X
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Kino Lorber
  • 1 h 22 m
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Kino Lorber
  • 1 h 22 m

Summary The ocean contains the history of all humanity. The sea holds all the voices of the earth and those that come from outer space. Water receives impetus from the stars and transmits it to living creatures. Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of two mysterious buttons which were found on its ocean floor. Chile, with it...

Directed By: Patricio Guzmán

Written By: Patricio Guzmán

  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Kino Lorber
  • 1 h 22 m
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Kino Lorber
  • 1 h 22 m

The Pearl Button

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 18 Critic Reviews
80
User Score Universal Acclaim Based on 6 User Ratings
8.2
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary The ocean contains the history of all humanity. The sea holds all the voices of the earth and those that come from outer space. Water receives impetus from the stars and transmits it to living creatures. Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of two mysterious buttons which were found on its ocean floor. Chile, with it...

Directed By: Patricio Guzmán

Written By: Patricio Guzmán

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 18 Critic Reviews
80
83% Positive
15 Reviews
17% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 18 Critic Reviews
80
83% Positive
15 Reviews
17% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Apr 7, 2016
This haunting Chilean documentary is more poetry than journalism as filmmaker Patricio Guzman compares the fate of the indigenous people of Patagonia with that of the disappeared of the Pinochet regime.
By Kate Taylor FULL REVIEW
91
Sep 30, 2015
Guzmán's essential thesis seems to be that, in turning its back on the ocean, modern Chile lost a crucial part of its identity. But he also puts forward the extraordinary idea that the water has a memory, and that if you listen closely enough, you can hear the voices of the disappeared.
By Jessica Kiang FULL REVIEW
90
Sep 30, 2015
It is the director’s extraordinary intuition about the synchronicity of history, geography and the physical universe – a mysterious relationship that has nothing to do with cause and effect – that gives the film and its predecessor their undeniable power.
By Deborah Young FULL REVIEW
80
Mar 14, 2016
The connections might be a little more strained and diffuse than in "Nostalgia for the Light", but their cumulative power is strong nonetheless.
By Dave Calhoun FULL REVIEW
75
Dec 3, 2015
This is history of a personalized and meditative sort, and you ought to give it a chance.
By Walter Addiego FULL REVIEW
63
Oct 23, 2015
For most of its 80-minute length, The Pearl Button meditates lyrically on water and its effects on humankind. Then it makes a sharp turn into evoking the horrors of the Pinochet regime, a transition that feels awkward and rather forced, diluting the film’s ultimate impact.
By Godfrey Cheshire FULL REVIEW
50
Nov 19, 2015
The Pearl Button may not answer all the questions it raises, yet it is an absorbing experience — at least for anyone with a taste for beauty over insight.
By Alan Zilberman FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 6 User Ratings
8.2
83% Positive
5 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 6 User Ratings
8.2
83% Positive
5 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Atacama Productions, Valdivia Film, Mediapro, France 3 Cinéma, France Télévisions, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes, Ciné+, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), Generalitat de Catalunya - Departament de Cultura, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), Programa Ibermedia, SCAM, Sundance Institute
Release Date Oct 23, 2015
Duration 1 h 22 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
View All Details

Awards

Biografilm Festival
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

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