more than once to capture the full meaning, but it is well worth the time. I would also recommend reading the screenplay which offers many insights into this incredibly deep and moving film. It is revolutionary in that it lovingly portrays wonderful strong and beautiful black women and tells their story in a manner that is free of sterotypes.
A visual miracle
Julie Dash's film "Daughters of the Dust" is a movie of such enchanting beauty as to leave you spellbound. It's the story of a Gullah family in the Sea Islands of Georgia, preparing to relocate to the mainland in 1902. The Sea Islands, as Julie Dash tells us in the companion volume written for the film, were the Ellis Islands of the transatlantic slave trade, the dropping off point and processing center for the forced immigration of untold millions of Africans. Because of this, African cultural influences are more strongly rooted here than anywhere else in the United States. At the head of the family is Nana Peazant, a matriarch whose quiet strength has seen her through slavery to the hard days of Reconstruction and beyond. Her children and their husbands and wives have decided to seek a future in the more modern environment of the mainland. They've grown tired of the backwardness of the island and want to spread their wings. But as Nana, who resolutely determines to stay put, has foreseen, they can remove themselves from the island, but they can't remove the island from within themselves, any more than they can remove the indigo dye of the island from their hands; they are marked forever by a part of their culture that will never go away. Along with Nana, we meet Yellow Mary, a cousin who has returned from Cuba as a fallen woman, unconsciously clinging to her roots as hard as she tries to pull away from them; Haggar, a bitter, possessive woman who attempts to hold onto her two young daughters, MyOwn and Iona ("I Own Her"), even as they attempt to break away and make their own destiny; Viola, using her hidebound Christianity as a shield to hide from her African heritage, and Eula and Eli, coping with the devastation of Eula's rape and impregnation by a white man, whose Unborn Child is the narrator of this film. There is heartbreak for Nana, watching her family depart from the home that has been theirs for generations, and for Haggar, whose daughter Iona decided to make her own destiny by eloping with her Native American lover. Julie Dash has managed to create film so real and so evocative that it transports us right into the action; we are there on the beach, feeling the heat, smelling the gumbo cooking, and listening to the exquisite tonalities of the Gullah dialect. The acting by all the characters is excellent throughout, with special mention for standout performances by Cora Lee Day as Nana Peazant, Alva Rogers as Eula Peazant, and Barbara O. Jones as Yellow Mary; but the real star in this film is the exquisite cinematography which is unlike anything I have ever seen in any film. The movie is so visually gorgeous that one just sits and watches awestruck. An equally strong script, well acted by the cast, gives the movie a depth and meaning that makes the film worth watching over and over. "Daughters of the Dust" is much more than a movie; it's an emotionally charged history lesson of a little known place and a little known culture. It remains inside you, a part of you, long after the final credits have ended.
Wonderful
This is a must see. As an African American women who loves the stories of my people I find this film to be one that must be viewed. One must know from where they came to know where they are going, because a people that forget their past are doomed to repeat it in the future.
I implore all that read this review to heed my words and add this wonderful work to their collection of movies to be viewed again and again.
Thank God for the Gift of storytelling
What a great day it was when the pen hit the paper on this one! If I were only to hear the words and not see the picture my minds eye would still capture the beauty. Thank you Ms. Dash for a very necessary tool inwhich I will use to educate my children on our history. And if you never do anything else, rest assured with this one you've done enough. Like Toni Morrison's "Beloved" your "Daughters of the Dust" is so very necessary.
A challenging, yet visually arresting film
I recently watched Julie Dash's daughter of the dust for a class I am currently enrolled in. While the cinematography is absolutely beautiful, I found little else in the film that would justify more than a single viewing. The narrative itself is confusing and very hard to follow. The plot of the film is quite simple: a large family of Ibo Landing residents decide to move from the island they currently inhabit to the mainland US against the wishes of the family matriarch. However, the way in which the narrative is presented could have been handled in a more straight-forward way. Because the film does express some important political opinions concerning feminism and explores an aspect of US history and black culture that might otherwise go overlooked, it is worth watching, but once was enough for me. I'm giving the film two stars for the cinematography. If you are in the mood for a challenge you may enjoy this film, but if you want an interesting or entertaining film, try again!
... Read more
|
