Chan is Missing has a linguistic element that is one of its distinguishing features because the Chinese dialogue was not originally subtitled. Wang’s decision not to give subtitles is based on his belief that viewers will be able to appreciate the scene’s atmosphere based on tonality and motion without comprehending the words.
Daughters of the Dust’s use of color has spurred debates over how color should be used and what significance color styling may offer to the display. Conventional suggestions about shading and filmmaking are challenged in several ways by this radical presence of color: it endorses Dash’s breakthrough feminist storytelling aesthetic, concerns the purity of white privilege and the notion that black skin tones are hard to film, and historicizes color coloration production relations of power.
Nana Peasant, the village grandmother who performs African spiritual rites, represents the traditional ways and African hereditary history in Daughters of the Dust. The individuals of the Peasant family must choose whether to leave the island for a fresh start or to stay and continue their style of living.
Throughout the film, the life of the local people is told, which indicates involvement in society. One of the topics is the diversity of Asian American characters, which has never been depicted in American films before. Whereas the money is eventually returned, Chan remains absent, leading the two men to believe Chan is a mystery. Chan relates to his community as he represents it to an American audience in the film.