Dersu Uzala (1975)

Taglines: There is man and beast at nature’s mercy. There is awe and love and reverence. And there is the man called…

Dersu Uzala movie storyline. In 1902, a Russian army expedition is assigned to explore Siberia under the command of Captain Vladimir Arseniev. He befriends the Goldi (Nanai) hunter Dersu Uzala and invites him to guide the explorers through the stark forest up to Khanka Lake. Along their journey, Arseniev discovers that Dersu Uzala is a man with a beautiful soul, and they become close friends. When his assignment ends, Dersu Uzala says goodbye to Arseniev.

In 1907, Captain Arseniev is assigned to another expedition at the Ussuri River; when he meets Dersu Uzala in the forest, the lonely hunter joins his team and guides the group. However, he is older and has problems with his vision, and Captain Arseniev invites Dersu Uzala to live with his family in Khabarovsk City. But the old man does not adapt to the urban lifestyle and decides to return to the forest. In 1910, Captain Arseniev is called to Korfovskaïa to identify the body of a man who has his calling card and might be Dersu Uzala.

Dersu Uzala is a 1975 Soviet-Japanese co-production film directed by Akira Kurosawa, his first and only non-Japanese-language film and his first and only 70mm film. The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala (which took its name from the native trapper) by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, about his exploration of the Sikhote-Alin region of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century.

Shot almost entirely outdoors in the Russian Far East wilderness, 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 won the 1976 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival and a number of other awards. It sold 20.4 million tickets in the Soviet Union and made $1.2 million in the US and Canada.

About the Story

The film opens to a forest that is being cleared for development, and Arsenyev searching for an unmarked grave of a friend he says he buried 3 years ago. The film then flashes back to Arsenyev’s surveying expedition to the area of Shkotovo in Ussuri region in 1902. A topographic expedition troop, led by Captain Arsenyev (Yury Solomin), encounters a nomadic Goldi hunter 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 experience, 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 life of Captain Arsenyev for the first time when the two are lost on a frozen lake and a sudden blizzard overtakes them. Dersu shows Arsenyev how to quickly build a straw hut for shelter using grass and then, when Arsenyev collapses due to exhaustion, Dersu pulls him into the shelter. The two men avoid freezing to death and are discovered by the rest of their comrades when the blizzard clears.

The expedition then, struggling to survive the frozen tundra, encounter a Nani family who invite them into their home, providing the men much needed food, and warmth. At this point Dersu asks where Arsenyev will go next to which Arsenyev tells him “back to the city” and invites Dersu to come with him. Dersu tells him that his place is in the forest and that tomorrow he will go on his way. The next day he leaves the soldiers by the railroad tracks and returns to wilderness.

Five years later in 1907, Arsenyev is on another expedition in Ussuri. He has been mapping mountain ranges for months, all the time holding onto hope that he will run into his old friend Dersu. One night, when at camp, one of his men says they ran into an old Hunter in the forest who was asking about their unit. Instantly hopeful, Arsenyev demands to know where he saw the man and rushes into the forest filled with hope of seeing his old friend. Searching the forest for a few minutes he sees Dersu walking away further into the forest.

Calling for him he is overcome with joy as Dersu yells back and then men run to each other. The men embrace and Arsenyev brings Dersu back to camp with him where the two sit by a fire and talk about their time apart. Dersu takes up the job of expedition guide again. The expedition breaks up as Arsenyev, Dersu, and a few men cross a large river by raft, and the rest continue on to try to find a ford to cross with the horses.

Arsenyev and Dersu get caught on the raft as the others embark and are quickly rushed downstream. Dersu saves Arsenyevs’ life again by pushing him off the raft and telling him to swim toward shore. Dersu is trapped on the raft as conditions on the river become treacherous.

Moments before Dersu and the raft crash into the rapids, Dersu jumps onto a branch in the middle of the river. He then directs the party to cut a tree which can reach him before he drowns. Some time passes and the men seem to be in good spirits. They take several pictures with Dersu and all seems to be going well. Arsenyev writes in his journal that some of his fondest memories of Dersu occurred during the beginning of that autumn.

A short time later, the expedition party is trekking through the forest when Dersu realizes they are being stalked by a Siberian tiger. Dersu tries in vain to scare the Siberian tiger away telling him that the soldiers will shoot him with their guns. The tiger continues getting closer to Dersu and Arsenyev until Dersu is forced to shoot the tiger.

Dersu is instantly distraught over shooting a tiger stating that Kanga, who is a forest spirit that his people worship, will be unhappy and will send another tiger for him. Dersu becomes more and more irritable, yelling at members of the party and distancing himself from Arsenyev. Dersu’s eyesight and other senses begin to fade with age until he is no longer able to hunt thus not being able to live alone in the forest.

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, Mikhail Bychkov, Vladimir Khrulyov, V. Lastochkin, Stanislav Marin, Vladimir Sergiyakov, Igor Sykhra, Yanis Yakobsons, Vladimir Sverba
Screenplay by: Akira Kurosawa, Yuri Nagibin
Production Design by: Yuriy Raksha
Cinematography by: Asakazu Nakai, Yuri Gantman, Fyodor Dobronravov
Film Editing by: Valentina Stepanova
Costume Design by: Tatyana Lichmanova
Makeup Department: V. Bolotnikova
Music by: Isaak Shvarts
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Mosfilm (USSR), Daiei Film (Japan)
Release Date: July 1975 (USSR), August 2, 1975 (Japan)