Dersu Uzala is a product of Japanese-Russian coproduction. The film is based on a book, written by Vladimir Arsenyev , based on a true story. Vladimir Arsenyev is a Russian explorer, ona mission to explore the remote part of Russian wilderness, eastern Siberia. He's send on a mission, along with a handful of soldiers, to mark the forests, mountains, mountain tops, rivers, lakes... Most of those regions have never been explored by any human, or so they thought... On his mission he meets a hunter named Dersu Uzala. Dersu's Russian is not that good, but they learn to understand eachother and Dersu becomes their guide through the Siberian wildreness. That's where an atypical friendship between a Russian military captain and a hunter who lives within the forests starts. I believe this is all I can say about the story without spoiling it.
I should say that Kurosawa is one of my favorite directors. This film, however, isn't typical Kurosawa, or a typical Russian film. It tells a hearttouching story of an encounter Vladimir Arsenyev never expected to happen. It is not a high budget film and one can easily see that, but when it comes to acting, directing and screenplay writing, this film is top class. Vladimir Arsenyev wrote a book based on his memories and it all seems natural. One can easily see that the only motive for writing this book is the friendship itself, not an agenda of any kind. That is one of the things that make this film so good. Kurosawa's directing is perfect, as always. He still uses his own style, even tho it's not 100% his film or Japanese. Being that the film is in Russian, all of the actors are Russian, or from Russia. They all seemed natural and good at what they did. It's a damn shame west didn't pay much attention to this film, because it was made in USSR, their sworn enemy. This film is so innocent and lovely, just like Dersu's soul, and it deserves everyone's attention. It's a definite must see for every living filmlover. If I was to rate this film I would give it 10/10 without spending 2 seconds thinking.
I should say that Kurosawa is one of my favorite directors. This film, however, isn't typical Kurosawa, or a typical Russian film. It tells a hearttouching story of an encounter Vladimir Arsenyev never expected to happen. It is not a high budget film and one can easily see that, but when it comes to acting, directing and screenplay writing, this film is top class. Vladimir Arsenyev wrote a book based on his memories and it all seems natural. One can easily see that the only motive for writing this book is the friendship itself, not an agenda of any kind. That is one of the things that make this film so good. Kurosawa's directing is perfect, as always. He still uses his own style, even tho it's not 100% his film or Japanese. Being that the film is in Russian, all of the actors are Russian, or from Russia. They all seemed natural and good at what they did. It's a damn shame west didn't pay much attention to this film, because it was made in USSR, their sworn enemy. This film is so innocent and lovely, just like Dersu's soul, and it deserves everyone's attention. It's a definite must see for every living filmlover. If I was to rate this film I would give it 10/10 without spending 2 seconds thinking.
