Jean Painlevé
Encyclopedia
Jean Painlevé was a film director, actor, translator, animator, critic and theorist. He was the son of mathematician and twice prime-minister of France, Paul Painlevé
.
In the Lycée Louis Le Grand, he was a poor and inattentive student who preferred to skip classes and go to the Jardin d'Acclimatation
where he was assisting the guard in taking care of the animals. Painlevé later wrote: "In high school, my classmates hated me. They hated people in the margins, such as Vigo
, son of the anarchist Almereyda, or Pierre Merle, son of Eugène Merle, director of [satirical weekly] Merle Blanc ("White Blackbird"). Me, I was the son of a Boche ("Kraut
)", that Painlevé who had fought for Sarrail
, solitary and unique republican general, and who had relieved [general] Nivelle
of his duties to replace him with Pétain
". He finished high school well apart "from these poor, unhappy ones who were like tradesmen in their trade". Among the few friends he made in his adolescence are future film critic Georges Altman
, writer and precious stones specialist Armand Moss (Moschowitz), who later appeared as an extra in Mathusalem, and others.
There is a collection of brass / galalith jewelry associated with his films.
because he understood practically nothing of Mathematics. (He would subsequently state he wished that Mathematics
was approached "like a language and not like a mystery"). Instead, he turned to Medicine
. However, two years into his studies, he abandoned the class of professor Delbet, on account of the professor's treatment of a hydroencephalic
patient which Painlevé found cruel, never to come back. He next turned to Biology
and entered the Laboratoire d’Anatomie et d’Histologie Comparée in Sorbonne
.
. There, he met Viviane, Geneviève ("Ginette"), and Maryvonne Hamon, the three daughters of Augustin and Henriette Hamon, translators of the works of George Bernard Shaw
in France and anarchist militants. Ginette would become Painlevé's work partner and life companion.
The Hamons' residence in Port Blanc, Penvenan
, named "Ty an Diaoul", (which some locals had dubbed "Maison du Diable", "House of the Devil") eventually became a second home for Painlevé.
His acquaintance with the Hamons familiarised Painlevé with the active practice of anarchism and teaching it by example. Augustin Hamon and his wife wanted their children to be raised in the altruist culture and under anarchist principles, so they had no objections to their young daughter living with Jean Painlevé as an unmarried couple ("living in sin
"), something socially unacceptable in Catholic France, and, even more so, in deeply Catholic Penvenan
, where the Harmons resided.
The Hamon family and their lifestyle influenced Jean Painlevé not only in his politics but in his outlook on life in general. Painlevé joined the Hamon daughters, all of whom would go on to become scientists, in their quest to acquire knowledge on everything. At the same time, Augustin Hamon encouraged not just young, inquisitive scientists, but also young artists with radical and controversial ideas, to come visit in his home, in Britanny. Painlevé would make numerous acquaintances among the visitors, such as Calder
, Pierre Prévert, Jacques-Alain Boiffard, and Eli Lotar
.
wave and brought Jean Painlevé in contact with the artists active in the movement. Painlevé started collaborating with the monthly revue Surrealisme, directed by Ivan Goll. In 1924, the revue published an article by Painlevé titled "". In the article, which could be considered a declaration of principles, Painlevé preached the "recording of reality", which, added to the imagination of the screenwriter and cinema's techniques of slow motion
, accelerated speed and the blur, can create "a surrealist esthetic". Most of Painlevé's subsequent designs on cinema are gathered in this article, where he affirmed "the superiority of reality", the "extraordinary inventiveness of Nature", over "the artifice" of traditional cinematographical scenes.
Painlevé, like Guillaume Apollinaire
in 1909, claimed that "the cinema is a creator of a surreal life".
One year later, in 1925, after a communication with the l’Académie des Sciences
, he submitted a pseudo-scientific, nonsensical and entirely Surrealist text, which he titled "Neo-zoological Drama".
Painlevé cannot be considered part of the Surrealist movement and did not actually consider himself a surrealist. He did, however, share the surrealists’ interest in psycho-sexual stimulation and the ultimate weirdness of procreation.
