Daughters of the Dust.

Daughters of the Dust presents an interesting cultural perspective through the vehicle of narrative film in a fairly novel way. The narrative arc of most American cinema is completely foregone. American cinema tends to focus on a psychologically driven protagonist who goes through an amount of ascending action until the climax of the film, after which the film just trucks along until it’s conclusion. Daughters of the Dust defies this formula in a variety of ways. There is no protagonist; the viewer is not given the opportunity to relate to any one member of the family. Instead the viewer is shown the whole island, the whole family and how it is held together.

The cinematography follows this theme. Close ups are used very sparsely in the film. Actually, two of the most common devices used were the pan and the dissolve. These were used heavily in a way that seemed to emphasize the family’s interconnectedness with the island, each other and their spirituality. The large pans would often sweep across the scene, not emphasizing any specific character, even when someone was talking. Frequent pans force the viewer to take the surroundings into account just as anything else. The dissolves had a similar role, but instead in relating the family to its diverse spirituality. For example, while the grandmother is talking about her ancestor’s spirits, a dissolve shows the girls who were previously dancing merrily moving as if they were somehow possessed.

These techniques come together with to give the viewer the impression that the narrative of the film is not based on the family splitting apart. Instead it portrays the family and its culture growing and spreading to new places.