Dersu Uzala (1975 film)
Encyclopedia
Dersu Uzala is a 1975 Soviet-Japan
ese co-production
film directed by Akira Kurosawa
, his first non-Japanese-language film and his first and only 70 mm film. The film won the Grand Prix at the Moscow Film Festival and the 1975 Oscar
for Best Foreign Language Film
. The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala
by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev
, about his exploration of the Sikhote-Alin
region of Siberia
over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century.
The film is almost entirely shot outdoors in the ruggedly beautiful Siberian wilderness. As with most of Kurosawa's work, each frame is carefully composed to form a dramatic picture. The film explores the theme of a native of the forests who is fully integrated into his environment, leading a style of life that will inevitably be destroyed by the advance of civilization. It is also about the growth of respect and deep friendship between two men of profoundly different backgrounds, and about the difficulty of coping with the loss of strength and ability that comes with old age.
The film sold 20.4 million tickets in the Soviet Union and made $1.2 million in the US and Canada.
in Ussuri region
in 1902. A topographic expedition troop, led by Captain Arseniev (Yuri Solomin), encounters a nomadic, aboriginal Nanai tribesman named Dersu Uzala (Maxim Munzuk
) who agrees to guide them through the harsh frontier. Initially viewed as an uneducated, eccentric old man, Dersu earns the respect of the soldiers through his great intelligence, accurate instincts, keen powers of observation, and deep compassion. He repairs an abandoned hut and leaves provisions in a birch container so that a future traveler would survive in the wilderness. He deduces the identities and situations of people by analyzing tracks and articles left behind.
Dersu Uzala saves the lives of Captain Arseniev and one of his men not once, but twice. First, when a sudden blizzard overtakes Dersu and the Captain, Dersu shows Arseniev how to quickly build a straw hut for shelter using grass. The two men avoid freezing to death and are discovered by the rest of their comrades when the blizzard clears. Five years later in 1907, Dersu and Captain Arseniev again find each other in the wilderness. When Dersu and Arseniev fall into swift moving currents while crossing a river in a raft, Dersu forces Arseniev to swim while the raft is close to shore then directs the party to cut a tree which can reach him before he drowns.
At the end of the expedition, he leaves the soldiers by the railroad tracks and returns to wilderness, only to encounter Arseniev again, years later, on another surveying expedition. However, Dersu's eyesight and other senses begin to fade with age. Dersu is no longer able to hunt, and the Siberian tiger stalking the old man comes very close until Dersu shoots at the predator. Captain Arseniev decides to take Dersu with him to the city of Khabarovsk. Dersu quickly discovers that he is not permitted to chop wood or to build a hut and fireplace in the city park, nor is he allowed to shoot within the city limits. The constables often bring Dersu back to the house, and one day he asks to leave the city and return to living in the hills. As a parting gift, Arseniev gives him a new rifle.
Some while later, Arseniev receives a telegram informing him that the body of a Goldi has been found, with no identification on him save Arseniev's calling card, and is requested to come identify the body. Arseniev finds that it is indeed Dersu. The officer who found Dersu speculates that someone may have killed Dersu to obtain the new rifle that Arseniev gave him.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese co-production
International co-production
An international co-production is a production where two or more different production companies are working together, for example in a film production...
film directed by Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, his first non-Japanese-language film and his first and only 70 mm film. The film won the Grand Prix at the Moscow Film Festival and the 1975 Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala
Dersu Uzala
Dersu Uzala is the title of a 1923 book by the Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev.-Plot:Arsenyev's book tells of his travels in the Ussuri basin in the Russian Far East. Dersu was the name of a Nanai hunter who acted as a guide for Arsenyev's surveying crew from 1902 to 1907, and saved them from...
by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev
Vladimir Arsenyev
Vladimir Klavdiyevich Arsenyev was a Russian explorer of the Far East who recounted his travels in a series of books - "По Уссурийскому Краю" and "Дерсу Узала" - telling of his military journeys to the Ussuri basin with Dersu Uzala, a native hunter, from 1902 to 1907...
, about his exploration of the Sikhote-Alin
Sikhote-Alin
The Sikhote-Alin is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about 900 km to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok...
region of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century.