, and also as assistant director in the René Sti unfinished film L'inconnue des six jours (The Unknown Woman of Six Days), 1926. (Later, he would appear as "chief ant handler" in Luis Buñuel
's Un Chien Andalou
, 1928). Soon, he was shooting his own films, starting with L'œuf d'épinoche : de la fécondation à l'éclosion, 1927.
Painlevé sometimes scored the music and background sounds for his films, such as in Les Oursins, where the collage of noise is a homage
to Edgar Varese.
In order to shoot scenes underwater, Painlevé encased his camera in a custom designed waterproof box, fitted with a glass plate which allowed the camera’s lens to reach through. Understandably, he spent a lot of time submerged in water. In his 1935 essay, titled "Feet In The Water", Painlevé discussed wading, its instinctive, sensual pleasure and thwarted desire: "Wading around in water up to your ankles or navel, day and night, in all kinds of weather, even in areas where one is sure to find nothing, digging about everywhere for algae or octopus, getting hypnotised by a sinister pond where everything seems to promise marvels although nothing lives there. This is the ecstasy of any addict."
Overall Jean Painlevé directed more than two hundred science and nature films.
Science is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé, a DVD collection of his films was released in 2009 by the Criterion Collection
.
Paul Painlevé
Paul Painlevé was a French mathematician and politician. He served twice as Prime Minister of the Third Republic: 12 September – 13 November 1917 and 17 April – 22 November 1925.-Early life:Painlevé was born in Paris....
.
Upbringing
A few days after Painlevé was born, his mother, Marguerite Petit de Villeneuve, died from complications arising from an infection contracted during childbirth. Painlevé, an only son, was raised by his father's sister Marie, a widow.In the Lycée Louis Le Grand, he was a poor and inattentive student who preferred to skip classes and go to the Jardin d'Acclimatation
Jardin d'Acclimatation
The Jardin d'Acclimatation is a children's amusement park with a menagerie, the Exploradôme museum, and other attractions located in the northern part of the Bois de Boulogne, in Paris.-History:...
where he was assisting the guard in taking care of the animals. Painlevé later wrote: "In high school, my classmates hated me. They hated people in the margins, such as Vigo
Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo was a French film director, who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s and was a posthumous influence on the French New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
, son of the anarchist Almereyda, or Pierre Merle, son of Eugène Merle, director of [satirical weekly] Merle Blanc ("White Blackbird"). Me, I was the son of a Boche ("Kraut
Kraut
Kraut is a German word recorded in English from 1918 onwards as a derogatory term for a German, particularly a German soldier during World War I and World War II. Its earlier meaning in English was as a synonym for sauerkraut, a traditional German and central European food.- Etymological...
)", that Painlevé who had fought for Sarrail
Maurice Sarrail
Maurice-Paul-Emmanuel Sarrail was a French general of the First World War. Sarrail endeared himself to the political elite of the Third Republic through his openly socialist views, all the more conspicuous in contrast to the Catholics, conservatives and monarchists who dominated the French Army...
, solitary and unique republican general, and who had relieved [general] Nivelle
Robert Nivelle
Robert Georges Nivelle was a French artillery officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion, and the First World War. In May 1916, he was given command of the French Third Army in the Battle of Verdun, leading counter-offensives that rolled back the German forces in late 1916...
of his duties to replace him with Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
". He finished high school well apart "from these poor, unhappy ones who were like tradesmen in their trade". Among the few friends he made in his adolescence are future film critic Georges Altman
Georges Altman
Georges Altman was a French journalist and resistance fighter. During the second world war he was involved in the Franc-Tireur organisation...
, writer and precious stones specialist Armand Moss (Moschowitz), who later appeared as an extra in Mathusalem, and others.
There is a collection of brass / galalith jewelry associated with his films.
Studies
Painlevé had to abandon his studies aimed at entering the École PolytechniqueÉcole Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
because he understood practically nothing of Mathematics. (He would subsequently state he wished that Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
was approached "like a language and not like a mystery"). Instead, he turned to Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. However, two years into his studies, he abandoned the class of professor Delbet, on account of the professor's treatment of a hydroencephalic
Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus , also known as "water in the brain," is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head,...
patient which Painlevé found cruel, never to come back. He next turned to Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and entered the Laboratoire d’Anatomie et d’Histologie Comparée in Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
.
