Review by Bob Ignizio
In his documentary THE
PEARL BUTTON, director Patricio Guzman intertwines astronomy, geology,
history, and theology into a compellingly magical blend. As in his previous
film NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT, Guzman
focuses on the Atacama desert in Chile and the array of radio telescopes
installed there. He looks forward to his country’s future while also invoking
its past in the form of a 3000-year-old piece of quartz that has a drop of
water trapped inside it. And he examines the ways in which he and the rest of
is current generation of countrymen have lost touch with the power of that
water, something the five indigenous tribes of the Patagonia area of Chile knew
very well.
This is not your typical documentary that feels like some dry
classroom educational film with a budget, but rather a work of metaphysical
poetry. At times Guzman’s approach is reminiscent of Werner Herzog’s nature
documentaries, but in a way that is almost antithetical. Where Herzog sees
nature as cruel, savage, and uncaring, Guzman sees it in a far more optimistic
light. In particular, here he bemoans the ways in which we have lost touch with
the power and magic of water, which his narration at one point describes as, “an
intermediary force between the stars and us.”
But make no mistake, Guzman
is no Pollyanna. It’s just that he sees chaos and horror as being more the
products of human nature than of nature itself, as exemplified by the sudden
turn the film takes into relating how foreign settlers did their best to wipe
out the native Chilean population once they arrived.
Eventually, taking its time to get there and in its own
manner, the film gets around to explaining its title by relating the story of a
native who was taken by a British explorer to visit England during the
industrial revolution era. The native was bribed with a pearl button.
Inevitably, as in NOSTALGIA
FOR THE LIGHT, the film finds its way to addressing the horrors of the
Pinochet regime. Once again, water figures prominently. And there is also another pearl button.
It may be a bit more meandering and artistic than one is
used to from documentaries, but one still walks away from THE PEARL BUTTON having learned a great deal. And all without ever
feeling as though one is being lectured to. 4 out of 4 stars.
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