Dersu Uzala
by Akira Kurosawa
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dmitri Korshikov, Maksim Munzuk, Suimenkul Chokmorov, Svetlana Danilchenko, Yuri SolominDirector: Akira Kurosawa
Cinematographer: Asakazu Nakai
Cinematographer: Fyodor Dobronravov
Cinematographer: Yuri Gantman
Writer: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Nikolai Sizov
Producer: Yoichi Matsue
Writer: Vladimir Arsenyev
Writer: Yuri Nagibin
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Russian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 2.35:1
Running Time: 144 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-02
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Kino Video
Movie Reviews of Dersu Uzala
Movie Review: Someday I may rate it five stars.
Summary: 4 Stars
Someday I may rate this film five stars. I don't mean that to be a flip statement, but a reflection of the fact that sometimes our opinions have to be aged a bit before we can feel we have a firm understanding of the merits of a work of art. At this point I feel sure "Dersu Uzala" is an outstanding film, one in which I am willing to invest more attention to see if my appreciation grows. The reasons I think it may take time to fully appreciate this movie? There seem to me to be a lot of things suggested by symbolism in the film that are not overtly explained or clarified by action or dialogue. But, on the other hand, I may be misreading the symbolism or reading too much into it. Thus, the need for further investigation. For instance, I get a strong impression that the characters in the movie more or less all represent ideas or aspects of humanity larger than themselves. I think many reviewers have mentioned that this film was Kurosawa's first effort following a suicide attempt caused by rejection of some of his previous films. Knowing this fact alone would make you tend to suspect there might be traces of this spiritual struggle embodied as artistic statement in Dersu Uzala. The very fact that this story takes place in a wilderness, a place where you can easily become lost or disoriented, could have some connection to Kurosawa's state of mind when he attempted suicide. In an early scene the Russian explorers feel a sense of oppression at the desolation and loneliness of the landscape, which seems to harbor a malevolent force within it. At night their campfire weirdly illuminates the twisted tree branches and suggests a witches sabbath to the Russian captain. It seems reasonable to me there could be an identification here with the condition of soul Kurosawa had recently endured. Then, out of the darkness comes Dersu, a gnomish, rotund, archaic being full of practical wisdom, who becomes a guide and saviour for the fumbling Russians. Dersu seems to be an archtypal figure. Is he, perhaps, a personification of a spiritual force which Kurosawa summoned from his own inner being, a primeval instinct and will for survival? That is the primary concept which suggested itself to me as I watched the film, but of course, other interpretations are possible, and I may well be off the mark. The point is, though, that there is a subtlety to this story which suggests more than the somewhat simple surface story of a band of Russian cartographers exploring the Siberian wilderness, guided by a colorful aboriginal hunter. It is also well-known that Kurosawa lavished incredible attention on every scene to produce the effects he wanted, so it is likely there are very few noticeable details in this film that are not there for a very specific reason. Our attention is specifically directed to the way in which Dersu views the entire world of nature as being animated by spirit; how his harmony with the environment allows him to gather information from natural phenomena; and how this contrasts with the unappreciative and unobservant Russians, who, I would hazard a guess, represent civilized man more than Russians per se. I think it is important to try to see how the visual representation of the story might reinforce any of these concepts. I was somewhat surprised there were not more sweeping panoramic shots of the wilderness. For the most part, the camera view stays confined to a perspective of how we might see the people in the film if we were traveling with them. The main focus is on humans and their immediate surroundings. That there are few facial closeups seemed to me to reinforce the idea that he was not so much dealing with individuals as universals. All this is speculation, but these hints lead me to think that eventually a deeper and more comprehensive appreciation for the movie will settle out in my mind. For me, it will take more viewings to resolve this question. I may decide I was deluding myself about deeper meanings, but I am sure that the film can be enjoyed even on a surface level. Most people, I think, would be charmed by the friendship that arises between the refined Russian captain and the primitive hunter, with his earthy wisdom and basic decency. But viewed strictly as an adventure story, many folks used to the frenetic pace of modern Hollywood films might find the going pretty slow.
Summary of Dersu Uzala
Against a backdrop of the treacherous mountains, rivers and icy plains of the Siberian wilderness, acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (The Seven Samurai, Rashomon) stages an extraordinary adventure of comradeship and survival. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.During an unusual chapter in the career of director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon), the filmmaker went to Russia because he found working in his native Japan to be too difficult. The result was this striking 1975 near-epic based on the turn-of-the-century autobiographical novels of a military explorer (Yuri Solomin) who met and befriended a Goldi man in Russia's unmapped forests. Kurosawa traces the evolution of a deep and abiding bond between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the sub-zero Siberian woods. There's no question that Dersu Uzala (the film is named for the Goldi character, played by Maxim Munzuk) has the muscular, imaginative look of a large-canvas Soviet Mosfilm from the 1970s. But in its energy and insight it is absolutely Kurosawa, from its implicit fascination with the meeting of opposite worlds to certain moments of tranquility and visual splendor. But nothing looks like Kurosawa more than a magnificent action sequence in which the co-heroes fight against time and exhaustion to stay alive in a wicked snowstorm. For fans of the late legend, this is a Kurosawa not to be missed. --Tom Keogh
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