Personal life
In the course of his studies in Biology, Painlevé started frequenting the Station biologique de RoscoffStation biologique de Roscoff
The Station biologique de Roscoff is a french marine biology and oceanography research and teaching center. Founded by Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers in 1872, it is at the present time affiliated to the Université Pierre et Marie Curie , the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers et de...
. There, he met Viviane, Geneviève ("Ginette"), and Maryvonne Hamon, the three daughters of Augustin and Henriette Hamon, translators of the works of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
in France and anarchist militants. Ginette would become Painlevé's work partner and life companion.
The Hamons' residence in Port Blanc, Penvenan
Penvénan
Penvénan is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Penvénan are called penvénannais.-Port-Blanc and islands:...
, named "Ty an Diaoul", (which some locals had dubbed "Maison du Diable", "House of the Devil") eventually became a second home for Painlevé.
Political influences and militancy
Painlevé, along with Georges Altman and others, in 1918, created in his school an affiliate union to the "Socialist Revolutionary Students", an anarchist organisation established in the previous century. Painlevé himself was distributing in the street pamphlets calling on passers-by to join up. After two years, in 1920, he left the group to join the union of "Communist Students".His acquaintance with the Hamons familiarised Painlevé with the active practice of anarchism and teaching it by example. Augustin Hamon and his wife wanted their children to be raised in the altruist culture and under anarchist principles, so they had no objections to their young daughter living with Jean Painlevé as an unmarried couple ("living in sin
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
"), something socially unacceptable in Catholic France, and, even more so, in deeply Catholic Penvenan
Penvénan
Penvénan is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Penvénan are called penvénannais.-Port-Blanc and islands:...
, where the Harmons resided.
The Hamon family and their lifestyle influenced Jean Painlevé not only in his politics but in his outlook on life in general. Painlevé joined the Hamon daughters, all of whom would go on to become scientists, in their quest to acquire knowledge on everything. At the same time, Augustin Hamon encouraged not just young, inquisitive scientists, but also young artists with radical and controversial ideas, to come visit in his home, in Britanny. Painlevé would make numerous acquaintances among the visitors, such as Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
, Pierre Prévert, Jacques-Alain Boiffard, and Eli Lotar
Eli lotar
Eli Lotar was a French photographer. Lotar was born the son of a celebrated poet in Romania in 1905. He became a French citizen in 1926 and met the German photographer Germaine Krull. He took part in many exhibitions with Krull and photographer André Kertész...
.
Contact with Surrealism
Prévert and Boiffard were part of the SurrealistSurrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
wave and brought Jean Painlevé in contact with the artists active in the movement. Painlevé started collaborating with the monthly revue Surrealisme, directed by Ivan Goll. In 1924, the revue published an article by Painlevé titled "". In the article, which could be considered a declaration of principles, Painlevé preached the "recording of reality", which, added to the imagination of the screenwriter and cinema's techniques of slow motion
Slow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
, accelerated speed and the blur, can create "a surrealist esthetic". Most of Painlevé's subsequent designs on cinema are gathered in this article, where he affirmed "the superiority of reality", the "extraordinary inventiveness of Nature", over "the artifice" of traditional cinematographical scenes.
Painlevé, like Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire
Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
in 1909, claimed that "the cinema is a creator of a surreal life".
One year later, in 1925, after a communication with the l’Académie des Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
, he submitted a pseudo-scientific, nonsensical and entirely Surrealist text, which he titled "Neo-zoological Drama".
Painlevé cannot be considered part of the Surrealist movement and did not actually consider himself a surrealist. He did, however, share the surrealists’ interest in psycho-sexual stimulation and the ultimate weirdness of procreation.
Cinema
Painlevé first came to the cinema as an actor, alongside Michel SimonMichel Simon
Michel Simon , was a Swiss actor. The actor François Simon is his son.-Early years:...
