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Maxim Munzuk, Yuri Solomin, Vladimir Kremena, Alexandr Pyatkov, Dima Korshikov ... see more see more... , Svetlana Danielchanka , Suimenkul Chokmorov , Mikhail Bychkov , Nikolai Volkov Sr. , Sovetbek Dzhumadylov , Dmitri Korshikov

A few months after his notorious suicide attempt, Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa was regenerated by the notion of helming the first Russian/Japanese co-production. Co-scripted and directed by Kuros... read more read more...awa, Dersu Uzala is the story of an elderly guide and Goldi hunter (Maxim Munzuk), who, at the turn of the century, agrees to shepherd a Russian explorer (Yuri Solomin) and a troop of soldiers through the most treacherous passages of the Far East. The guide has been "one" with the land almost from birth, and is thus able to save his party from perishing. Four years in the making, Dersu Uzala won the 1976 Best Foreign Film Oscar and restored the flagging Akira Kurosawa to the top ranks of the Japanese film industry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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94% liked it

7,137 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

12 critics

G, 2 hr. 17 min.

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa

Release Date: August 2, 1975

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DVD Release Date: October 17, 2000

Stats: 429 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (429)

  • sanjurosamurai
    November 9, 2008
    sanjurosamurai
    the ultimate man vs. wild. bear grills has nothing on dersu uzala. another of the many absolute masterpieces by kurosawa, this film is possibly the best man vs. nature film ever made. tragedy makes the man that becomes so great that the world will no longer accept him. amazin... read moreg on every front.
  • hypathio7
    February 18, 2011
    hypathio7
    Simple but powerful. Captain Arseniev is looking for a grave on a construction site in 1910. Flashback to 1902 when he and a group of soldiers are on a mission to map out the wilderness between Russia and China. The soldiers are a rowdy bunch. A hunter comes upon the soldiers... read more speaking kind of broken Russian. The Captain welcomes him and offers him food. Thus begins the friendship of the Capitan and Dersu Uzala. Dersu is Gonli, or Mongolian. He has lost his family and lives in the woods moving from temporary shelter to shelter. The soldiers come to respect Dersu's tracking skills, his concern for all the "men" who live in the forest, and his skill with a rifle. The Capitan especially gains great admiration for Dersu's survival skills and spirituality. The wind, water, fire, sun, moon, plants, and animals are all "men" deserving of the same respect and concern as human men of whatever race. Through the seasons, two expeditions with different sets of men, and obstacles like getting lost on a frozen tundra, being washed down rapids, and facing a tiger the bond between the Capitan and Dersu is strengthened. Dersu has a beautiful understanding of the environment and also a joyful sense of humor. There are lots of wise quotes. The plot is slowly paced, but keeps a good steady rhythm. The images of nature through all the seasons are often breathtaking. Dersu is much older than the Capitan. He has so much knowledge, but when his eyesight begins to go what is a hunter supposed to do? The third act has Captain Arseniev with his wife and son welcoming Dersu to his house in the city. For a man who has lived his whole life in the hills the city is too constricting despite the still close bond between the two men. Kurosawa realistically immerses the audience in the story's time and place, but more importantly develops this magnificent friendship.
  • staindslaved
    December 31, 2011
    staindslaved
    For whatever reason Kurosawa's works were always far more appreciated in western society than in his native Japan. After his split with Mifune the nation seemed to embrace the actor and vilify the director. Kurosawa was unable to get financing to make any new films and it was u... read morep to other countries to keep the master directer working with films like Tora, Tora, Tora and Dersu Uzala. A few months after his notorious suicide attempt Kurosawa signed on to direct the first ever film collaboration between Russia and Japan. Dersu Uzala is the story of an elderly woodsman who guides some Russian explorers through the wilderness and on more than one occasion saves their lives. He builds a strong friendship with Capt. Vladimir Arseniev and so taken by the old man is he that Vladimir decides after the expedition to bring Uzala to his home and care for him. Unfortunately civilization is so strange and unwelcome to Uzala and he struggles to fit in or find happiness. His health begins to fail and Vladimir wonders if he was right to remove the man from his natural environment. It is here when the film is at it's most emotional and memorable.
  • threefolddado
    March 4, 2008
    threefolddado
    Great story, well told.
  • kylegarvey6
    December 4, 2010
    kylegarvey6
    Admirable and heart-warming, insofar as the travails, beautiful fellowship, and eventual parting of a Russian soldier and a strange Mongolian hunter deep in the wilderness of 1907 Siberia has any emotional impact at all. The setting left me cold, figuratively as well as literall... read morey, starting with obvious, unnecessary narration from Arseniev and continuing into an incorrigibly soporific and boring plot. More than two hours of ghastly, frigid, hyper-patient life doesn't necessarily compel me as a viewer. The visual style is mesmerizing and masterful, and the project must have been a perfect salve for a wounded, uncertain soul -- as Kurosawa was at this time -- but this is unfortunately not exactly a transcendent, crucial piece of art for the viewer.
  • jackgiantkillr
    August 1, 2009
    jackgiantkillr
    I think this is among his best work, but I don't hear it talked about as much as some other things. Maybe, it's just my Siberia love.
  • merling
    November 18, 2007
    merling
    Has Akira Kurosawa done any other movies in Russian? unforgetable story of the friendship between a russian captian and a Mongolian hunter nomad.
  • caffeinatedalex
    October 5, 2007
    caffeinatedalex
    Kurosawa takes his landmark film making out of Japan and into Russia to show us a Goldi woodsman name Dersu form a beautiful and true friendship with a Russian explorer. The development of the two is personal and touching, and it reaches deeply. Kurosawa paints the wilderness lik... read moree a portrait, with beauty in each perfectly framed shot. Although the movie lags at a few points, it remains beautiful by almost any standard.
  • egjundis
    May 23, 2007
    egjundis
    If you ever want to experience living in the wilderness just watch this movie. It's just amazing to think of what it took to make this film
  • twzinn
    December 16, 2006
    twzinn
    One of my five top favorite films from one of my top five directors. Too powerful a story of relationship and existence to characterize. Watch it yourself.

View All Dersu Uzala Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Eder
May 9, 2005
Richard Eder, New York Times

The episodes in this second part go on endlessly, loosely, obviously. They lack the revelations of the winter scenes and they do little but belabor at length the points already made. They wreck the fi... Full Review

Douglas Pratt
July 21, 2006
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser

a gorgeous looking and highly affecting adventure

Dennis Schwartz
July 19, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's sweetly told and heartwarming, much like a Disney film, but not demanding much of the viewer. Full Review

Steven D. Greydanus
May 31, 2004
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide

To Arseniev, Dersu embodies something civilized men have lost… Neither can really understand the other — which is precisely what makes their friendship so special. Full Review

Brian Gibson
December 1, 2003
Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

Every frame of Dersu Uzala is simply beautiful to look at. . . . Kurosawa's 140-minute masterpiece is a . . . quietly captivating experience.

Dan Lybarger
July 28, 2003
Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online

Kurosawa's Russian epic is breathtakinging ambitious, if a bit didactic.

Chuck Rudolph
November 26, 2002
Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine

Beautifully photographed but far too isolated in its characterizations.

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Stephen Hunter
August 30, 2003
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

No review available.

Jake Euker
March 18, 2006
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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