I had never heard of Jean Painlevé before poking around the France section of Filmstruck. Born in 1902, he was the son of the mathematician and French Prime Minister Paul Painlevé. He entered film with Michel Simon and made the first of his films, mostly about undersea life, in the 1920s. Wikipedia claims he directed over 200 films. The IMDb just over 40. Twenty-three were released in dvd by Criterion in 2009 as SCIENCE IS FICTION.
This short subject was released in 1928 or 1929, depending on what source you accept. The title "character" is the water flea, and we get to see her -- they're all females, reproducing parthenogenically (to the music of Canned Heat) -- in magnification up to 150,000 times. That's quite an accomplishment for 1928, or even 1929!
The rest of the movie is devoted to the animals that live on the water flea and the creature that lives on them.
This short subject was released in 1928 or 1929, depending on what source you accept. The title "character" is the water flea, and we get to see her -- they're all females, reproducing parthenogenically (to the music of Canned Heat) -- in magnification up to 150,000 times. That's quite an accomplishment for 1928, or even 1929!
The rest of the movie is devoted to the animals that live on the water flea and the creature that lives on them.
