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- DirectorJean PainlevéStarsAntonin ArtaudMarcel BarenceyHenri MarchandA 1922 play by Ivan Goll, considered a precursor of the theater of the absurd.
- DirectorJean PainlevéUnderwater photography presents the octopus: breathing, swimming, eating, dying.
- DirectorJean PainlevéPopular science descriptions of two marine crustaceans, both of whom camouflage themselves in found objects, moving, eating, interacting.
- DirectorJean PainlevéAn educational film, a movie through a microscope, in two parts. Within minutes after the egg drops in the water, fertilization occurs and contractions start. Soon, in a fertilized egg, we see the germinal disc divide into two blastomeres. Divisions continue; contractions re-occur at the cap as it covers the egg. Title cards in French tell us what to watch for. Muscular movements and circulation appear; the heart beats. In part two, we see blood circulation begin as red cells develop on the surface of the yoke. They mass toward the heart. Arteries form, blood flows. The egg hatches and blood flows to new areas.
- DirectorJean PainlevéA close-up look at sand urchins and rock urchins. At the seashore, a man digs up a sand urchin. We look closely. He sets it back in the sand, and it burrows out of sight. Its intestines take nutrients out of sand. Using magnification 200,000 times normal size, we see a rock urchin's spines with suckers on the end; a drawing illustrates how they work. A sea urchin walks toward a rock. We see three-fingered jaws - pedicellaria at the end of flexible stems - take in algae and other bits. We also see cilia less than 0.001 ml in length; their motion constant, creating whirlpools. On the shore again, we watch the setting sun. Occasional titles in French tell us what to watch for.
- DirectorJean PainlevéTitles in French and English help us know what we're seeing. In all waters, daphnia abound. They are crustaceans about 2 ml long, with one eye that turns in all directions. Antennae enable daphnia to move: in a close up magnified 150,000 times, we see the muscles of the antennae pulse. We see the eye, the nerve mass, blood globules, and the heart, beating several times per second. The intestine forms a long line. All are females; eggs develop above the intestine. New generations come rapidly. Inside each daphnia are tiny infusoria; we watch them clean the intestine of a dead daphnia. An enemy, the hydra, approaches. A daphnia dies, but many remain.
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorEli LotarJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean PainlevéA short black and white film which documents an experimental canine surgery.
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean PainlevéExamines the sea horse, the only fish that swims upright. We watch it use its prehensile tail to wrap around plants and other sea horses. A frontal bulge houses organs including an air ballast. Three fins propel this fish. We see a female place her eggs in a male's pouch where they are fertilized and nurtured until birth in violent contractions. Inside the pouch are nurturing blood vessels. We then follow the growth of an embryo, greatly magnified: we examine its heart beating and its dorsal fin moving. Young sea horses attach themselves to each other. The film ends with images of many sea horses moving on the ocean floor, superimposed on a horse race.
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorRené BertrandJean PainlevéPerrault's fairy tale presented in claymation with choral voices. Bluebeard goes courting, all six of his wives having died. He arrives at the house of a widow with two daughters. He's greatly feared, but he overcomes objections with a generous dowry. One sister (Anne) refuses him; the other accepts. At his castle, the damsel delights in precious minutes away from Bluebeard in the rose garden. The Saracens declare war; Bluebeard goes off to fight them, leaving the keys to the castle in the damsel's hands. He warns her not to enter the forbidden room. As war rages, she discovers riches in the castle and then enters the forbidden room. Will Bluebeard discover her act? Can she escape death?
- DirectorA.-P. DufourJean PainlevéWe begin on planet Earth, with a demonstration of measuring distances using triangulation. Then, an imaginary voyage begins from earth to the moon, on to Mars, Saturn, the closest star (besides the sun), and beyond to the edge of our universe. The film depicts imagined landscapes, and it speculates on universes beyond ours. It ends with philosophical musings about the significance of Earth.
- DirectorA.-P. DufourJean PainlevéA black and white short from Jean Painlevé which explores the relationships of size and length in organisms.
- DirectorA.-P. DufourJean PainlevéThe film begins with methodical descriptions of one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional space. It then looks at a two-dimensional world inhabited by flat mice. It imagines how a human, from the third dimension could interact with that world. It then suggests how beings from a fourth dimension might interact with us. Next the film posits time as a fourth dimension, with scenes to aid comprehension. An off-screen narrator, graphs, and clever photography provide explanations and illustrations. The film asks viewers to use their imaginations.
- DirectorA.-P. DufourJean PainlevéA black and white short from Jean Painlevé which explores the concept of populations and their interdependence on one another for survival.
