The Blue Pearl (1951)

The Blue Pearl 1951 / 青い真珠 1951 / Aoi shinju

The Blue Pearl virtually unseen in the west until now - depicts the melodramatic, but keenly-observed interplay between a young man from Tokyo and two ama (pearl divers; literally ‟women of the sea‟) in a superstitious coastal town. Though raised within the same tradition-bound crucible, the two women - Noe and Riu - are portrayed as diametric opposites; the former meek but affectionate, the latter strong-willed but jaded by a tryst with metropolitan life. Nonetheless, Honda provides equal weight to their desires and their ambitions to break free from the social mold imposed upon them from birth. (Source: IMDb)