Amphibian Man
A Soviet sci-fi novel about a man with shark gills.
Amphibian Man is a science fiction adventure novel by Soviet Russian writer Alexander Beliaev, published in 1928. It is notable for its exploration of human adaptation to the ocean and its enduring popularity, leading to a highly successful film adaptation.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Alexander Belayev
- Language
- Russian
- Genre
- Science fiction
- Released
- 1928
Facts from the source article.
Plot
As a prehistory, Argentinean doctor Salvator gives his adopted son Ichthyander a life-saving transplant of shark gills. The experiment succeeds but limits the young man to spending much time in water. The novel begins when Ichthyander, now grown, is noticed swimming and mistaken for a sea devil. Captain Pedro Zurita, a pearl gatherer, learns of him and tries to capture him for his diving abilities. Meanwhile, Ichthyander saves Zurita's daughter, who is the daughter of Zurita's helper Baltasar.
Origins
It is suggested that Belyayev borrowed the idea from the 1909 French novel The Man Who Can Live in Water by Jean de La Hire, also serialized in American newspapers as HICTANER The Man That Lived in the Water. In that novel, a villain named Fulbert uses a man with transplanted shark gills to sink ships for blackmail. Belyayev could not read French, but the novel appeared in Russian at least twice: in 1909 in the newspaper Zemshchina and in 1911 in the magazine Свет under the title Иктанэр и Моэзетта.
Adaptations
The 1962 film adaptation, directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov, was the leader of Soviet distribution that year with 65.5 million admissions initially, later reaching up to 100 million including re-runs, the highest for a Soviet film until The Red Snowball Tree in 1974. Filmed on the South Coast of the Crimea and in Baku, it featured beautiful young actors and song and dance numbers, with characteristics of a musical. Its first song, The song about the Sea Devil, remained popular into the 1990s. A 2004 Russian TV series of four episodes, The Amphibian Man. The Sea Devil, was loosely based on the novel and set in modern days.
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