When a curious young girl explores the jewel cabinet of her grandfather and discovers his prize possession, he sits with her and tells her just why it is so valued. He was once a young, poverty-stricken, lad living in a ramshackle room next door to a young girl whom he often heard sobbing. Peeking through a crack in the wall, he notices that as she cries her tears turn to pearls. Acquiring two, he takes them to a venal pawnbroker who gives him the enormous sum of one dollar. Rather than waste that, he buys her some chocolates to cheer her up. Meantime, the pawnbroker takes his lustrous new acquisitions to a specialist jeweller who appreciates their perfection and tantalises the avaricious lender who now impresses upon the youngster that if he can get more then great wealth might follow. The boy is desperate, but not just for cash - he wants happiness - for himself and for his neighbour. How to achieve this? The stop-motion here is gorgeous, almost ceramic in effect, and is underpinned by a solid and engaging story this glides along stylishly for quarter of an hour. The characterisations are almost Dickensian in nature, especially those hoping to capitalise on this girl’s sadness, and with an effective accompaniment from Patrick Watson’s score this is a really fine and thoughtful story that leaves quite a few threads mischievously untied. Well worth a watch.
