The Pearl
La perle
Belgium
1929
33 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Silent
Synopsis
A young man buys a pearl for his fiancée. He walks out of the jewelry store that opens onto a forest. He counts the pearls and realizes one is missing so he goes back to the store. On entering he catches sight of an alluring saleslady sitting on a showcase with her skirt lifted. On one of her stockings, close to the garter, another pearl necklace is tied. The young man takes it away from her. Outraged, the jeweler fires the assistant, who goes away with the man sitting on the handlebar of his bike. After this, the pearl is lost, found, lost again. —IMDb
Director
Henri D'Ursel
Henri, 8th Duke d’Ursel (1900 – 1974) was a Belgian film director and writer.
He lived in Paris during the 1920s, at the height of the surrealist and avant-garde movements. In 1929 he wrote La Perle, under the pseudonym “Henri d’Arche”, based on a story by Georges Hugnet.
Returning to Belgium, in 1937 d’Ursel founded Le Prix de l’Image, a precursor to film festivals of experimental cinema. At the outbreak of the second world war, he founded Le Séminaire des Arts, a prestigious Belgian film club, and precursor of the Musée du cinéma de Bruxelles.
D’Ursel was a friend of both Charles Dekeukeleire and Henri Storck. He was for 25 years vice-president of the Belgian Royal Film Archive. —Wikipedia
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Landen Celano
15Dec12
Discombobulated, even for something intentionally fragmented, but some of its imagery is light years ahead of its time.
Cole Caudle
15Dec12
Plays like the wet dream of a man obsessed with the image of Irma Vep. In other words, brilliant.
pinkwargasm and Domas like this
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The Forgotten: Never Explain a Mystery, Never Wake a Sleepwalker
By David Cairns on December 13, 2012
The surreal travels of a pearl, a thief, a sleepwalker, a young man and his lover. Watch the entire short film here!
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The Pearl
By Kenji on April 15, 2011
Directed by the little known Belgian aristocrat Henri d’Ursel,The Pearl (1929) is a lightly erotic silent masterpiece, over 30 minutes long, that links Celine and Julie go Boating, Jean Vigo, Man Ray… read review
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