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 (as Akira Kurosava)

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (screenplay) (as Akira Kurosava), Yuriy Nagibin (screenplay)

Stars:

Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, Mikhail Bychkov

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yuriy Solomin	...	Arsenev
Maksim Munzuk	...	Dersu Uzala
Mikhail Bychkov	...	Otryad Arseneva (as M. Bychkov)
Vladimir Khrulev	...	Otryad Arseneva (as V. Khrulev)
V. Lastochkin	...	Otryad Arseneva
Stanislav Marin	...	Otryad Arseneva (as S. Marin)
Igor Sykhra	...	Otryad Arseneva (as I. Sykhra)
Vladimir Sergiyakov	...	Otryad Arseneva (as V. Sergiyakov)
Yanis Yakobsons	...	Otryad Arseneva (as Ya. Yakobsons)
V. Khlestov	...	Otryad Arseneva
G. Polunin	...	Otryad Arseneva
V. Koldin	...	Otryad Arseneva
M. Tetov	...	Otryad Arseneva
S. Sinyavskiy	...	Otryad Arseneva
Vladimir Sverba	...	Otryad Arseneva (as V. Sverba)

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

siberia | hunter | explorer | russian | guide | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Mosfilm [Russia]

Country:

Soviet Union Japan

Language:

Russian Chinese

Release Date:

20 December 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dersu Uzala

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

The repeated cast character credit "Otryad Arseneva" just identifies each man as one of Arsenev's army detail ("otryad"). Arsenev is the only soldier named.

---

Goofs

When Dersu and Arsenev are looking at the 3/4 moon and the setting sun, the moon is in the wrong phase to appear in the sky at the same time as the sun.

---

Quotes

Dersu Uzala: How can man live in a box?

---

Connections

Referenced in Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)

User Reviews

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!