- DirectorJean PainlevéA documentary intending to show to the outside world, aspects of science in modern French culture.
- DirectorJean PainlevéStarsMax SchreckA short look at the vampire bat sucking blood from a guinea pig.
- DirectorJean PainlevéStarsJacqueline CledonMichèle NadalA short subject exploring the relationship, using two dancers and five pieces, of time and space in the art of choreography.
- DirectorJean PainlevéGeorges RouquierStarsRoland TiratThe heroic drama of a scientist who battled to improve hygiene in hospitals, to ward off infectious diseases, and to overcome the skepticism of medical bureaucracy.
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean PainlevéIn a freshwater pond, various aquatic creatures try to eat others in order to avoid being eaten themselves.
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean PainlevéStarsAlexander CalderAlexander Calder created and performed one of the most important and beloved works, his miniature circus (1926-1931). More than twenty years later Jean Painleve made Le Grande Cirque Calder 1927.
- DirectorJean PainlevéGeneviève HamonA complex creature. Regular underwater photography, magnified close-ups, and film through a microscope present sea urchins. We see their mouth and five teeth close and open. After injecting one with gelatin, the shell is removed and we see the muscle structure, digestive tube, and reproductive organs. Magnified stems reveal suction cups; stems lengthen and contract allowing the sea urchin to move. We see microscopic calcareous stems; at their ends are jaws with various uses. Cilia everywhere are in constant motion, stirring up water and debris. African music on the soundtrack suggests a shuffle dance.
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean Painlevé
- DirectorJean PainlevéGeneviève HamonExamines the respiratory, reproductive, and metabolic systems of starfish.
- DirectorGeneviève HamonJean PainlevéAt a marine biology station, a clump of algae reveals polyps, stomachs with limbs, limbs with buds, buds with poison cells. This animal reproduces by buds, which we watch close up in time-lapse images. In another kind of jellyfish, the buds grow inside then live outside for a few days until being on their own. Another produces eggs, sometimes self-fertilized. Some single eggs become buds with colonies. Another clump gathered at low tide consists of filaments of a colony - plumes with poison ends. In images taking 72 hours, we see filaments grow and produce a feeding organ from which a plume emerges. New jellyfish emerge from buds twice a day at set times to form a new colonies.
- DirectorGeneviève HamonJean PainlevéAfter a comic introduction, we look closely at a shrimp. Eyes on stilts, color patterns, pinchered walking feet, a rostrum. We watch shrimp eat using a strong claw and a fine one; we watch digestion. After eating, shrimp clean themselves. The female lays eggs that cling to her feet. After three weeks, the eggs hatch explosively. Few larvae live to adulthood. We watch an adult shed its carapace with a final leap, leaving it vulnerable; other shrimp attack.
- DirectorGeneviève HamonJean PainlevéAn octopus slithers into a narrow crack near the shore; we see its eye up close; blowing water propels it through water. It feeds on a crab. In spring it's time to mate. A male grabs a female; he inserts his third arm in her respiratory cavity. We watch another pair: a larger female is the aggressor here. Mating is repeated over hours and days. With high magnification, we see many sperm; she releases strings of fertilized eggs that hang from the roof of a nest. She guards it for a month, fanning the strings to circulate water for oxygen and cleanliness. We watch the eggs up close develop at 1,400 times nature's rate. Then they're born and propel away.
- DirectorGeneviève HamonJean PainlevéStarsCarola MeierroseA short overview on the life and importance of diatoms, shown through a microscope.
- DirectorGeneviève HamonJean Painlevé
- DirectorGeneviève HamonJean PainlevéIn mud flats along the coast of Brittany we watch acera, small ball-shaped mollusks that are about two inches in diameter. They rest in mud; then, in water, they dance, their skirt-like hood spreading like a dervish's cassock. They spin and spin. The film adds musical accompaniment. We watch them mate and secrete eggs: acera are both male and female, and can form chains with other acera in which they simultaneously mate as a male and as a female. The eggs hatch, and the cycle begins again.
- DirectorJean PainlevéA microscopic view of liquid crystals morphing into various shapes.
- DirectorJean PainlevéAn enthusiastic grandfather sits with children in a Parisian park talking about pigeons. First. their physical appearance - eye, wings and tail, and color - and their varieties. Then, he encourages the children to imitate their walk. He points out courtship and mating rituals, then provides an illustrated discussion of how they eat. This section is punctuated by a flock of pigeons fighting over a small, hard ball each wants to eat; the narrator's describes it as if it were a soccer match. He concludes with a discussion of pigeons taking off, landing, and flying; he uses slow motion and stop-time photography to show his audience.