The Pearl Comb

Bluesky

It’s the slow pace of Cornish speech that does it. Outsiders easily fall into thinking that people there are not all that smart. It was the same back in 1893; and although he has roots there himself, Gregory (played by director Ali Cook) doesn’t expect much of its people. How surprising, then, that a woman from these parts, Betty Lutey (Beatie Edney), should apparently be the first person in history to have cured tuberculosis.

Gregory is fascinated by the case, and delighted at the opportunity to interview her in her cluttered little coastal cottage. He congratulates himself on seeing through her initial pretensions to witchery. It’s clear that there’s more going on than that, and he can see how she might find it easier to make local people believe in her divine ability as a healer than, in that era, her skill as a doctor. But Betty is about to tell him a tale that will stretch his credulity in ways he never expected. There is much more going on here than he was prepared for.

Gorgeously designed and assembled, Cook’s fantastical short, which screened at Fantasia earlier this year and now has a shot at getting Oscar attention, combines the emotive power of folklore with the wit and intrigue of that era’s best genre works. It draws on old Cornish stories about merfolk but is an original work, with well developed characters and actors who bring them to life superbly in the brief time they have. Scenes set amid the crashing waves along its craggy coast get the adrenaline flowing, and they’re not the only source of threat in a story which comes to a thundering conclusion.

It’s rare to see a short that combines this much energy and this level of technical proficiency. Although it’s perfectly suited to the 21 minute running time, no individual scene would look out of place in a feature, and it’s no surprise that audiences love it. With Cook directing for the first time, one hopes that it marks the emergence of a great new genre talent.

Source