Amphibian Man (film)

Amphibian Man
Soviet poster for Amphibian Man
Directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov
Gennadi Kazansky
Written by Alexander Beliaev (novel)
Akiba Golburt
Aleksei Kapler
Aleksandr Ksenofontov
Starring Vladimir Korenev
Anastasiya Vertinskaya
Mikhail Kozakov
Music by Andrei Petrov
Cinematography Eduard Rozovsky
Production
company
Distributed by BijouFlix Releasing
National Telefilm Associates (TV syndication)
Release date
 December 19, 1962
Running time
 82 min.
Country Soviet Union
Language Russian

Amphibian Man (Russian: Человек-амфибия, translit. Chelovek-amfibiya) is a 1962 Soviet science fiction romance film starring Vladimir Korenev and directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov and Gennadi Kazansky.

It is an almost fable-like story based upon the eponymous novel by Alexander Beliaev. It focuses on a youth named Ichthyander (Russian: Ихтиандр, Ichtiandr) (from Greek: fish+man) who was surgically altered to survive under the sea. Unlike traditional science fiction movies of the time the film focuses much more on the concept of love won and lost. It was given the name of Tarzan des Mers before the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs took exception.[1]

The film was the leader of Soviet distribution in 1962 (65.5 million viewers). It is little-known in the West, but has become a cult classic.[2][3]

Plot

The story is set in a seaside port in Argentina (but filmed in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR[4]), largely among a community of pearl fishers. The protagonist is the adopted son of a doctor/scientist who was sometime in the past forced to save the boy's life by implanting him with shark gills. Thus he is able to live under water, but must keep his secret from the world. The conflict arises from his falling in love with a pearl-fisher's beautiful daughter. His secret is discovered and the girl's stern father attempts to exploit Ichthyander for his ability. Due to being kept caged under water, his ability to breathe in the open air is affected, and he must now permanently live in the sea (at least for several years). Although set free, the lovers are permanently separated from each other.

Although ostensibly a lost-love-tragedy like Romeo and Juliet, the film has a significant focus on greed and commercial exploitation (of the pearl-greedy fishermen), possibly under the influence of Socialist Realism.[5]

Cast

Actor Role
Vladimir KorenevIchthyander (voiced by Yuri Rodionov)
Anastasiya VertinskayaGuttiere (voiced by Nina Gulyaeva)
Mikhail KozakovPedro Zurita
Anatoli SmiraninOld Baltazar
Nikolay SimonovProf. Salvator
Vladlen DavydovOlsen, the reporter
Sergei BoyarskyChief Prison Guard
Anatoli IvanovIchthyander understudy in the most challenging underwater shots
Stanislav Chekanprison guard
Nikolai Kuzminsailor
Mikhail Medvedevboatswain
Yuri Medvedevfishmonger
Anna NikritinaZurita’s mother
Tito Romalio Jr.newsboy
Georgi Tusuzovepisode
Aleksandr Zakharovpoliceman

Release

Home media

The Amphibian Man made its debut on DVD on August 21, 2001 where it was released by Image Entertainment. It was later re-released by VFN on July 9, 2015.[6]

See also

References

  • Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)

Notes

  1. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald "Movies" 25/9/2000 The Guide page 20 accessed via Ebbsco's Australia New Zealand Reference Centre
  2. ↑ "Человек-амфибия". Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
  3. ↑ Шахназаров 2000.
  4. ↑ Гизельдонское ущелье — Центральный Кавказ Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Новости NEWSru.com :: 45 лет назад на киноэкраны вышел «Человек-амфибия», собравший 60 млн зрителей
  6. ↑ "The Amphibian Man (1961) - Gennadiy Kazansky". AllMovie.com. Allmovie. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.