Painlevé.

a few months ago, criterion released a collection of 23 films by Jean Painlevé. i purchased them for daniel's birthday recently & we watched them this past weekend during a rainy day in the Catskills. the films were certainly worth the wait.

Painlevé's guidelines:

1. You will not make documentaries if you do not feel the subject.
2. You will refuse to direct a film if your convictions are not expressed.
3. You will not influence the audience by unfair means.
4. You will seek reality without aestheticism or ideological apparatus.
5. You will abandon every special effect that is not justified.
6. Trickery will be of no use unless the audience is your confidant.
7. You will not use clever editing unless it illustrates your good intentions.
8. You will not show monotonous sequences without perfect justification.
9. You will not substitute words for images in any way.
10. You will not be content with “close enough” unless you want to fail spectacularly.