Jean Painlevé

Jean Painlevé Through His Films

This documentary about the life and work of filmmaker Jean Painlevé was originally presented in eight parts on French television. It was edited to remove duplicated material from its original length of 240 minutes.

Pigeons in the Square

An 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.

Mathusalem

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 sequences-- some of Jean Painlevé's earliest film work-- projected against a backdrop of white clouds.