Science Is Fiction / The Sounds Of Science: The Films Of Jean Painleve' (2 Dvd) [Edizione: Regno Unito] [Edizione: Regno Unito]

SCIENCE IS FICTION / THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE A film By Jean Painlevé Before Attenborough and Cousteau there was Jean Painlevé. Poetic pioneer of science films, Painlevé explored a twilight realm of vampire bats, seahorses, octopi, and liquid crystals. In collaboration with his life-partner Geneviève Hamon, Painlevé made more the 200 science and nature films and was an early champion of the genre. Possessing a remarkable eye for life’s eerie curiosities, Painlevé’s art pivots on the premise that science is fiction . He created a landscape of bug-eyed wonderment marked by a playful sense of nature’s poetry and scandalized the scientific world with a cinema designed to entertain as well as edify. In the process he won over the circle of Surrealists and avant-gardists and counted amongst his friends Antonin Artaud, Sergei Eisenstein, Jean Vigo and Luis Buñuel. Painlevé’s astonishing documentaries witness a genuinely magic realism , which continues to enchant audiences around the world. This selection from 50 years of passionate scientific enquiry includes Painlevé’s most famous films The Seahorse, The Vampire, The Love Life of the Octopus and Sea Urchins with their often amazing music. Yo La Tengo’s place in rock history is unique few bands in memory dare to experiment quite so widely with such casual audacity. From screeching art-rock and jangling pop songs to electronic soundscapes and hushed lullabies, their music explores the range of musical history without sounding less than modern. In 2001 the band was selected by the San Francisco International Film Festival committee to compose new music for the films of Jean Painlevé. Their alternately sombre and joyously mood music seemed like a natural for Painlevé’s dramatic underwater studies. This two-disc set brings Yo La Tengo ’s score, previously only available on the CD The Sounds of the Sounds of Science, together with the films of Painlevé for the first time on DVD. DVD extras Filmed introduction by academic Dr Michael Abecassis Two short films by Percy Smith: The Birth of a Flower (1910), The Strength and Agility of Insects (1911) A short film by Adrian Klein: Colour on the Thames (1935) France | 1927 - 78 | colour, and black & white | 120 + 95 minutes | Ratio 1.33:1 | Region 2 DVD | 2 discs