In “The Pearl Button,” Patricio Guzmán combines the power of nature and history to highlight the relationship they share. Very concretely, viewers discover the complexity of Chile’s story by the utilisation of the universe and its natural elements in the context of a larger story that dates back thousands of years. This story begins with the tale of five indigenous groups who have inhabited Southern Chile for many years. Through a brief walk through history, Guzmán exposes the truth of historical events that shed light on the occurrences that transpired with the arrival of colonialism, and then later connects this to the ruthless dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and his brutal rule in the late 20th century.
In particular, Guzmán places an emphasis on water and examines its role in the lives of the Southern tribes of Chile while forming a close connection with life under the Pinochet era. The sea, which is regarded as life and purity by indigenous persons, became a place where the truth went to be buried and the stains of Chile’s history were intended to be forgotten. The relationship formed between various events in the past shows the full context of how interconnected the universe is.
Guzmán also utilises the story of Jemmy Button, an indigenous man taken by English colonialists, to demonstrate how, upon his return, he became a man exiled from his home. Its significance is crucial in understanding the effects produced by colonialism, and relates to the terror felt by civilians during the Pinochet regime who were treated as foreigners and criminals for having different ideologies and forms of behavior. This genuine film combines two stories with great ease and shows how, despite the era or person, history often connects.