The film is almost entirely shot outdoors in the ruggedly beautiful Siberian wilderness. As with most of Kurosawa's work, each frame is carefully composed to form a dramatic picture. The film explores the theme of a native of the forests who is fully integrated into his environment, leading a style of life that will inevitably be destroyed by the advance of civilization. It is also about the growth of respect and deep friendship between two men of profoundly different backgrounds, and about the difficulty of coping with the loss of strength and ability that comes with old age.
The film sold 20.4 million tickets in the Soviet Union and made $1.2 million in the US and Canada.
Plot
The film opens to a forest that is being cleared for development, and Arseniev searching for an unmarked grave. The film then flashes back to Arseniev's surveying expedition to the area of ShkotovoShkotovsky District
Shkotovsky District is an administrative and municipal district of Primorsky Krai, Russia; one of the twenty-two in the krai. It is located in the southern portion of the krai. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the urban locality of Smolyaninovo...
in Ussuri region
Ussuri krai
Ussuri krai is an unofficial name for a part of Primorsky Krai and Khabarovsky Krai that consisted of Ussuri and South-Ussuri Okrugs. The name was often used in late Imperial Russia...
in 1902. A topographic expedition troop, led by Captain Arseniev (Yuri Solomin), encounters a nomadic, aboriginal Nanai tribesman named Dersu Uzala (Maxim Munzuk
Maxim Munzuk
Maxim Monguzhukovich Munzuk - 28 July 1999) was an outstanding Tuvan actor, one of the founders of Tuva's regional theatre. He is best known for playing the title role in Akira Kurosawa's film Dersu Uzala....
) who agrees to guide them through the harsh frontier. Initially viewed as an uneducated, eccentric old man, Dersu earns the respect of the soldiers through his great intelligence, accurate instincts, keen powers of observation, and deep compassion. He repairs an abandoned hut and leaves provisions in a birch container so that a future traveler would survive in the wilderness. He deduces the identities and situations of people by analyzing tracks and articles left behind.
Dersu Uzala saves the lives of Captain Arseniev and one of his men not once, but twice. First, when a sudden blizzard overtakes Dersu and the Captain, Dersu shows Arseniev how to quickly build a straw hut for shelter using grass. The two men avoid freezing to death and are discovered by the rest of their comrades when the blizzard clears. Five years later in 1907, Dersu and Captain Arseniev again find each other in the wilderness. When Dersu and Arseniev fall into swift moving currents while crossing a river in a raft, Dersu forces Arseniev to swim while the raft is close to shore then directs the party to cut a tree which can reach him before he drowns.
At the end of the expedition, he leaves the soldiers by the railroad tracks and returns to wilderness, only to encounter Arseniev again, years later, on another surveying expedition. However, Dersu's eyesight and other senses begin to fade with age. Dersu is no longer able to hunt, and the Siberian tiger stalking the old man comes very close until Dersu shoots at the predator. Captain Arseniev decides to take Dersu with him to the city of Khabarovsk. Dersu quickly discovers that he is not permitted to chop wood or to build a hut and fireplace in the city park, nor is he allowed to shoot within the city limits. The constables often bring Dersu back to the house, and one day he asks to leave the city and return to living in the hills. As a parting gift, Arseniev gives him a new rifle.
Some while later, Arseniev receives a telegram informing him that the body of a Goldi has been found, with no identification on him save Arseniev's calling card, and is requested to come identify the body. Arseniev finds that it is indeed Dersu. The officer who found Dersu speculates that someone may have killed Dersu to obtain the new rifle that Arseniev gave him.
See also
- Dersu UzalaDersu Uzala (1961 film)Dersu Uzala is a 1961 Soviet film, adapted from the books of Vladimir Arsenyev, about his travels in Russian Far East with a native trapper, Dersu Uzala....
- 1961 SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
film directed by Agasi Babayan - Dersu UzalaDersu UzalaDersu Uzala is the title of a 1923 book by the Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev.-Plot:Arsenyev's book tells of his travels in the Ussuri basin in the Russian Far East. Dersu was the name of a Nanai hunter who acted as a guide for Arsenyev's surveying crew from 1902 to 1907, and saved them from...
(book, 1923) - Photograph of Dersu Uzala, ca. 1902-1907
External links
- Stills from Dersu Uzala with Russian text
- A site dedicated to Dersu Uzala
- Dersu Uzala at the Japanese Movie DatabaseJapanese Movie DatabaseThe , commonly referred to as JMDB, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database, but lists only those films originally released in Japan. The site was started in 1997, and contains movies from Meiji...