Atlantida (novel)
ISBN 978-1515126478 | | |
Atlantida (
The story inspired several films.
Plot summary
It is 1896 in the French Algerian Sahara. Two officers, André de Saint-Avit and Jean Morhange investigate the disappearance of their fellow officers. While doing so, they are drugged and kidnapped by a Targui warrior, the procurer for the monstrous Queen Antinea.
Antinea, descendant of the rulers of Atlantis, has a cave wall with 120 niches carved into it, one for each of her lovers. Only 53 have been filled; when all 120 have been filled, Antinea will sit atop a throne in the center of the cave and rest forever. Saint-Avit is unable to resist Antinea's charms. By her will, he murders the asexual Morhange. Ultimately, he is able to escape and get out of the desert alive.
Inspiration
According to some, Pierre Benoit was inspired, for the character of Antinea, by the Berber queen Tin Hinan.[2]
In the book Pierre Benoit also draws upon the memories of his youth. As the son of a colonel, he spent his early years in Tunisia, where his father was posted, and then attended school in Algeria. In Algeria, Pierre Benoit also fulfilled his military service. In an article in L'Écho de Paris dated 2 February 1920, Pierre Benoit explained:
From 1892 to 1907, I lived in Tunisia and in Algeria. Ever since my childhood, I had heard talk of Tuaregs, and my imagination was aroused by certain sombre stories, especially that of a mission into the African centre by two Frenchmen of whom only one returned, without anyone ever learning how his companion had perished.[3] This is the idea which is at the basis of Atlantida, there is no other."[4]
This statement follows an allegation by reviewer Henry Magden in October 1919 that Benoit had plagiarised Sir Henry Rider Haggard's novel She (1887); in the ensuing lawsuit for libel, Benoit stated this to be untrue as he could neither speak nor read English. Indeed, no French translation of Haggard's book had been available at the time.[5]
Film adaptations
The first film adaptation of L'Atlantide was made during 1920 (and released in 1921), directed by Jacques Feyder.
During 1932–1933, famed German film director
An American film version of the story was released in 1949 under the title
The Italian-made
A European co-production, Journey Beneath the Desert also filmed in 1961 was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who replaced an ailing Frank Borzage.
A 1972 French television film L'Atlantide was directed by Jean Kerchbron.
In 1992, another film adaptation of the novel was made, L'Atlantide, directed by Bob Swaim and starring Tchéky Karyo, Jean Rochefort, Anna Galiena, and the famous Spanish actor, Fernando Rey.
See also
- List of films made in Weimar Germany
References
- ^ "Forgotten Giant: Hoffman's Adventure" by Richard Bleiler. Purple Prose Magazine, November 1998, p. 3-12.
- ^ Elizabeth Kalta, Le mystère du Sahara et des hommes bleus
- ^ Affaire Quiquerez
- ^ cité par Jacques-Henry Bornecque, in Pierre Benoit le magicien, p.135.
- ^ "L'Atlantide".
- L'Atlantide.
- Bleiler, Everett(1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. p. 47.
- A facsimile of the 1920 English translation was published by Bison Books under the title Queen of Atlantis in 2005.
External links
- Atlantida at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
- Atlantida at Project Gutenberg
- L'Atlantide at Project Gutenberg (French version)
- L'Atlantide at Faded Page (Canada) (French version)
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
