Sometime back, the local Cinémathèque screened a number of Russian sci-fi classics. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to attend any of the screenings but I did add some of the more interesting selections to my queue and a few months later, I had a chance to catch up with Vladimir Chebotaryov and Gennadi Kazansky’s classic Russian sci-fi film Amphibian Man.

Based on Alexander Belyaev’s novel “The Amphibian”, the book and film told the story of a surgeon living in the Amazon who gives his son shark gills to survive a fatal respiratory disease. The young man’s underwater life is complicated when he saves a local fisherman’s daughter from a shark attack and the two fall in love. Chebotaryov and Kazansky’s film was a marvel to watch and even by today’s standards, the 60′s effects looked good rather than laughable and rather surprisingly considering I expected a load of camp, I thoroughly enjoyed the film’s walk between comedic moments and drama.

Now it looks like the classic story, originally written in 1928, will see another big screen adaptation. Stone Village Pictures has bought the film and publishing rights to the novel and are planning a film adaptation along with a new English translation of the novel as well as comic book and graphic novel adaptations.

Frankly, I’m actually looking forward to a modern retelling of the story and a new translation of the book is always a welcomed addition but a graphic novel and comics? Does Stone Village really think people will buy into this? As much as a movie would be great to see I’m not sure anyone would be interested in seeing this adapted as a comic book.

If you’re at all interested, the entire Russian film, all 90 some odd minutes of it, are available on YouTube complete with English subtitles. I highly recommend giving it a look-see; it’s well worth it.