Customer Reviews

The Pearl

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

As an English teacher, I was very eager to purchase this modern adaptation of Steinbeck's novella to show to students. Imagine my shock and horror when I discovered this film has a HAPPY ending! Hollywood has totally changed the impact of Steinbeck's original work to satisfy those who need to walk out of a movie experience with a smile on their faces...unfortunately, a smile isn't what people will walk out with after viewing this film. Very disappointing!

I am also an English teacher and I was thrilled to learn of this film adaptation. Even after reading the other two reviews I was excited to show this to my students after we finished our reading, and the changes that the film makes are interesting rather than disappointing. One of the projects that I offer to my students is to change the storyline to fit their interests, including the ending, and I presented this film as one person's vision. I love the way it starts with Kino as a little boy listening to his father's advice, and I like the actor who is cast as Kino the grown man. I like how his brother Juan has a larger role. In fact, I like the happy ending because it is something I used to discuss with my students, asking them how things could have been resolved differently. Richard Harris is wonderful as the shrewd doctor, and the scene where he "buys" eternal salvation from the priest is excellent. Yes, it is always preferable to see a faithful adaptation of a novel, but it doesn't ruin the fact that I can enhance my own and my students' appreciation of a great story.

There is no way you can ever compare this d-grade movie to one of the best classics ever, Steinbeck's The Pearl. For one, Kino, as a young boy starts out "white", then grown up, he becomes Mexican/Indian with a bad looking tan. The actors are all white, with tanned makeup, the language is way off-key, without a hint of true accent. The plot is not memorable, nor sincere to the book. But for the whitewashing of Hollywood, ironically, the Director is Mexican. What happened there??!!

If you have read this wonderful book, you can see that watching this movie is no reflection. And it is easy to understand that the "book version" of many movies doesn't compare, but this is simply a different story. Don't even try it. Steinbeck would not only turn over in his grave, he would jump out!! .....Rizzo

The DVD "The Pearl" directed by Alfred Zacharias is an excellent adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel. However, one could be misled if the liner notes were to be trusted.

The notes suggest that "the peasant is soon engulfed by greed, envy and betrayal," when in fact the peasant was the victim of the greed, envy and betrayal of the upper class. The peasant was presented as an ideal of humanity. Indeed, the entire film depicted the simple peasant life as ideal and pure, while the life of the upper class was gluttonous, depraved, and sinful.

The movie and the book suggest the the peasant may have to make the ultimate sacrifice, interpretted as either the loss of his child or the loss of his life. The liner notes affirm that "in order to achieve his dreams, he may have to make life's ultimate sacrifice."

In the end he throws the pearl away. This is not an ultimate sacrifice, but a most practical one. And one, I might add, that his wife sought to make earlier in the film.
On the whole, it is an excellent DVD and quite faithful to the original novel.

Just saw this in the theatre...what a waste of good money! Except for Richard Harris the acting was terrible, the actors are horribly miscast...an altogether forgettable experience.

Vivid scenery. Excellent picture. However, the script was not true to the text that my class is reading; too many "innovations".
Also, I wish the DVD could be shipped overseas.

This was a good movie. Much better than the old one in black and white. However, the ending is different than the book. My students enjoyed watching it after we read the book. It led to a great lesson on comparison between the book and the movie. Had they watched the movie and not read the book, they would have failed the written test!

I am also an English teacher and a Steinbbeck researcher. The film adaptation makes absolutely no sense. We open the movie with a scene created only for the movie and it appears as if Kino is from white, European descent. As he matures, however, he becomes Hispanic with a horrible accent and Mickey Mouse ears to boot! The film has added in "love" scenes not present in the book and basically made a farce out of Steinbeck's beloved work! If I had to guess, one of the creators and/or directors of one of the Monty Python movies took on this project with outrageous comedy in mind! It was a sure disappointment, even to my students who did not read the book in its entirety!

I bought this DVD from a pawn shop as USED for $2 and I feel ripped off...and nausously sorry for Richard Harris. Haas is about as convincing a Mexican pearl diver (pick either- Mexican or pearl diver)as a plastic Coke bottle in a sombrero. The dialogue is an ATROCIOUS mix of half-forgotten accents delivering a discussion between modern-day teen-aged car mechanics and the Frito Bandito. The music made me cry ...in pain. Harris was made out as a scurrying, cartoon-like, Snidely Whiplash-ish villian to the point of my personal embarassment. The "action" was like watching an algebra lesson on PBS... a drawn out chase scene thru the desert actually had me admiring/identifying the various cactii rather than rooting for the home team. While I pride myself on always finishing a movie, and my tastes often run outside the mainstream or against the critics, I was wondering who the he11 screenwrote or directed this mess by the first 15 minutes and couldn't stop myself from fast forwarding thru the last 20 to just make it all go away!
RIP my beloved Mr. Harris...you dodged a Raspberry for sure.

If you plan on using this to accompany the reading, it is terrible and does not follow Steinbeck's novella. Frankly, it's just a weird movie. If you want to assign a critical analysis of film adaptations, then it's a prime candidate for a writing prompt. But other than that, it's a waste of time.