How Some Jellyfish Are Born
1960 · 14 min · ★ 6.4 · Documentary
At a marine biology station, a clump of algae reveals polyps, stomachs with limbs, limbs with buds, buds with poison cells. This animal reproduces by buds, which we watch close up in time-lapse images. In another kind of jellyfish, the buds grow inside then live outside for a few days until being on their own. Another produces eggs, sometimes self-fertilized. Some single eggs become buds with colonies. Another clump gathered at low tide consists of filaments of a colony - plumes with poison ends. In images taking 72 hours, we see filaments grow and produce a feeding organ from which a plume emerges. New jellyfish emerge from buds twice a day at set times to form a new colonies.
Directed by Jean Painlevé
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Blood of the Beasts · 1949Blood of the Beasts
★ 7.51949
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An early example of ultra-realism, this movie contrasts the quiet, bucolic life in the outskirts of Paris with the harsh, gory conditions inside the nearby slaughterhouses. Describes the fate of the animals and that of the workers in graphic detail.
Liquid Crystals · 1978Liquid Crystals
★ 7.01978
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Title cards introduce images we watch without narration; they are displays of shape and color. François de Roubaix's electronic music accompanies these images, photographed under a polarizing microscope. The crystals appear to move like tiny organisms: small four-part fans share the frame with flowing lines of pink. Multiple patterns appear side by side.
The Evil Eye · 1937The Evil Eye
★ 7.01937
MovieDramaRomance
When a wanderer arrives in a village in the East Flanders countryside, strange events begin to unfold. The villagers, unsettled by his presence, come to believe he is an evil spirit. In truth, he is searching for his long-lost lover. Years ago, the two of them had committed a terrible crime: the killing of an illegitimate child. They had then planned to end their own lives by drowning. Yet the wanderer failed to keep his part of the pact and survived the suicide attempt. Ever since, he has been desperately seeking the woman he once loved, haunted by the past that refuses to let him go.
Hermit crab · 1929Hermit crab
★ 6.81929
MovieDocumentary
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The Love Life of an Octopus · 1967The Love Life of an Octopus
★ 6.71967
MovieDocumentary
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 female; he inserts his third arm in her respiratory cavity. We watch another pair: a larger female is the aggressor here. Mating is repeated over hours and days. The female releases strings of fertilized eggs that hang from the roof of a nest. She guards her spawn for a month, fanning the strings to circulate water for oxygen and cleanliness.
The Sea Horse · 1935The Sea Horse
★ 6.61935
MovieDocumentary
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 bulge houses organs including an air ballast. Three fins propel this fish. We see a female place her eggs in a male's pouch where they are fertilized and nurtured until birth in violent contractions. Inside the pouch are nurturing blood vessels. We then follow the growth of an embryo, greatly magnified: we examine its heart beating and its dorsal fin moving. Young sea horses attach themselves to each other. The film ends with images of many sea horses moving on the ocean floor, superimposed on a horse race.
The Vampire · 1945The Vampire
★ 6.51945
MovieDocumentary
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The Octopus · 1928The Octopus
★ 6.51928
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★ 6.51947
MovieDocumentary
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★ 6.51956
MovieDocumentary
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Sea Urchins · 1929Sea Urchins
★ 6.41929
MovieDocumentary
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★ 6.41968
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Sea Urchins · 1954Sea Urchins
★ 6.31954
MovieDocumentary
Underwater photography, magnified close-ups, and film through microscope present the sea urchin, a complex creature. We see their mouth and five teeth close and open. After injecting one with gelatin, the shell is removed and we see the muscle structure, digestive tube, and reproductive organs. Magnified stems reveal suction cups; stems lengthen and contract allowing the sea urchin to move. We see microscopic calcareous stems; at their ends are jaws with various uses. Cilia everywhere are in constant motion, stirring up water and debris. African music on the soundtrack suggests a shuffle dance.
Voyage to the Sky · 1937Voyage to the Sky
★ 6.21937
MovieDocumentaryScience Fiction
We begin on planet Earth, with a demonstration of measuring distances using triangulation. Then, an imaginary voyage begins from earth to the moon, on to Mars, Saturn, the closest star (besides the sun), and beyond to the edge of our universe. The film depicts imagined landscapes, and it speculates on universes beyond ours. It ends with philosophical musings about the significance of Earth.
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★ 6.11936
MovieAnimationMusic
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 of a widow with two daughters. He's greatly feared, but he overcomes objections with a generous dowry. One sister (Anne) refuses him; the other accepts. At his castle, the damsel delights in precious minutes away from Bluebeard in the rose garden. The Saracens declare war; Bluebeard goes off to fight them, leaving the keys to the castle in the damsel's hands. He warns her not to enter the forbidden room. As war rages, she discovers riches in the castle and then enters the forbidden room. Will Bluebeard discover her act? Can she escape death?
Daphnia · 1928Daphnia
★ 6.11928
MovieDocumentary
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 turns in all directions. Antennae enable daphnia to move: in a close up magnified 150,000 times, we see the muscles of the antennae pulse. We see the eye, the nerve mass, blood globules, and the heart, beating several times per second. The intestine forms a long line. All are females; eggs develop above the intestine. New generations come rapidly. Inside each daphnia are tiny infusoria; we watch them clean the intestine of a dead daphnia. An enemy, the hydra, approaches. A daphnia dies, but many remain.
