Science Is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé ()

Film Info

France
315 minutes
Color, Black and White
1.33:1
French
Spine #468

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.

Cast

Credits

Director	Jean Painlevé
"The Sounds of Science" score by	Yo La Tengo

Disc Features

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 URCHIINS (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