, and also as assistant director in the René Sti unfinished film L'inconnue des six jours (The Unknown Woman of Six Days), 1926. (Later, he would appear as "chief ant handler" in Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's Un Chien Andalou
Un chien andalou
Un Chien Andalou is a 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí. It was Buñuel's first film and was initially released in 1929 to a limited showing in Paris, but became popular and ran for eight months....
, 1928). Soon, he was shooting his own films, starting with L'œuf d'épinoche : de la fécondation à l'éclosion, 1927.
Painlevé sometimes scored the music and background sounds for his films, such as in Les Oursins, where the collage of noise is a homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to Edgar Varese.
In order to shoot scenes underwater, Painlevé encased his camera in a custom designed waterproof box, fitted with a glass plate which allowed the camera’s lens to reach through. Understandably, he spent a lot of time submerged in water. In his 1935 essay, titled "Feet In The Water", Painlevé discussed wading, its instinctive, sensual pleasure and thwarted desire: "Wading around in water up to your ankles or navel, day and night, in all kinds of weather, even in areas where one is sure to find nothing, digging about everywhere for algae or octopus, getting hypnotised by a sinister pond where everything seems to promise marvels although nothing lives there. This is the ecstasy of any addict."
Overall Jean Painlevé directed more than two hundred science and nature films.
Science is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé, a DVD collection of his films was released in 2009 by the Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
.
Legacy
Advocating the credo "science is fiction," Painlevé managed to scandalize both the scientific and the cinematographic world with a cinema designed to entertain as well as edify. He portrayed sea horses, vampire bats, skeleton shrimps, and fanworms as endowed with human traits — the erotic, the comical, and the savage. Painlevé single-handedly established a unique kind of cinema, the "scientific-poetic cinema".Selected filmography
- Acera ou Le bal des sorcières (1972)
- Amours de la pieuvre (1965)... aka Love Life of the Octopus
- Comment naissent les méduses (1960)
- Les Danseuses de mer (1960)
- Les Alpes (1958)
- L'Astérie (1958)
- Les Oursins (1958)
- La Chirurgie correctrice (1948)
- Écriture de la danse (1948)
- Assassins d'eau douce (1947)... aka Fresh Water Assassins
- Notre planète la Terre (1947)
- Pasteur (1947)
- Jeux d'enfants (1946)
- Le Vampire (1945)... aka The Vampire
- Solutions françaises (1939)
- Images mathématiques de la quatrième dimension (1937)
- Voyage dans le ciel (1937)
- Barbe-Bleue (1936)... aka Bluebeard (USA)
- Microscopie à bord d'un bateau de pêche (1936)
- Corèthre (1935)
- L'Hippocampe (1934)... aka The Sea Horse (UK)
- Électrophorèse de nitrate d'argent (1932)
- Ruptures de fibres (1931)
- Bernard-l'hermite (1930)
- Les Crabes (1930)
- La Daphnie (1929)
- Hyas et stenorinques (1929)
- Les Oursins (1929)... aka Sea Urchins (USA)
- La Pieuvre (1928)... aka Devilfish (USA)
- L'œuf d'épinoche : de la fécondation à l'éclosion (1927)... aka The Stickleback's Egg (USA)
Sources
- A consequent interview on scientific cinema and research, edited in french Revue l'Education (1978) with some photos (tirage : 200 000 exemplaires)
- Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920's and 1930'sAvant-garde (dvd collection)Avant-Garde is a DVD-series with experimental films released by Kino International.-Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s:Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s is a 2-disc, 6-hour DVD collection, released in August 2005 by Kino International which includes the following...
- Les Independants du Cinéma, providing additional sources, (in French)
- These and memories on Anarchism, providing additional sources, (in French)
- The Kirscher Society : The Films of Jean Painleve
- Jean Painlevé at IMDB
- Les Archives Jean Painlevé (in French)
- Jean Painlevé'voice, in 1982, Paris for a project of book "The Son from". In this interview, Jean Painlevé explains how and why he was obliged to stop study medicine. His mentor made a crual human experience onto a poor man who was not seek…
- Photos of the shooting of the last movies of Jean Painlevé, "Les Pigeons du square" (1982).