| Notes | The mesmerizing, utterly unclassifiable science films of Jean Painlevé (1902-89) have to be seen to be believed: delightful, surrealist-influenced dream works that are also serious science. The French filmmaker-scientist-inventor had a decades-spanning career in which he created hundreds of short films on subjects ranging from astronomy to pigeons to, most famously, such marine-life marvels as the sea horse and the sea urchin. This definitive three-disc collection brings together the best of these, and also includes the French television series Jean Painlevé Through His Films, rock band Yo La Tengo’s eight-film score The Sounds of Science, and an essay by film scholar Scott MacDonald.
THREE-DISC SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New, restored digital transfers of all twenty-three films:
Disc One
POPULAR FILMS
HYAS AND STENORHYNCHUS (HYAS ET STENORINQUES)
1927 * 10 minutes * Black & White
SEA URCHINS (OURSINS)
1954 * 11 minutes * Color
HOW SOME JELLYFISH ARE BORN (COMMENT NAISSENT DES MÉDUSES)
1960 * 14 minutes * Black & White
LIQUID CRYSTALS (CRISTAUX LIQUIDES)
1978 * 6 minutes * Color
THE SEA HORSE (L’HIPPOCAMPE)
1933 * 14 minutes * Black & White
THE LOVE LIFE OF THE OCTOPUS (LES AMOURS DE LA PIEUVRE)
1967 * 14 minutes * Color
SHRIMP STORIES (HISTOIRES DE CREVETTES)
1964 * 10 minutes * Color
ACERA, OR THE WITCHES’ DANCE (ACERA OU LE BAL DES SORCIÈRES)
1972 * 13 minutes * Color
THE VAMPIRE (LE VAMPIRE)
1945 * 9 minutes * Black & White
FRESHWATER ASSASSINS (LES ASSASSINS D’EAU DOUCE)
1947 * 24 minutes * Black & White
SEA BALLERINAS (LES DANSEUSES DE LA MER)
1956 * 13 minutes * Color
DIATOMS (DIATOMÉES)
1968 * 17 minutes * Color
PIGEONS IN THE SQUARE (LES PIGEONS DU SQUARE)
1982 * 27 minutes * Color
THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE
Eight films with original score by Yo La Tengo
Interview with Yo La Tengo
Disc Two
EARLY POPULAR SILENT FILMS
THE OCTOPUS (LA PIEUVRE)
1927 * 13 minutes * Black & White
SEA URCHIINS (LES OURSINS)
1928 * 10 minutes * Black & White
DAPHNIA (LA DAPHNIE)
1928 * 9 minutes * Black & White
SILENT RESEARCH FILMS
THE STICKLEBACK’S EGG (L’OEUF D’ÉPINOCHE)
1925 * 26 minutes * Black & White
EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT OF A HEMORRHAGE IN A DOG (TRAITEMENT ÉXPERIMENTAL D’UNE HÉMORRAGIE CHEZ LE CHIEN)
1930 * 4 minutes * Black & White
FILMS FOR LE PALAIS DE LA DÉCOUVERTE
THE FOURTH DIMENSION (LA QUATRIÈME DIMENSION)
1936 * 10 minutes * Black & White
THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL (IMAGES MATHÉMATIQUES DE LA LUTTE POUR LA VIE)
1937 * 14 minutes * Black & White
VOYAGE TO THE SKY (VOYAGE DANS LE CIEL)
1937 * 11 minutes * Black & White
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN LENGTH AND SPEED (SIMILITUDES DES LONGEURS ET DES VITESSES)
1937 * 10 minutes * Black & White
ANIMATION
BLUEBEARD (BARBE-BLEU)
1938 * 13 minutes * Gasparcolor
New and improved English subtitle translations
More than two hours of interviews with the filmmaker, drawn from the eight-part television series Jean Painlevé Through His Films, directed by Denis Derrien and Hélène Hazera
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Scott MacDonald
New cover by Rodrigo Corral |
