Jean Painlevé Movies

  • 1936
    Bluebeard

    Bluebeard

    Bluebeard

    61936HD

    Perrault's fairy tale presented in claymation with choral voices. Bluebeard goes courting, all six of his wives having died. He arrives at the house...

    Bluebeard
  • 1945
    The Vampire

    The Vampire

    The Vampire

    6.51945HD

    After a look at some strange creatures, the narrator and camera take us to the Chaco forest, on the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, where...

    The Vampire
  • 1936
    The Fourth Dimension

    The Fourth Dimension

    The Fourth Dimension

    6.31936HD

    The film begins with methodical descriptions of one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional space. It then looks at a two-dimensional...

    The Fourth Dimension
  • 1978
    Liquid Crystals

    Liquid Crystals

    Liquid Crystals

    71978HD

    Title cards introduce images we watch without narration; they are displays of shape and color. François de Roubaix's electronic music...

    Liquid Crystals
  • 1935
    The Sea Horse

    The Sea Horse

    The Sea Horse

    6.51935HD

    Examines 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...

    The Sea Horse
  • 1928
    Daphnia

    Daphnia

    Daphnia

    6.11928HD

    Titles 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...

    Daphnia
  • 1928
    The Octopus

    The Octopus

    The Octopus

    6.41928HD

    An octopus slithers over objects on land—a doll, a skull—then oozes along the shore into the sea. It secretes its ink. The camera follows...

    The Octopus
  • 1929
    Hyas and Stenorhynchus

    Hyas and Stenorhynchus

    Hyas and Stenorhynchus

    5.91929HD

    In close-ups and extreme close-ups, we watch two small species of marine crustaceans, the slender long-legged stenorhynchus and the clumsy,...

    Hyas and Stenorhynchus
  • 1967
    The Love Life of an Octopus

    The Love Life of an Octopus

    The Love Life of an Octopus

    6.71967HD

    An octopus slithers into a narrow crack near the shore; we see its eye up close. It feeds on a crab. In spring it's time to mate. A male grabs a...

    The Love Life of an Octopus
  • 1929
    Sea Urchins

    Sea Urchins

    Sea Urchins

    6.31929HD

    A 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...

    Sea Urchins
  • 1968
    Diatoms

    Diatoms

    Diatoms

    6.41968HD

    The one-celled long and slender diatom, up close: discovered in 1703 with the invention of the microscope. We observe them magnified 10,000 times:...

    Diatoms
  • 1956
    Sea Ballerinas

    Sea Ballerinas

    Sea Ballerinas

    6.51956HD

    Two kinds of starfish, the brittle and the feather. The brittle star moves its arms alone, without the aid of suckers. Underneath is a single...

    Sea Ballerinas
  • 1927
    Mathusalem

    Mathusalem

    Mathusalem

    4.61927HD

    Mathusalem (or Methuselah) is a 1922 play by Ivan Goll, considered a precursor of the theater of the absurd. The 1927 run of the play saw five...

    Mathusalem
  • 1982
    Pigeons in the Square

    Pigeons in the Square

    Pigeons in the Square

    6.21982HD

    An enthusiastic grandfather sits with children in a Parisian park talking about pigeons. First. their physical appearance—eye, wings and tail,...

    Pigeons in the Square
  • 1947
    Freshwater Assassins

    Freshwater Assassins

    Freshwater Assassins

    6.31947HD

    In a freshwater pond, it's "eat or be eaten." A dragonfly larva eats a midge; a water beetle larva eats a damselfly larva. Snail larvae grow. A...

    Freshwater Assassins
  • 1954
    Sea Urchins

    Sea Urchins

    Sea Urchins

    6.31954HD

    Underwater photography, magnified close-ups, and film through microscope present the sea urchin, a complex creature. We see their mouth and five...

    Sea Urchins
  • 1930
    Caprelles et Pantopodes

    Caprelles et Pantopodes

    Caprelles et Pantopodes

    71930HD

    Caprelles et Pantopodes
  • 2012
    Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo

    Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo

    Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo

    7.32012HD

    Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo
  • 1930
    Experimental Treatment of a Hemorrhage in a Dog

    Experimental Treatment of a Hemorrhage in a Dog

    Experimental Treatment of a Hemorrhage in a Dog

    5.21930HD

    Jean Painleve short about an experimental canine surgery.

    Experimental Treatment of a Hemorrhage in a Dog
  • 1925
    The Stickleback's Eggs

    The Stickleback's Eggs

    The Stickleback's Eggs

    5.61925HD

    An educational film, a movie through a microscope, in two parts. Within minutes after the egg drops in the water, fertilization occurs and...

    The Stickleback's Eggs