The Pearl (film)


La perla is a 1947 Mexican-American film directed by Emilio Fernández. It is based on the 1947 novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck, who also co-wrote the screenplay.
In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot summary

In a fishing village in La Paz, Mexico, pearl fisherman Kino and his wife Juana are in anguish because their infant son Coyotito was stung by a scorpion. The nearest doctor, a foreigner, refuses to treat him without adequate payment and he is taken instead to a traditional healer. Later, the doctor and his brother, a loan shark, meet Kino after he finds a valuable pearl and they decide to steal it from him.

Cast

Critical response

When the film was released, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, liked the film, writing, "An exceptional motion picture, both in content and genesis, is the beautiful and disturbing filmization of John Steinbeck's novelette, The Pearl, which reached an appropriate showcase at the Sutton Theatre yesterday. Exceptional it is in genesis by virtue of the fact that it was made in Mexico by a Mexican company with Mexican actors who speak English throughout. And extraordinary it is in content through the benefit of a story of primitive power, told with immaculate integrity through an eloquent camera."
More recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review and wrote, "Though the film is clumsy in its characterizations, the shimmering gorgeous black-and-white photography by cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa makes the film seem potent."

Accolades

[Venice Film Festival] - 1947

;Awarded
;Nominated