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Science is Fiction: 23 Films By Jean Painleve (Criterion Collection)(3 disc)

 

 

Written and Directed by Jean Painlevé

France 1902-89 / Compilations Avant-Garde / Surreal / 315 min /  Color / Black & White / Dolby 2.0 / 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / NTSC /  In French with Optional English Subtitles


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.

 
       

Bonus Features:

New, restored digital transfers
The Sounds of Science, an original score by Yo La Tengo to Jean Painlevé’s films, plus an interview with the band
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