A semi-documentary that compares favorably with Robert Flaherty’s work from the same period, Gold of the Seas renders its fairy-tale plot with a strident realism borne of weather-wracked cinematography and non-actors. An abusive tramp uncovers a box taken for treasure, unleashing paroxysms of conflict and greed amongst Hoëdic’s fishermen. Experimenting with a collaged soundtrack, Epstein undercuts dramatic realism to hew closer to the island’s essential hardships—not only its meager resources and vulnerability to the elements, but also its long-simmering animosities and rampant alcoholism. The finale reworks Griffith’s classic “race-to-the-rescue” formula to marvelous effect, with close-ups of a young girl sinking in quicksand evoking a landscape by turns beautiful and merciless.
