Cinema
The Pearl
La Perle
Henri d'Ursel · 1929
Synopsis
In a Paris modelled on the ciné-romans of Louis Feuillade, a young man, engaged to Lulu, sets off in pursuit of a pearl that is constantly lost and found again, in the wake of the theft of a necklace. Along his way pass a thief in a tight-fitting bodysuit, who piles up misdeeds, and a sleepwalker. The episodes follow one another as in a serial, but the plot matters less than the apparitions and chases, in the Surrealist manner.
Context
It is the only film by its author, shot in 1929 under the pseudonym Henri d'Arches, from a screenplay by the Surrealist poet Georges Hugnet, who also plays the lead; the cinematography is by Marc Bujard. The Cinematek finds in it “the brilliance of inexperience”, and the author spoke of a film made in enthusiasm. It is a wink from the Surrealists to Feuillade's serials, long forgotten and now visible again in a good print.
Who it is for
A silent medium-length film of about half an hour, surrealist in vein, which plays with the conventions of the serial.
Prizes and reception
A unique work, long forgotten, which the Brussels film archive preserves and which is in circulation again.
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