Dersu Uzala (1975)

The Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Vladimir Arsenev (book), Akira Kurosawa,

Stars:

Maksim Munzuk, Yuri Solomin, Svetlana Danilchenko

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

A Russian army explorer who is rescued in Siberia by a rugged Asian hunter renews his friendship with the woodsman years later when he returns as the head of a larger expedition. The hunter finds that all of his nature lore is of no help when he accompanies the explorer back to civilization.

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Plot Keywords:

hunter | explorer | russian | siberia | guide | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Soviet Union Japan

Language:

Russian Chinese

Release Date:

20 December 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dersoe Oezala

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 536,075 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Atelier 41, Daiei Studios, Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Sovcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Variety magazine, a Mosfilm spokesman stated that "artistic direction of the [film] will be left 100% to Kurosawa direction."

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Goofs

In the burial scene, the shadows of the actors make it clear that there is a fake backdrop.

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Quotes

Dersu Uzala: Fire angry, forest burn for many days. Fire get angry, frightful. Water get angry, frightful. Wind get angry, frightful. Fire, water, wind. Three mighty men.

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Connections

Remake of Dersu Uzala (1961)

User Reviews

Dersu!! Kapitan!!

A wonderful film. It showcases the natural beauty of the Taiga and presents a contrast between the technological and the pastoral. Dersu is one with the forest. He knows its ways and its moods. The Russians scoff at his ways and his 'primitive' belief system, but eventually come to rely on him, and even love him. It is a beautiful story that takes place in an world that very few of us in the West have had a chance to see. I thought the fact that the film was set in the pre-revolutionary period gave it a peculiar sort of charm - Russia before the Great War and the Russian Revolution was innocent and even naive, the same way the Russian soldiers were innocent of the wonders and the dangers of the Taiga. One of the things I loved most about this film was the cinematography - there are long, lingering shots of the landscape, the endless steppe, the forest, the rivers, the mountains. We believe ourselves to be powerful because we have been moderately successful in our attempts to harness nature for our own uses, but the film shows us that we are deluding ourselves, that nature cannot be controlled or resisted, and the truly powerful are those, like Dersu, who co-exist in harmony with nature and learn what the wilderness teaches.