L'Atlantide
About L'Atlantide
In 1911, Captain Morhange and Lieutenant Saint-Avit lose their way in the Sahara and reach Atlantis, ruled by Queen Antinéa. Lovers she tires of are killed and embalmed in gold. Morhange, who means to take holy orders, refuses her. She uses Saint-Avit’s jealousy. He kills Morhange, then recoils. Her secretary Tanit-Zerga gets him out. A patrol finds him near death. In Paris he cannot stay away. Three years later he goes back into the desert with another officer and tells the story. Jean Angelo plays Morhange. Georges Melchior plays Saint-Avit. Stacia Napierkowska plays Antinéa. Jacques Feyder directed.
Cast & crew
More about L'Atlantide
Feyder adapted Pierre Benoit’s novel. Louis Aubert distributed it. Georges Specht, Victor Morin, and Amédée Morrin photographed it. M. Jemain wrote the original score. The Paris premiere was at the Gaumont-Palace on 4 June 1921. A Marseille run at the Madeleine began on 30 September 1921. The original length is given as 4,000 metres, timed at 212 minutes. A Nederlands Filmmuseum restoration runs 163 minutes, from 3,708 metres. Marie-Louise Iribe plays Tanit-Zerga. France and Belgium share the production.
Themes
Making
Feyder shot the desert at Touggourt, in the Aurès, at Djidjelli, and in the Hoggar, then built interiors in a tent camp near Algiers.
Reviews
Louis Delluc said, “There is one great actor in this film, that is the sand,” objecting to Napierkowska. Jean Mitry later called it the first really successful postwar French film.
Audiences
Despite a running time near three hours, the film drew the public and raised Feyder’s standing.
Look
Georges Specht, Victor Morin, and Amédée Morrin shot the Sahara crossings and the gold mummies.
Music
M. Jemain wrote the score for the silent film.
Preservation
A restored copy from the Nederlands Filmmuseum runs 163 minutes. A file is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Most of the first visit is told as Saint-Avit’s flashback.
- A tent outside Algiers stood in for a studio.
- English-language releases used more than one title. This record keeps the French one.
- A Commons file names Feyder and the year.
Scenes
- Antinéa’s dead lovers stand embalmed in gold.
- Saint-Avit kills Morhange and then flees with Tanit-Zerga.
- He tells the story and goes back into the desert.
Influenced by
- Pierre Benoit’s novel L’Atlantide
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (L'Atlantide (1921) par Jacques Feyder.webm)
Quotes
There is one great actor in this film, that is the sand.
