Taris, roi de l’eau (1931) - film review

Jean Vigo

Documentary

Summary

A short documentary on the swimmer Jean Taris.

Review

Jean Vigo’s second film is partly a homage to French swimming champion Jean Taris (who appears in the film as himself) but mainly as an experiment into the possibilities of underwater film photography.

Despite its short runtime, Taris is beautifully filmed and provided a source of inspiration to future film makers, most notably Jean Cocteau.

The experience that Vigo himself gained whilst making this film enabled him to realise the famous underwater dream sequence in his subsequent film L’Atalante, one of the most captivating and extraordinary scenes in cinematographic history.

© James Travers 2000

Write a review for this film...

User Comments

What do you think of this film?

Useful links

Related links

To buy this film

Check DVD and Blu-ray availability:

amazon.co.uk amazon.fr amazon.com

Credits

Director: Jean Vigo
Script: Jean Vigo
Photo: Boris Kaufman
Cast: Jean Taris (Himself)
Country: France
Language: French
Runtime: 10 min; B&W
Aka: Jean Taris, Swimming Champion; La Natation par Jean Taris, champion de France; Taris, champion de natation

Similar films

If you like this film you may also like the following:

To buy Taris, roi de l’eau:

For the latest DVDs and books on French cinema...

A-Z