Dersu Uzala (1977)

Friendship blossoms between a Russian army captain and a local hunter he recruits to guide his soldiers through the wilderness in this Akira Kurosawa epic filmed on location in the Soviet Union. The film benefits from Kurosawa's eye for natural beauty when it comes to vast landscapes untouched by civilisation, however, what really drives the film is the bond that develops between the main characters - and in spite of other soldiers ridiculing the local hunter behind his back. This very real bond leads to an especially engaging final quarter in which the captain tries to give the hunter a better life by inviting him to live with him, only to discover that despite their deep friendship, they each want something different out of life ("how do you live inside a box?"). The first three quarters of the film are not quite as compelling as this final section, but they are still engaging enough as the two main characters survive through harsh conditions, coming to appreciate each other just a little more in the process. The movie may have benefited from less focus on the other soldiers who are rather dull and ultimately interchangeable, and yet, they serve as an acute counterpoint to their captain who is able to see past stereotypes and racial prejudice and recognise right away the skills, talent and humanity of the hunter who, in some ways, is more civilised than the soldiers who mock him.

I term it as a 'masterpiece' ! Being a Nature adorant, the blissful AND intimidating aspects of the Nature were a treat for me. Sadly, there aren't many(any?) movies that focus on the mankind's ambitious projects like surveying but this movie has an adequate depiction of the perils faced by the surveyors. Dersu's skills alarmed the timid person inside me who has been afraid for years regarding the lack of survival skills if sent out away from the civilization ! The movie impeccably underlines the timeless truth - the one staying close and integrated with Nature, knows how the Life on the planet should be respected !!! The plot is strong, the actors have done their parts flawlessly and the cinematography is majestic. Dersu's instincts, the naive but warm-hearted and cheerful soldiers, the sober and emotional captain Arsenyev, the Chinese hermit all touch the Heart. At the beginning of the first expedition, the soldiers sing a song, then Dersu arrives and at the end of the expedition, they sing the same song and that is when the viewer realizes that it, in a way, depicts the hunter Dersu. When the captain is merry on meeting Dersu during the second expedition, the fellow soldiers sing a song about a grey(aging!) eagle which is a pleasant humor. Maxim Munzuk has portrayed all the simple, yet, deep emotions of a benevolent man living in the wilderness - the pangs of his family loss, the respect for Nature and other living beings, the shock and grief of loss of strength due to aging, a man from the wild feeling smothered in the civilization and the brave decision to go back to the wild even if it means death.Yes, one cannot ignore the perpetual dark mood of the film, I speculate it as a result of Kurosawa's melancholic and unstable mental state just before he begun directing the film. To summarize, the movie will go as a pearl in (my brain's memory)box ...

The Russian army sends an explorer (Yury Solomin) on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter (Maxim Munzuk).In 1971, in true samurai fashion, Kurosawa attempted suicide due to a bad moment of his career, questioning his creative ability after the commercial failure of "Dodes'ka-den" the year before, and the subsequent denial of funds for his productions by Japanese studios. Luckily, he survived.How crazy this is. Apparently he had wanted to adapt the story to a Japanese setting, but ended up with the original Russian tale with Russian actors and crew. Did Kurosawa speak Russian? Did they speak Japanese? The sheer logistics of bringing this production to fruition is impressive.

From director Akira Kurosawa (Ikiru, Seven Samurai), this Russian film featuring in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die was one that sounded like an interesting watch, I was surprised some critics only gave it three out of five stars and more sources give it higher praise, so I was interested which opinion I would gain. Basically, set in 1902, an army of Russian soldiers are on an expedition and under the command of Captain Vladimir Arseniev (Yuri Solomin) they are assigned to explore Siberia, and as they trek through the forests they meet Goldi (Nanai) hunter Dersu Uzala (Maksim Munzuk). Captain Arseniev becomes good friends with Dersu Uzala and he is invited to become the guide for the explorers to tread through the forest to Khanka Lake, and as they continue their journey the Captain finds his new friend has a beautiful soul. One time the two friends are caught in open space where the temperature will drop dramatically, and they only have a field of straw that they can cut down and use to make shelter, and after they survive this the hunter says goodbye to move on. Five years pass, and the army are assigned to head for the Ussuri River for another expedition, and Captain Arseniev is happy to meet up with Dersu Uzala again in the forest, and he once again joins them to become guide for the group, but he is much older and his eyesight has become problematic. The Captain invites the hunter to Khabarovsk City to live with his family so they can look after him for a while, but the old man finds it very difficult to adapt to an urban lifestyle, so he returns to life in the forest,l and as a parting gift he gives his friend a new weapon, a rifle. Five years later in Korfovskaïa the body of a man has been brought in and Captain Arseniev is called to identify it, they only have a calling card as any indication of his identity, they are sure it may be Dersu Uzala, he confirms it is and that he must have been killed for the weapon. Also starring Aleksandr Pyatkov as Olenin, Vladimir Kremena as Turtwigin, Suimenkul Chokmorov as Jan Bao, Svetlana Danilchenko as Anna Arseniev and Dmitri Korshikov as Vova. Solomin gives a nice gentle performance as the leader of the small army group, but Munzuk almost steals the show with his wonderfully wise and charismatic performance as the wild hunter who has great knowledge for survival techniques, I can sort of agree that there are shots where we are looking at something for a period of time, like a field, snowy places or forest trees, but I think these moments are interesting besides the action sequences and whatever, I found it a great poetic period drama. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Very good!