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CineRank

Jean Painlevé

Director · 41 credits · 24 in highly-rated films

Best known for Freshwater Assassins (1947)

Frequent collaborators: Geneviève Hamon

Best Jean Painlevé movies by genre

Directed movies (37 total, ranked by score)

  1. Freshwater Assassins

    1947 · ★ 6.3 (15 votes)

    Documentary

    1

  2. The Octopus

    1928 · ★ 6.4 (19 votes)

    Documentary

    2

  3. Sea Urchins

    1954 · ★ 6.3 (17 votes)

    Documentary

    3

  4. The Vampire

    1945 · ★ 6.5 (38 votes)

    Documentary

    4

  5. Shrimp Stories

    1964 · ★ 5.8 (17 votes)

    Documentary

    5

  6. Sea Urchins

    1929 · ★ 6.3 (22 votes)

    Documentary

    6

  7. Hyas and Stenorhynchus

    1929 · ★ 5.9 (25 votes)

    Documentary

    7

  8. Caprelles et Pantopodes

    1930 · ★ 7.0 (1 votes)

    Documentary

    8

  9. Bluebeard

    1936 · ★ 6.0 (20 votes)

    Animation, Music

    9

  10. Children's Play

    1946

    Music

    10

  11. Diatoms

    1968 · ★ 6.4 (14 votes)

    Documentary

    11

  12. Liquid Crystals

    1978 · ★ 7.0 (22 votes)

    Documentary

    12

  13. Pigeons in the Square

    1982 · ★ 6.2 (15 votes)

    Documentary

    13

  14. Calder's 1927 Great Circus

    1955 · ★ 7.0 (1 votes)

    Documentary, Family

    14

  15. The Sea Horse

    1935 · ★ 6.5 (29 votes)

    Documentary

    15

  16. Crabs and Shrimp

    1930 · ★ 7.3 (3 votes)

    Documentary

    16

  17. How Some Jellyfish Are Born

    1960 · ★ 6.4 (16 votes)

    Documentary

    17

  18. The Stickleback's Eggs

    1925 · ★ 5.6 (14 votes)

    Documentary

    18

  19. The Love Life of an Octopus

    1967 · ★ 6.7 (24 votes)

    Documentary

    19

  20. Hermit crab

    1929 · ★ 6.0 (3 votes)

    Documentary

    20

  21. Science Is Fiction: The Films of Jean Painlevé

    2007

    Documentary

    21

  22. Acera, or the Witches' Dance

    1972 · ★ 5.9 (17 votes)

    Documentary

    22

  23. Sea Ballerinas

    1956 · ★ 6.5 (11 votes)

    Documentary

    23

  24. Daphnia

    1928 · ★ 6.1 (22 votes)

    Documentary

    24

  25. Voyage to the Sky

    1937 · ★ 6.0 (21 votes)

    Documentary, Science Fiction

    25

  26. The Fourth Dimension

    1936 · ★ 6.2 (21 votes)

    26

  27. The Struggle for Survival

    1937 · ★ 6.1 (12 votes)

    27

  28. Similarities Between Length and Speed

    1937 · ★ 5.8 (13 votes)

    Documentary

    28

  29. The Sounds of Science

    2001 · ★ 6.2 (2 votes)

    Music, Documentary

    29

  30. Mathusalem

    1927 · ★ 4.6 (7 votes)

    30

Credits are ranked using the same weighted score as movie collections. Last updated Aug 29, 2026.