The Pearl Button (2015) - Patricio Guzmán

Patricio Guzman's The Pearl Button feels like a companion piece to his last film, Nostalgia For the Light, being a cosmic, philosophical examination of History, Humanity, Time, and Space that inevitably becomes a film about much more than what it appears in the beginning.  The Pearl Button is the type of documentary that is not for everyone, being almost more of a personal essay than anything else, as Guzman waxes poetic about water, its intermediary qualities, and how it connects the universe and humanity in many ways.  While the film itself begins very much like a poetic meditation on the blood of life being water, The Pearl Button becomes much more personal and profound as it evolves, transforming into a haunting study of the oppressive qualities of humanity as Guzman examines the violence and death of Chile's past.  Focusing on the indigenous people of Chile, those who relied heavily on the sea as their way of life, Guzman provides a meditative study of the importance of water to survival, showing a sense of frustration to the fact that modern day Chile has abandoned one of their greatest resources, the 4,200 km of coastline.   Through Guzman's meditative philosophical discussions that at times feel like unfocused rambling, The Pearl Button is able to capture the arrogance of modern day man, exploring how the survival of the fittest principles of life are more linked to aggression than superiority, using the genocide of the Patagonian people in what is now Southern Child as primary example.  Part philosophical discussion, part Chile history lesson, Patricio Guzman's The Pearl Button is a film that many will find boring or pretentious, but for those willing to give a film like this a chance, The Pearl Button provides a unique perspective on time, space, humanity, and the universe, essentially being a philosophical examination of the world which we inhabit.  

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