This short film explores the unusual reproductive cycle of seahorses, where the female gives the male eggs for both fertilisation and birth. The film is replete with scientific detail: Jean Painlevé’s narration guides our attention, and even reveals the drumming heartbeat of a newborn seahorse.

From the great French biologist-turned-filmmaker comes this breathtaking jewel of underwater surrealism and one of Jean Painlevé’s most successful films. Marvel at the magical motions of this unique and curiously medieval creature: from the magnified growth of an embryo to an explosive male birth!