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The Pearl (1947, Mexico/US) (aka
La Perla)
In writer/director Emilio Fernández' drama with
beautiful black and white cinematography (by Gabriel Figueroa), based
upon John Steinbeck's original novella - and one of the first Mexican
films to receive widespread distribution in the domestic US film
market:
- the poverty-striken life of diver Quino (Pedro Armendáriz),
living in a one-room shack with his supportive wife Juana (María
Elena Marqués) and infant Juanito; in the opening sequence,
the baby was stung by a scorpion, but when they rushed to town
to summon a Doctor (Charles Rooner), they were refused service
because they couldn't afford it
- the underwater sequence of simple, impoverished Mexican
fisherman-shell diver Quino discovering a bed of giant, untouched
oyster shells after dropping his knife; when he risked his life to
deep-dive for one very large one, he found the giant oyster with
a beckoning valuable pearl inside - and barely made it back to the
surface with his prized find
- as he broke out into an hysterical laughter while
holding out the gigantic pearl and looking up to the heavens, his
wife Juana collapsed next to him
- the film's parable - as he showed off the great pearl
to the townspeople who held a celebration in his honor, he told them
what he could now buy - a rifle, clothes and shoes for his wife,
and money for his son's education; he added "These things will
make us free...This is what the pearl will do. The pearl will make
us free!" - although the valuable pearl would soon bring his
family ruin, death, and despair
- in various scenes, the pearl brought great disaster
- there was danger of theft from greedy individuals - a Godfather
(Alfonso Bedoya) and two other covetous pearl dealers (Fernando Wagner
and Raúl Lechuga) who wanted to steal the pearl; and Quino
struck down Juana for wanting to throw the unlucky pearl back
- Quino was forced to take human life in self-defense
when the dealers threatened him with a knife (he killed one of them);
also, the couple's baby son Juanito was tragically shot by the Godfather,
leading to another death when Kino vengefully killed him
- in the final sequence, Quino stood next to his wife
Juana on a high cliffside ocean bluff as they decided which of them
would toss the cursed pearl into the ocean waves; after Quino chose
to throw the pearl where it had come from, he tightly grasped her
wrist as she clenched her fist - and the film faded to black
Returning the Cursed Pearl Back to the Ocean
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Quino with Juana in Shack
Scorpion Descending on Rope Above Baby Before Biting Him
Quino's Discovery of Giant Oyster Underwater
Quino Holding Out the Pearl Toward the Heavens with Wife
Juana
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