Dersu Uzala

1977 "There is man and beast at nature's mercy. There is awe and love and reverence. And there is the man called..."
8.2| 2h21m| G| en| More Info
Released: 20 December 1977 Released
Producted By: Mosfilm
Country: Soviet Union
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.

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Director

Akira Kurosawa

Production Companies

Mosfilm

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Dersu Uzala Audience Reviews

Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
firedog-48818 I too loved this movie when I saw in cinema, I have just bought a copy from Amazon and hope with my wide screen TV that it will give a satisfactory viewing. I was so impressed with the relationship between the two main characters and considering that this movie was made during the height of the Cold War in an area of Russia that was very restricted to visit, it is a wonder that it was ever made. I wonder if Russian censors ever got to see this film as it shows an official wavering between duty and his personal sense of right and wrong.It has subtitles but do not let that put you off watching this marvelous film that has spectacular scenery and dynamic interplay between the protagonists plus a political comment (between the lines) about Russia of the time and the world in general when first world meets third world... {:~)
gavin6942 The Russian army sends an explorer (Yury Solomin) on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter (Maxim Munzuk).In 1971, in true samurai fashion, Kurosawa attempted suicide due to a bad moment of his career, questioning his creative ability after the commercial failure of "Dodes'ka-den" the year before, and the subsequent denial of funds for his productions by Japanese studios. Luckily, he survived.How crazy this is. Apparently he had wanted to adapt the story to a Japanese setting, but ended up with the original Russian tale with Russian actors and crew. Did Kurosawa speak Russian? Did they speak Japanese? The sheer logistics of bringing this production to fruition is impressive.
Koundinya Winner, Best Foreign Language Film, 1976.Kurosawa's best film in color. It is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. Kurosawa takes you to the colorful and picturesque forests of Siberia; a treat to sore eyes.Dersu, a hunter in the forest, is a true son of the forest. He converses with all the life forms and treats them as fellow men with respect and fear. The soldiers ridicule his old-fashioned behavior but the captain sees him more than his customs- as a professional hunter and a guide. Dersu leads the troop into the Siberian forests, leaves them spellbound with his perfect aiming of the gun and his ever-alert ears that would sense even the faintest of the sounds. Dersu saves the life of the captain when they get lost and are caught in a fierce storm and the design of the cave-like-structure that saved captain's life further increases the admiration the captain has towards Dersu.Years later, the captain leads another troop on an exploration into the forest and the soldiers happen to meet Dersu. Dersu becomes a senile, crotchety codger and his sharp eyesight diminishes. He is persuaded by the captain to rest at his place in the town but he feels he doesn't fit among the fast-moving and weird world where people pay for water. He is later found dead after being killed by a thief who stole the gun gifted by the captain and the captain performs the obsequies in respect for their friendship.
ShannonTriumphant Yes, it sounds corny, but "Dersu Uzala" is (to me) really a love story as well as one of friendship; I cannot think of a more complete, platonic love between two friends. Just think of the scene in which Dersu and the "Capitan" spy one another through the dense woods, reunited after years, and rush towards one another, shouting each other's names. It was a giddy moment, and tearful.As much as these two very different men bond, they remain different. Though Arseniev is changed dramatically by Dersu's influence (as are his men, to some extent), Dersu remains pretty much the same. He is organic, part of his wild environment, as much as the trees, rivers or animals. His inner thoughts, though partly understood by Arseniev, remain largely a mystery to the sensitive Captain. In some ways, I think the latter likes this better than knowing all about Dersu, as if he ever could.Much has been made of the stunning scenery and Kurosawa's "lingering" way of filming it, which was so perfect. There were also very intense scenes, in which the two men were pitted against the very active forces of nature, such as a snowstorm and a raging river, not to mention the mysterious and symbolic tiger that stalks them. Add to all that the humor that bubbles up regularly, from both men, usually in surprise at the odd way the other does things, and you have a very dynamic film, despite its apparent tranquility. One of my favorite scenes is the Christmas encampment, in which the men have decorated a tree with various things like tin cans, forks and even chunks of ice. It signifies the turning point, especially for Dersu. At first it is comical, but this is also when he becomes obsessed with the tiger's "ghost".I can't imagine anyone finding the pace of this film "slow"; it is just right. Any faster and we would have "The Edge" instead (which makes me wonder if some of that was inspired by "Dersu Uzala"). Not that the latter film was bad--I actually like it quiet a bit--but it is no "Dersu Uzala"; few films ARE.-SPOILER- I agree with the person who wrote that Dersu's death seems appropriate; for, once his sight was almost gone, how could he live in his natural environment? And he could not handle modern, city life. It was the only way out for him, though quite sad. To me, it symbolized the death of the old hunter-gatherer culture across the world, and the "triumph" of industrialization. Even Arseniev, despite his respect for Dersu, makes no attempt to change his modern lifestyle to go live in the wild. He is content to be part of the 20th Century.The fact that the two men bond so deeply WITHOUT becoming like one another or trying to imitate each other to any great extent, is what makes this a love story, I think, and a tragic one. They know that they can never live in one another's worlds for long, try as they may.Some have compared Dersu Uzala to Yoda, but I think the old man would laugh at this. Unlike Yoda, he did not seem to see himself as particularly special, which was part of his charm. He reminds me more of Jeremiah Johnson or later, Lt. Dunbar, or better yet, Kicking Bird in "Dances with Wolves". He craves simplicity and merely living off the land, not wisdom, nor even enlightenment, as Westerners see it. Perhaps that's because he already has it.