“We were the children of those who chose to survive” is the first sentence that the narrator speaks in this segment of the movie Daughters of the Dust (1991). Thus, the viewer may interpret the phrase to mean that those who are existing, that is, those people whom the film chooses to depict are survivors of survivors.Thus, the power of these people and their will to live is what is immediately recognized as what is strongest about them.
It is this strength which runs parallel to the narrative of the film; however, there are other elements of this short segment which also need to be discussed for a better understanding of this strength to be recognized for the viewer. The films narrative is coupled with angles of the camera.In most films, it is the angle that the director chooses to relay the action of the film that can immediately allow the viewer to know what kind of film they are watching; in horror movies, up angles are often used a technique that is greatly employed in Alfred Hitchcock films, in this narrative film Daughters of the Dust the director has chosen to relay the events and actions of the film through a straightforward technique.In this technique the viewer is allowed to more thoroughly be involved with the narrative of the film instead of the view point of the camera (thus the viewpoint of the narrator takes precedence in the scenes with the women stirring or of the man laying the liquid into the cement blocks).
The full face shot of the person is what is most interesting in this segment of the film. The full face shot of this person allows for the viewer to stare directly into them, without barrio of light, angles, or other employed techniques used by the camera or effects crew.It is interesting that this full face shot is placed where it is because prior to this the viewer is not able to see a lot of the scene despite the camera giving full frontal shots of the action – on account of the smoke coming from the vats the women are stirring. Thus, there is an obscurity technique involved in the telling of the tale of these survivors. It is only with this full frontal shot, directly after the man laying the liquid in the cement blocks that the viewer is able to see the face of one of these survivors of survivors.
In the look of this person there is a great amount of ambiguity – which is a well intentioned plot of the director. For, the narrative gives a direct account of the actions of these people and how the narrator’s mother told her about the narrator’s old soul. It is interesting to see all of these people working on a project that perhaps their identified survivor ancestors had done. But this look of ambiguity is difficult to discern; to discern whether or not the person is jaded in doing what they are doing, or if perhaps it was worth surviving.That is the question which is the undercurrent of the film: What is worth surviving for? After this ambiguous look, the film cuts from narrative into the use of overlaying music.
This music is used to illustrate more of the work each person is doing, especially the laying in of the liquid into the cement blocks. The music further cuts into the voices of the workers. It is a long tradition of people to use song in order to heighten their spirits or to take their mind off of their work.This is what is so interesting about this film – that despite a rather Spartan use of angles from the camera other techniques are used to express the emotion of the film.
The music of the film and the voices of the workers cutting in suggest a long standing tradition. It is tradition which the film is trying to tell – since the narrator speaks of them being the survivors of survivors then it is already cemented that the actions of these people will have a predecessor in their ancestors who set their actions in motion by setting forth on the path they chose.Thus, the songs they are singing remind the audience of this fact. The final section of this segment is interesting because the camera keeps with its sturdy full shot of the scene of the man placing the rocks in their places but gives a long shot of this to include some of the scenery and the man’s place in this scene among these blocks, then the camera quickly goes into that ambiguous face which tells the audience hardly anything – is it suffering or progressing?That close up is what chiefly defines this section of the film because it recalls that the film is about these people and it is trying to tell a story with many sides and opinions that have already been documented by history – but this sole face gives nothing back despite tradition, it gives only this solitary moment.
Most of the scene is obscure with smoke coming from the vats but the clarity of this face is made striking in comparison. There is a whole history in that face that is about to be told and that is what the face signifies – expectancy.
