''Amphibian Man'' (, translit. Chelovek-amfibiya) is a 1962

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

starring Vladimir Korenev and directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov and Gennadi Kazansky. The film stars Vladimir Korenev and Anastasiya Vertinskaya in the lead roles. The plot is based upon the eponymous 1928 novel by Alexander Beliaev. It focuses on a youth named ''Ichthyander'' (, Ichtiandr) (from Greek: fish+man) who was surgically altered to survive under the sea. It was given the name of ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

des Mers'' before the estate of

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

took exception. The film was the leader of Soviet distribution in 1962, with 65.5 million admissions during its initial run that year. It later sold up to 100million admissions including re-runs, the highest for a Soviet film up until '' The Red Snowball Tree'' (1974).Interview with Boris Pavlenok, deputy director of the USSR GosKino
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Plot

The story is set in a seaside port in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(filmed in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan SSR), largely among a community of

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

fishers. The protagonist, Ichthyander, is the adopted son of a doctor-scientist, Doctor Salvator, who saved the boy’s life by implanting him with shark

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s, granting him the ability to live underwater. However, Ichthyander must keep this secret from the world. His peaceful existence changes when he rescues Guttiere, a pearl fisher's beautiful daughter, from a shark. Captivated by her, Ichthyander ventures into the city to find her, only to learn that she believes her savior was the greedy businessman Pedro Zurita. Conflict arises as Zurita, Guttiere's suitor and eventual husband, discovers Ichthyander’s secret and seeks to exploit his underwater abilities to harvest pearls. Ichthyander is captured and kept caged underwater, which damages his ability to breathe on land. Although he is eventually freed with the help of allies, his health deteriorates to the point where he must live permanently in the sea. Guttiere, meanwhile, is freed from her unhappy marriage when her father kills Zurita, but the lovers are tragically separated forever. Although primarily a lost-love tragedy akin to ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', the film also critiques greed and the exploitation of natural resources, reflecting the influence of Socialist Realism.Новости NEWSru.com :: 45 лет назад на киноэкраны вышел «Человек-амфибия», собравший 60 млн зрителей
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Cast

Home media

''The Amphibian Man'' made its debut on DVD on August 21, 2001 where it was released by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

. It was later re-released by VFN on July 9, 2015.

Western world

''Amphibian Man'' is little-known in the West, but has become a cult classic. Hollywood filmmaker

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

cited ''Amphibian Man'' as one of his favourite Russian films, stating that he grew up watching an English dubbed version often shown on American television in the 1970s. There have been accusations that the 2017 Hollywood film, '' The Shape of Water'', plagiarised ''Amphibian Man''. ''Indie Cinema Magazine'' noted that both have a similar plot, the use of the name "Amphibian Man" in both films, the Soviet connection in both stories, and the 1962 setting.

References

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

Notes

Sources

External links

* *
Amphibian Man (with English subtitles)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amphibian Man, The 1962 films 1960s science fiction adventure films 1960s science fiction drama films 1960s adventure drama films 1962 romantic drama films Lenfilm films 1960s Soviet films 1960s Russian-language films Soviet science fiction adventure films Soviet science fiction drama films Soviet adventure drama films Soviet romantic drama films Films shot in Baku Transhumanism in film Films directed by Gennadi Kazansky Films scored by Andrey Petrov Films based on Russian novels Films based on science fiction novels Films shot in Crimea Films based on works by Alexander Belyaev Fiction about organ transplantation Russian-language science fiction drama films Russian-language adventure drama films Films set in Argentina