Dersu Uzala
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Movie Reviews of Dersu Uzala
Movie Review: DERSU UZALA - A Kurosawa unlike none you have seen before
Summary: 5 Stars
Fans weaned on the "usual set of masterpieces" by Akira Kurosawa will no doubt be taken by surprise to see one without a samurai theme and without his favorite leading man Toshiro Mifune, and certainly the themes that have pervaded the themes of most films.
Dersu Uzala, a Russian production filmed entirely in Siberia was Kurosawa's comeback film (and what a comeback, with a 1975 Best Foreign film Oscar) after a low period that saw him even attempt suicide.
Dersu Uzala is a Goldi (Mongolian) jungle gypsy with a heightened sense of jungle survival knowledge who befriends an army captain on a Siberian mapping expedition and saves them from possible extinction without his help. In return, Dersu the jungle man is taken to the city to live with the Captain - a place where his survival instincts are worthless against a civilization that lives by modern technology and use of the gun.
In the ultimate analysis, its an essay on the nature of man Vs the context of modern civilization - how pristine survival instincts programmed since the dawn of human civilization is being progressively degraded and lost by the cocoon that creature comforts of modern civilization have spun created around us. There is definite sense of despair and nostalgia about this in the message of this film.
A must watch film with a serious message about humanity and most of all, about friendship and gratitude.
PS: Stay tuned for my next review of a '70s hit comedy that has an uncanny solidarity to the theme of Dersu Uzala. Yes, that one caught me by surprise too !.
Dersu Uzala - Collection Edition
Movie Review: "man small before the face of nature"
Summary: 5 Stars
Dersu Uzala is a memorable Russian film, a departure from one of movies' greatest directors, Kurosawa. The film earned the 1975 Academy Award for Best Foreign film. It is about survival within the force of nature and a commardiere of friendship, honor and duty.
During a topography expedition, Captain and few members of his troop embark into the Siberian wilderness and encounter an old man, Dersu Uzala, a nomadic tribesman who offers to guide them, knowing they will not survive against the brutal conditions of nature as he says, "man small before the face of nature". Beginning in 1902, the story is told through the writings of the Captain, and the time jumps to five years later.
During their trek, they encounter exhaustion, severe frost, hunger, and on a frozen marshland, the Captain and Dersu are separated from the others traveling on a boat. Dersu, with his survival knowledge saves the two from the bitter blowing cold by creating a hut out of the grass. Here, Captain believes Dersu saved his life. Dersu exhibits great insight and foresight.
In the later years when they meet up again, they encounter Chinese bandits, thick fog, traps, and surviving in rapid waters. Then life changes for Dersu, when he is forced to kill a tiger.
The imagery is spectacular with glowing sunrise, setting of the moon, cold blowing snow, dense fog, rapid waters, marshland, images of shadow and light in the jungle and the seasonal changes. Through this journey, two men endure a friendship to be remembered.
VHS - good viewing!
This review is from the VHS, which is clear with space for subtitles against black screen. It is easy to read without much dialogue. Rizzo
Movie Review: Kurosawa's most obscure and least Kurosawa-like film
Summary: 5 Stars
Dersu Uzala is the name of an indigenous hunter living in the cold and wilds of Siberia. The main character is a russian officer assigned to head an expedition of soldiers and cartographers to survey some of the Siberia's unexplored areas. The first night they settle down and build a campfire Dersu happens upon them and they offer him some food. In broken russian the main character talks with Dersu and hearing how well he knows the terrain he asks Dersu if he'd tag along with them and serve as their guide. Dersu accepts for the company and for a handful of bullets which he'll receive later (as ammunition was scarce in the wilderness). The rest of the story plays out like a modern day version of "Deer Slayer" with Dersu playing the knowledgable and noble savage and the main character playing the slightly naive but capable civilized gentleman. Kurosawa's hand can be seen in the long still sequences that show the vastness and beauty of nature. Siberia is used as a surrogate for the majestic untamed wilderness and forests of Fennimore Cooper, ironically showing civilization moving eastwards instead of westwards. The story moves very slowly with intermittant voice over sequences by the main character describing what happens as if he were a narrator from a book, a very un-Kurosawa-like quality. Kurosawa doesn't usually use main-character voiceovers. He usually shows the action or uses wordless plainly readable editted sequences. Dersu Uzala is his most conventional film; a must-see for the avid Kurosawa buff but maybe a movie you can pass on by if you're looking for something more in the vein of a classic Kurosawa work.Movie Review: Startling visuals, beautifully-drawn characters, memorable scenography
Summary: 5 Stars
I keep coming back to this movie as one of the great examples of cinematic story-telling. Kurosawa's methods are perfectly suited to the medium. The movie is neither literary nor theatrical. It is perfectly cinematic: the camera does what narration would in other art-forms: it sets the stage, it opens us to the characters, it transports us from the sofa to Siberia... One can almost smell the forest duff, hear the drone of mosquitoes, feel the stabbing cold of the Siberian snow-storm. The snow-storm scene must be among the greatest ever filmed: immediate, frightening, unflinching; the desperation of the characters is palpable, and I felt as fully invested in their moment of terror as I ever have in any film.
These sensations are unsettlingly real, made more so by the totally convincing rendering of the two main characters, a Soviet [or Czarist?] army captain and the Siberian guide he befriends. There is little dialogue, and little dramatic acting per se. Rather, the actors seem to inhabit their roles almost to the complete exclusion of the camera and the director, as though he had happened upon these two in the woods, and managed to film them out of sight in the trees. I'd swear their joy at reuniting after a separation is totally unfeigned.
A great movie all around.
Movie Review: Wonderful movie and profound art.
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't agree with the complaints about picture quality. Our copy had excellent picture and sound except for the first 30 seconds or so. The cogent subtitles were highly visible yellow below the wide screen picture. We have the "Delux Letterbox Edition". Maybe the bad picture quality was in earlier Kino releases. The story is intriguing. I was moved to laughter, joy, and almost to tears throughout this wonderful film. The themes of aging, friendship across cultures, loyalty, and individual and societal transformation are handled with typical Kurosawa profundity, insight, and pathos. Perhaps more than any other director, Kurosawa gets the little details right, especially regarding relationships and the way a person's motivation and behavior are determined to a large degree on their history and their quest for wholeness. Dersu Uzala often reminded me of Kurosawa's early films in this regard.
The cinematography was wonderful. The Siberian wilderness was shown as a beautiful and compelling Garden of Eden, soon to be destroyed by the evils of civilization. Ironically, one of the protagonists was a surveyor, a decent and caring man whose survey was to be used to destroy the wild paradise he and Dersu traveled through.
Rent it, and then buy it. If you love Kurosawa's work, just buy it.