Customer Reviews
The Emperor is Buck Naked 
2006-07-03
I was eagerly anticipating seeing this film, since it received so much praise. To say that I was bitterly disappointed is a sad understatement. Despite the fact that I'm interested in Gullah culture and African-American history in general, this film managed to put me to sleep after the first 15 minutes. No character development, no plot, no coherence (being a Jim Jarmusch fan, I can't even believe I'm writing this). I couldn't figure out the relation of half the characters to each other, or in some cases, even their names, because the dialect is almost unintelligible and there are no subtitles. It's as if you're dropped off in the middle of a strange family on an island, and during the time you stay there, they reveal nothing about themselves. Most student filmmakers could do better. I agree with the other review writer who stated this was one of the worst films they'd ever seen. Rent a Spike Lee film instead, or a PBS show about Gullahs.
Thick but good 
2005-11-15
This would be the second non-abstract movie I've seen without a plot. The other one was Morvern Callar, and I must say this one beats that one out by a long shot because this one actually had symbolism and intended meaning. The loose plot-like structure is about a bunch of African-Americans in 1902 who had lived in isolation on an island for years and were getting ready to go back to Africa, only now they had to deal with issues of the African diaspora and displacement and what it means to their identity.
Very rich visuals are about one of the only things that can really keep your attention going in this film, but if you sit down and force yourself to pay attention you can get a lot out of the dialog as well. It just requires an extra amount of effort to pay off, but once you expend that effort you might just get something out of it.
A little more difficult is the fact that at least four different distinct languages are spoken in this film, with only one moment done with subtitles. The languages I caught besides English were German, French, and Arabic (?) but there may very well have been much more (I think there was a little Spanish and some Latin as well).
I can't really speak much about the technical qualities of the film other than the fact that the symbolism and imagery are amazing and the script is tedious. It's really hard to focus on more than that, unfortunately.
--PolarisDiB
A yearning that only art can convey... captured on film! 
2005-05-26
Being a gay white male Southerner, some folks might be surprised that I found this movie to be one of the most exhilarating cinematic events I've ever experienced. But that would be their prejudice.
I saw this film no less than four times in the theater, dragged all my friends to see it, and could not wait until it was available for home viewing. This film's stories, while part and parcel of a painful episode in African-American history, are above all, HUMAN stories that should touch the heart of ALL humanity, regardless of one's ethnic origin.
I loved each and every character, and wanted to know more about them. With every viewing, I pick up on details I've not noticed before -- the mark of well-crafted storytelling and multi-dimensional, well-developed characters.
The cinematography is breath-taking, the gorgeous music is perfectly married to the images, the overall ambience always beckons me back, and the plot unfolds like a multi-petaled flower. I cannot praise this movie enough.
My two disappointments have nothing to do with the actual movie, but with the fact that language subtitles were not included on the DVD release (some of the Gullah language is a barrier for some viewers to get beyond, although I found the language pertinent and necessary to the production's authenticity; plus, I hate for hearing-impaired folks to miss out on a great movie). However, a book of the script and interviews with film maker Julie Dash is available for those who are curious. Secondly, to my knowledge no separate music soundtrack was ever made available. Thankfully, the DVD has the option of playing the isolated music track, although some sound effects were not separated from the music, and there are often long silences from one music cue to the next. Hopefully in some future edition, these issues will be addressed.
In closing, I have to say that this is an important movie, a beautiful movie, a resoundingly truthful movie that touched me on so many levels - especially as it addresses the gulf of yearning that exists between so many people and their families, or between human beings in general as we move through personal changes and differences. This movie is a paean to the yearnings of the human spirit. See it!!!
Seeing my past 2005-01-07
I had heard about Daughters of the Dust 14 years ago (1991) but it wasn't until I learned of my own Gullah heritage that I was compelled to find the video. I checked it out of the university library 4 times! and now am purchasing the DVD for my personal library. My paternal great-grandfather was Gullah and in viewing this film over and over, I have come to terms about why I've never quite "fit" with the movement to move away and forget about where my ancestors came from. I truly believe that there comes a time in every person's life when s/he realizes that moving away and trying to forget only leads to madness.
A visual miracle 2004-03-28
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.
'Dusting' Off a History You Don't Read About in School..... 2008-04-04
When asked what your knowledge of the history of the South encompassed what would you say? For me, it would be a brief overview of the Civil War, the Migration North for African Americans seeking a new life in the boroughs of New York and Chicago (among other places) and the Civil Rights Movement (with an emphasis on the life's work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., of course). There is so much more to this history that we don't commonly hear about in textbooks though. Specifically, the subject I am referring to is that of the Gullah, a group of African Americans who made their home in the Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia. They are also known as Geechee. They spoke their own distinctive dialect, prepared Gullah rice dishes (like red rice and okra soup), and herbal medicines based on traditional African practices.
In DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, a 1991 release directed by Julie Dash, we get a glimpse into the culture of the Gullah. I am not certain, but, I believe this may be the first and only film of its kind released in theaters to really explore them. The cinematography is beautiful and really is the highlight of this story. The colors are hypnotic and visual imagery rich. The subjects appear illuminated and have an ethereal glow.
Unfortunately, the emphasis on aesthetic beauty, here, does not carry into other aspects of the film. Scenes of the Gullah clan fighting, working, praying, performing ritual, falling in love, and reflecting on the deep wounds of ancestral pain are not presented in a linear or comprehensible way. I realize that in order to really comprehend what is going on, on a deeper level, it helps to have more of a background in the cultural practices of the Gullah. How many people truly have a grasp on this significance, though? It truly would have been wonderful if the director, Julie Dash, had been more inclusive of her audience. I almost sense that this film is a valentine to the past. We watch scenes of beautiful women walking along the shore, preaching gospel to young children, experiencing visitations from the spirit world and men struggling to make peace with themselves and their culture, in preparation to journey north, uprooting themselves from what they know. It's just a shame that the effect of the film comes across as being more of an indirect ode to a group of people more viewers ought to know about, as opposed to an insightful and enlightening work of historical fiction brought to the screen.
Visually Beautiful 2008-01-30
I enjoyed this movie. It is so visually beautiful. It is really a feast to my eyes. The Peazant family is at a cross roads. Some of the family members are leaving the island for good. They know they are leaving a big part of their heritage behind. They are the descendents of the Africans who were deposited there long years ago.
It is a beautiful story. I recommend it and Ms. Dash's book version.
Mesmerizing, Haunting Cinematic Tribute to Early 20th Century Gullah Culture 2007-02-06
"Daughters of the Dust" is truly a cinematic feast for the eyes, and one that has to be savored slowly, metaphorically taking sips from it as if it was a bottle of some elegant vintage wine. Those expecting a fast-paced narrative drama will most surely be disappointed, since the film slowly takes us through the final days of a Gullah family's life on the Sea Islands of North Carolina and Georgia, shortly before most of the family treks north for a new, promised life bereft of time-honored Gullah traditions. Filmmaker - and screenwriter - Julie Dash has rendered a beguiling look at the Peazant's family past and present, as seen through the eyes of the matriarch Nana Peazant (Cora Lee Day in an extremely rich, intense performance, that's truly one of the best in an ensemble cast of fine performances.). There's ample attention paid to African folk wisdom and culture, demonstrating the rich cultural heritage of the Sea Islands' Gullah people, as the Peazant family ponders its future in one final family gathering. Cinematographer Arthur Jafa's camera has recorded this saga in visually sumptuous imagery that is sincerely respectful of Gullah traditions and affectionately pays homage to them. Dash's wonderful film must surely rank as one of the most intriguing cinematic debuts in American cinema, hopefully pointing the way to a new generation of Afro-American filmmakers and others interested in her unique, almost existentalist, means of cinematic storytelling (I might add too that I had the pleasure of hearing Ms. Dash discuss her film here in New York City a few days ago; it was a delightful, inspiring discussion which was both emotionally and intellectually quite rewarding. I might add too, that I had the pleasure of speaking with her afterwards, discovering that we are mutual admirers of the splendid fiction of Octavia Butler, whose unexpected passing last year has deprived both Afro-American literature and literary science fiction of one of their most thoughtful, eloquent voices.).
We Get What We Bring: Be a Guest at the Feast 2006-08-10
We get what we bring. This principle is brilliantly illustrated in the responses here to "Daughters of Dust," Julie Dash's brilliant and ground-breaking independent film. To dismiss the film is easy, because it uses non-traditional story-telling techniques rather than the ones we are used to in mainstream cinema and popularly received independent films. To receive this film fully takes some time, willingness, effort, and suspension of our usual perception. But, if the viewer can do all that, what a gift Julia Dash and her tribute cast and crew has given us to unwrap.
I lived and worked in Africa for five years and for me, the film so well conveys the African spirit, basic cultural beliefs, sense of wonder (magic), and time that was then transported to the New World. I learned so many things by being with this film and watching the richly detailed accompanying documenting on its making.
Is this easy, pre-digested material? No. Can we afford to dismiss our passionate geniuses in any art form? No. Come to "Daughters of Dust" with a full heart, open mind, and a willingness to digest your own food--so lovingly cooked here.
Janet Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary
Wonderful, exciting, historical and captivating 2006-08-08
This film by independent filmmaker Julie Dash, shows a fictional portrayal of a family, dominated by their women, in the what would be considered to some as the Gullah South. The family prepares to leave their island place of origin to live on mainland America. As they embark on their departure, the narrator (an unborn child) traces the families story from slavery until the day. Truly an inspirational piece of work, used in many college film classes. This jewel of a film has been kept a secret due to the way cinema is disseminated and the trends in American marketing distribution of film. A must see for teachers of African American history, literature, and film.
