Recently I suggested The Octopus (La Pieuvre), a short silent film by Jean Painleve from 1928 available for free at the Cinematheque Francaise website platform, Henri.

Now, a companion piece, The Hermit Crab (Le Bernard l'ermite), 1929, only 14 minutes, has been loaded and it is equally worth your while.

This is a charming film which totally anthropomorphizes the life and proclivities of the sea creature who inhabits homes which do not belong to it. It not only is a squatter in abandon shells, but actively kicks out current tenants in the most aggressive (but to our eyes, delightful) manner. It's a housing crisis of a very different kind.

The film highlights the crab's quest for shelter, and will give you a small bit of relief from events in Afghanistan and Haiti which have overwhelmed us and make me feel that no amount of any kind of art or creativity can mitigate what is truly an horrific state of affairs.