Amoeba Music

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.

Special Features:

• 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
• Interviews with the filmmaker, drawn from the eight-part television series Jean Painlevé Through His Films, directed by Denis Derrien and Hélène Hazera
• An essay by film scholar Scott MacDonald