DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST
A film review by Daniel Barrett
Copyright 1992 Daniel Barrett
My wife and I saw DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST this weekend, mainly on the strength of a previous review in this newsgroup (#1377). The reviewer called this "one of the best movies I have seen in years -- maybe the best." Well, here's a contrasting point of view: DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST was the *worst* movie we have seen in a long time!
The "story," if you can call it that, focuses on a black family in 1902. The people are preparing to leave their life on an isolated island and travel north to join mainstream society. The central theme is that of "old versus new": the old traditions of the African ancestors versus the new culture of the modern (read: white) world. Various members of the family deal with this dichotomy throughout the movie.
With this much information, you essentially know the whole plot. The "old versus new" theme is systematically beaten to death over a two- hour period. The characters are flat and develop little if at all. Various subplots surface but go nowhere. For example, early in the movie, we watch a secret love note get delivered by a Native American to one of the black daughters. The Native American and the love affair are barely mentioned for the rest of the movie, until he rides in at the end. As another example, there's the mysterious pregnancy of a central character, and her husband's anger over not knowing whether or not he is the father. Virtually every scene involving this subplot is identical -- the husband mopes around, gets angry, etc. So many missed opportunities....
The movie's major flaw is that the dialogue is not understandable. Although everything is spoken in English, it is an unfamiliar dialect that was 75% unintelligible to us. This is unforgivable in a modern movie, and very naive on the director's part. You can't expect people to appreciate a movie if they can't understand the words. This was particularly pathetic during the climax, in which one of the family members delivers an impassioned five-minute speech while the others are held in rapt attention. We couldn't understand a word of it.
A second flaw is that some parts of the movie are unnecessarily obscure. For example, a central character, "Yellow Mary," is constantly accompanied by a white woman. During the movie, this companion laughs, smirks, runs on the beach, and very occasionally utters a word or two. Her presence, as far as we could tell, is completely unexplained.
There are a few aspects of the movie that were adequate. The overall "feel" of the unity of the island family was well-communicated. The hired photographer (making a record of the family's last days on the island) was an enjoyable character. And the island photography was above average. Finally, I suspect that people who are already involved in this particular area of Black history might find other enjoyment in the film.
My wife and I love "art" films and non-mainstream movies, but this one was poorly directed and quite boring. DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST is a dud.
Dan
Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 -- barrett@cs.umass.edu
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