Aquanauts (film)
A Soviet sci-fi film about deep-sea mystery and a giant manta.
Aquanauts (Акванавты) is a 1980 Soviet science fiction film directed by Igor Vosnesensky. It is based on the story of the same name by Sergei Pavlov.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Igor Vosnesensky
- Writer
- Sergei Pavlov; Igor Vosnesensky
- Starring
- German Poloskov
- Alexander Yakovlev
- Irene Azer
- Music
- Yevgeny Krylatov
- Cinematography
- Aleksander Filatov; Georgiy Zelenin
- Editing
- G. Dmitriyeva
- Studio
- Gorky Film Studio
- Released
- 11 October 1980, Soviet Union, 22 May 1981, East Germany
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The Deuterium 1010 station in the Indian Ocean extracts heavy water for nuclear power plants. Its service staff includes two aquanauts. After a rescue mesoscaphe surfaces with only one aquanaut, Jacques Dumont, who suffers a nervous breakdown, the station's deuterium production stops. The second aquanaut, Vilem Pasic, remains at the bottom and is presumed dead. Igor Sobolev from the research vessel Taimyr and the third hydrocombist, Sven Ball, descend to investigate. They encounter a strange intelligent giant oceanic manta ray. The manta's intelligence originates from an accidental copying of the consciousness matrix of Professor Kerom's daughter, Lotta, who was Sobolev's bride and died in a car accident. The matrix was aboard an unmanned aircraft that crashed over the ocean; a manta pup entered the wreckage and was placed in the automatic copy machine.
Production
The film features numerous underwater scenes, all shot near the southern coast of Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea. The Deuterium-1010 submarine station set was built in three stages: the bearing part in the nearest port, the compartments at the Yalta film studio, and final assembly in the port. The Skif crane delivered the construction to Maly Atlesh Bay, the main film set. A decommissioned military board served as the sunken airplane prop, dumped from a cliff and pulled by a winch under a natural tunnel arch. The mechanical manta doll, constructed at the film studio, had a metal frame with five lever elements controlling the wings. It measured 3.5 m long with a 5 m wingspan and weighed 350 kg. A sealed DC motor powered the design via a cable hidden in the tail. The frame was covered with rubber bands, foam rubber, and napless material; internal foam blocks provided neutral buoyancy. Most underwater episodes were filmed from a specially built habitable module with portholes offering a circular view. The cameraman's room, supplied with compressed air through a hose, was designed for depths up to 12 m without decompression after each ascent. The module could be repositioned by the base ship and was later used for other films.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Aquanauts (film)?
Aquanauts stars German Poloskov, Alexander Yakovlev and Irene Azer.
Who composed the music for Aquanauts (film)?
The music for Aquanauts was composed by Yevgeny Krylatov.
How long is Aquanauts (film)?
Aquanauts has a running time of 80 minutes.
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