Dersu Uzala (1975)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Vladimir Arsenyev (book)
Akira Kurosawa (writer)

Release Date:

20 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

A Russian army explorer who is rescued in Siberia by a rugged Asiatic hunter renews his friendship with...

Plot Keywords:

Explorer | Hunter | Russian | Friendship | Siberia

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins

Cast

Maksim Munzuk	...	Dersu Uzala
Yuri Solomin	...	Captain Vladimir Arseniev
Svetlana Danilchenko	...	Mrs. Arseniev
Dmitri Korshikov	...	Wowa son of Arsenjev
Suimenkul Chokmorov	...	Jan Bao
Vladimir Kremena	...	Turtwigin
Aleksandr Pyatkov	...	Olenin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mikhail Bychkov		(as M. Bychkov)
Sovetbek Dzhumadylov
B. Khorulev
Nikolai Volkov

Also Known As:

Дерсу Узала (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Derusu Uzara (Japan)

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

Soviet Union | Japan

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color (Sovcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:U | Australia:G | Finland:K-3 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 | USA:G | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Atelier 41

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The rifle Captain Arseniev carries is a Winchester Model 1895 musket. The Russians acquired these rifles in 1915-1916, therefore the Captain most likely would not be issued a Winchester in 1905.

Quotes:

Dersu Uzala: Why man live in box?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Art!

Akira Kurosawa was a masterful director and powerful storyteller, Dersu has always been my favourite of his films. It was also the first I saw - on Christmas Day afternoon 1978 on UK BBC2 - would that they were as adventurous nowadays! Since then of course I've seen all of his films from Stray Dog on, Rashomon and Ran being especial favourites, but I keep on coming back to watch this one, ostensibly the simplest tale Kurosawa ever filmed.

The understanding and bonding that develops between the two men Arseniev and Dersu is wonderful to see, and over two hours holds your attention with expertly observed minutiae of character and scenic interplay. The last ten minutes cover a lot of ground (no pun intended) but it's all so logical and sad that I always need to see the end credits to recover.

So many marvellous scenes: the tiger in the forest in the morning; the phlegmatic reclusive old Chinaman; the raft; wispy blue shaded smoke from night-fires; the conclusion of course; the view of those two great men, the Moon and the Sun in the same shot. Not everyone would like Dersu, their most likely comments being "boring" - but how wrong they are they'll never know!

A film not fit to lick Dersu Uzala's metaphorical boots (or even Plan 9 from Outer Space's for that matter), Blazing Saddles was filmed the same year in America and a generation on still gets more praise than this poetic masterpiece!