Eddie Nugent Sunday, October 27, 2013 Professor Couplan-Cas !an "#EN 1 #eflections on Rêves de poussière $o be onest, % didn&t care for t is !o'ie 'ery !uc ( $ ere )as not !uc of a story, and not !any significant or interesting e'ents too* place o'er t e course of t e fil!( $ e absence of a plot isn&t al)ays proble!atic for a !o'ie + Napoleon Dynamite, for e,a!ple, as no !eaningful storyline to spea* of + but t e narrati'e !ust rely on ot er factors to be co!pelling( -nfortunately, % t in* Rêves de poussière also falls s ort in t is regard( %ts c aracters are one-di!ensional, and o'er t e course of t e fil!, % didn&t feel at all co!pelled to beco!e in'ested in t e!( % found .oc*tar, t e !ain c aracter especially uninteresting, and t in* e falls co!pletely flat as a c aracter( E'en ) en e !i,es up and drin*s is concoction of drugs at t e end + a !o!ent t at should a'e been e!otionally c allenging + all % felt )as boredo!( $ at said, % t in* t e e!otional disinterest generated by t e fil! actually do'etails )ell )it its depressing sub/ect !atter( $ roug out t e fil!, )e are presented )it people ) o li'e in e,tre!e po'erty and )or* in brutal conditions( .ost of t e! a'e drea!s + of going o!e, of seeing t eir fa!ilies, of sending a c ild to sc ool + once t ey stri*e it ric in t e !ines( 0ut by and large, t ese people )ill ne'er ac ie'e t ese drea!s, and t e fil! subtly i!plies t at t ey *no) t at as )ell( $ eir opes are /ust e!otionally distant di'ersions to elp t e! deal )it t e o'er) el!ing difficulty of t eir
li'es, and t e fil! portrays t is strongly in its e!otional nu!bness( "inally, t e cine!atograp y itself )as fairly interesting( $ e fil! is al!ost !onoc ro!atic + bro)n dust, bro)n uts, bro)n bottles of alco ol( $ e broad, bloc*y s)at s of color re!inded !e of loo*ing at C12anne&s brus )or*( 3ere too t e fil! succeeds in co!!unicating its !essage( $ e all-enco!passing bro)nness can be understood as a parallel to t e grinding !onotony of t e )or*ers& li'es( $ ere are e,ceptions + t e fore!an&s brig t gold and ) ite robes, a colorful c ildren&s boo*, and t e brig t blue of t e !et a!p eta!ine + but t ese do not represent t e !a/ority of t e !iners& li'es( 4 fe) !iners )ill be successful 5represented by t e fore!an&s clot es and t e c ildren&s boo*6, and a fe) ta*e ot er a'enues to lea'e t e !ines 5represented by t e 7blue-blue86, but for al!ost all of t e !iners, t ere is not ing but t e bro)n of )or* and po'erty( -lti!ately, % t in* t e fil! is c allenging and inaccessible( %ts lac* of a narrati'e and its t oroug ly ineffecti'e c aracters !a*e it difficult to appreciate( 0ut beyond t is, % t in* t ere is a sad and sobering !essage at t e eart of t e fil!, if one as t e patience to loo* for it(