In a film conceived as a companion piece to his acclaimed “Nostalgia for the Light,” veteran Chilean documentarian Patricio Guzmán shifts his attention from his native land’s deserts to the seas that line its spectacularly long coast. Delving into the nearly-religious significance of water, this profound rumination on memory and loss bridges the gap between its mystical origins, Pinochet's coup d'état, and the secret of a mother-of-pearl button at the bottom of the sea. Water receives impetus from the stars and transmits it to living creatures. The sea holds all the voices of the earth and those that come from … Without those stellar furnaces there is no world, no life, no humanity. And now the follow-up The Pearl Button does much of the same, with a haunting mediation on water replacing its predecessor’s preoccupation with stars and dirt. I would award this project TEN STARS if I could. Was this review helpful to you? These shots of oceans, rivers, and ice grace the frame in peculiar angles and perspectives that … “The Indians of Patagonia believed that souls didn’t die and that they could live again as stars.” Five years after making Nostalgia for the Light, Patricio Guzmán comes back to fascinate us again with the second in a proposed trilogy of documentaries, The Pearl Button (originally released as El Botón De Nácar).. The sea holds the voices of the Earth and those that come from outer space. You say you have no interest in the nation of Chile? The Pearl Button is a difficult film to describe. It was no poetic conceit. Add to Wishlist. Pearl watched it — of the pepper-pot came off. “The Indians of Patagonia believed that souls didn’t die and that they could live again as stars.” Five years after making Nostalgia for the Light, Patricio Guzmán comes back to fascinate us again with the second in a proposed trilogy of documentaries, The Pearl Button (originally released as El Botón De Nácar).. The Pearl Button. We are all streams from one water. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. The Pearl Button offers visual poetry as cinematographer Katell Djian captures scenes of nature that frame water as an innocent and uncorrupted character of the Chilean landscape. A visual masterpiece that makes us rethink our conceptual understandings of memory, violence, the nation-state, land, water and the human soul. Select the department you want to search in, Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2016. John Frederick Boepple, a German immigrant button maker, launched the industry in 1891. By Nicolas Rapold. Stay tuned for more videos on the history of Muscatine! Narrated by Guzmán, this is a wonderful, poetic film about Chile, taking in its indigenous people and their vanishing language, Chile’s recent brutal history, its huge telescopes and the stars, all somehow mysteriously united through water. Their knotty answers are organically tied to the compromise of human rights and dignity that has come to define Chilean “progress”. Despite of financial troubles, technical problems, misfortune ... See full summary ». She swung on the little gate, all alone, and she sang a small song. The Pearl Button (2015) Plot. The ocean contains the history of all humanity. “The Pearl Button” is a vivid, essential portal to understanding not only the heritage of a nation, but also the art of nonfiction cinema. Patricio Guzmán's THE PEARL BUTTON opens on October 23 in New York City. Use the HTML below. In the late 1800s wealthy people could afford “pearl” buttons, drilled and carved from freshwater mussels. After a halting start, the words start to come back to them and flow. Pearl Buttons...nothing beats these for solid quality in buttons...especially the vintage ones made in Muscatine, Iowa,USA. Watch it for the wonderful images, the poetic approach to documentation and the insights into how easily human beings can slip into cruelty. The Pearl Button NYT Critic's Pick Directed by Patricio Guzmán Documentary 1h 22m. 12A ... the 19th-century by the captain of the Beagle but failed to re-acclimatise when he returned home with the nickname Jemmy Button. Some say that water has memory. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? The ocean contains the history of all humanity. If light and heat provide energy, water contains the atomic structures of elements that sustain life. excellent documentary. The Limitless Longing of Patricio Guzmán's 'The Pearl Button': This essay by Eric Hynes is a wonderful companion piece to the film and provides a very thoughtful analysis of the film and its poetic themes. The rise and fall of the pearl button occurred over a period of 75 years. The ocean contains the history of all humanity. This film is a celebration of light and the life it illuminates. Taking place during the Chilean Coup d'état in 1973, this film opens with the attempted military coup of June 1973, which is put down by troops loyal to the government. From his childhood in Valparaiso to his death during the Pinochet military coup on September 11, 1973, the life and works of Chilean president Salvador Allende. This is one of the most remarkable documentaries I have seen in recent years, if not in all my life. It was found in Chile's Atacama desert, the driest place on Earth. We are stardust, sang Joni Mitchell in song. Water in fact has rightly been called the theatre of life and a universal solvent, a place in which the chemicals of life interact to create and sustain life. Some say that water has memory. While the pace may be too slow for some or the connections and metaphors a bit too obscure, Guzman has made another exquisite and profoundly moving Film! He was skilled at making buttons from animal horn and hooves, bone and seashells. Guzman's last film, Nostalgia for … https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/patricio-guzman-the-pearl-button It is a meditation on Chile, from the distant past through the horror of the Pinochet dictatorship up to the present, with the old ways rapidly being pushed to extinction. The sea holds the voices of the Earth and those that come from outer space. The National Pearl Button Museum receives an Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Grant . In the dense Paraguayan jungle a three-year-old girl survives a massacre perpetrated by white settlers on an Aché family. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Add the first question. Why we look at stars? It would be hard not to, seeing as Guzmán's approach to visual and thematic association is so sprawling. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The Pearl Button movie reviews & Metacritic score: The ocean contains the history of all humanity. The sparkling stars and crystalline sands of the Atacama Desert in Chile are linked in that film. Chile’s Selk’nam women around 1930 in Patricio Guzmán’s moving documentary ‘ For most of its 80-minute length, “The Pearl Button” meditates lyrically on water and its effects on humankind.