Daughters of the Dust

Daughters of the Dust is a film about the Peazant family, a multi-generational African American family living in Ibo Landing on Sea Island, off the coast of South Carolina, and their difficult transition to a new life on the mainland. The film depicts the struggles that these Gullah women have gone through living on the island, and their apprehensions and expectations about their new lives. The plot centers around different relationships within the Peazant family and the tensions that are at play within those relationships. Eula Peazant, whose husband is Eli Peazant, is pregnant with a child as a result of being raped by a white man. Eula tries to protect Eli by refusing to tell him who raped her, but her secrecy only results in driving Eli crazy. Interestingly, most of the film is narrated from the perspective of their unborn daughter, who is shown randomly as a five or six year old girl throughout the film. Yellow Mary Peazant, Trula, and Viola Peazant have arrived back from the mainland, and are real life examples to the rest of the Peazant family about how their lives will change once they move to the mainland. Nana Peazant is the head matriarch of the Peazant family, and is against the family's move to the mainland and plans to stay in Ibo Landing on her own, alone with her longheld traditions and the remains of their ancestors.

I found it very difficult to follow this film, due to the native dialect used by the Peazant family and the unusual narrative style. I lost interest before the film was even halfway over. I tried to keep an open mind and was working to give this unconventional film a chance, but I couldn't engage with the plot or any of the characters. I thought the plot was scattered, and I also found it hard to understand what they were saying most of the time. I'm not sure what type of narrative style was used in this film, but I strongly disliked how it influenced and shaped the plot, progression, and the characters within the film.