Crew
Directors – V. Chebotaryov & A. Kazansky, Screenplay – A. Golburt, A. Kapler & A. Ksenofontov, Based on the Novel Amphibian Man (1928) by A. Belyaev, Photography – E. Rozovsky, Music – A. Petrov, Production Design – V. Ulitko & T. Vassilkovskaya. Production Company – Lenfilm.
Cast
V. Korenev (Ichthyander Salvatore), A. Vertinskaya (Gutiere Balthazar), M. Kozakov (Pedro Zurita), N. Simonov (Professor Salvatore), N. Smiranin (Balthazar), V. Davydov (Olsen)
Plot
Businessman Pedro Zurita manages a pearl diving operation in a small seaside town. The villagers who work for him are afraid of a creature they name the Sea Devil. Pedro is determined to marry Gutiere Balthazar, the beautiful daughter of his foreman. She refuses and jumps into the sea to swim away – only to be attacked by a shark. However, the Sea Devil comes to her aid and carries her up to the small boat where Pedro is following. The Sea Devil is Icthyander, the son of Professor Salvatore. Icthyander was affected with a disease but the professor created a set of lungs that have allowed Icthyander to breathe underwater. Icthyander wanders out onto the streets of the town for the first time but is innocent in the ways of the world. He is attracted to Gutiere and woos her, which she responds to, but Pedro is fiercely determined to marry her and imprisons Icthyander.
Amphibian Man was a film made in Soviet Russia. The Soviet era produced quite a body of cinema and a number of genre works, including several space exploration films, as well as introduced Andrei Tarkovsky to the world. (For a listing of genre films of this period see Soviet Cinema). Amphibian Man was made by Lenfilm, one of the two major studios of the Soviet era. It was apparently the highest grossing film of the Soviet era for many years, although did not enjoy wide release in the West. It is based on a 1928 novel by A. (Alexander) Belyaev, who published many science-fiction works between the 1920s and 40s and earned the sobriquet ‘The Russian Jules Verne.’
It is doubtful if Aquaman was known in the Soviet Union – 1961 was just after the Golden Age DC Comics character had been retconned to become Arthur Curry so it is a possibility. There are some claims that Amphibian Man influenced Guillermo Del Toro’s later The Shape of Water (2017) – people are clearly drawing an analogy to the story involving the merman romancing the heroine, although in Del Toro’s film the merman was definitely non-human but here is an ordinary human who can breathe underwater but looks like a regular person in every way when on land.
Usually Soviet films are noted only for their stocky anonymous leads – at least when it comes to Soviet science-fiction. So it is quite a surprise here where all of the leads have been chosen for their handsomeness. The amphibian man himself V. Korenev has impossibly pretty features, while A. Vertinskaya as Gutiere has great beauty and striking ice blue eyes. Even the villain of the piece M. Kozakov looks incredibly dapper in his goatee and some sharp fashion-conscious suits.
Most Soviet films of the era had an underlying political message. M. Kozakov is identified as the villain because he is a capitalist and readily bullies his employees, changes deals after the fact, and is prepared to dismiss all of the workers and employ the amphibian man instead. He also want to own the woman – and keeps her imprisoned in his house after they are married – whereas she is more attracted to the carefree Ichthyander and his obliviousness to modern society. Ichthyander is shown as a newborn innocent oblivious to notions like money or the monetary value of things like pearls. The scientist has the idea of creating an underwater democracy. The capitalist only desires to crush and jail the scientist and exploit the amphibian man, where the only end solution is for the freeing of Icthyander so he can go off to live in freedom “in Australia.”
In a lot of ways, Amphibian Man is a very Westernised film. When Icthyander ventures out into the world for the first time, we see a skyline filled with neon signage and advertising for various alcohols and he then breaks into a nightclub, neither of which would not have been familiar for Soviet society of this era. You almost get the impression you are in Cuba – from the look of the old style streets and cars, while most of the locals wear giant-sized sombreros, which must have been somebody’s idea of Latin America.
Amphibian Man becomes quite a magical film with directors V. Chebotaryov and A. Kazansky delighting in the underwater swim and Korenev’s flight across the rooftops. The film makes great use of colour and there are some fantastic sets – particularly imaginative being those for Salvatore’s lair.
Trailer here
Full film available here