Dersu Uzala (1975)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa
Vladimir Arsenyev (book)
(more)

Release Date:

20 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

The Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.

Plot Keywords:

Hunter | Explorer | Siberia | Russian | Guide

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins

Cast

Maksim Munzuk	...	Dersu Uzala
Yuri Solomin	...	Captain Vladimir Arseniev
Svetlana Danilchenko	...	Mrs. Arseniev
Dmitri Korshikov	...	Wowa son of Arsenjev
Suimenkul Chokmorov	...	Jan Bao
Vladimir Kremena	...	Turtwigin
Aleksandr Pyatkov	...	Olenin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mikhail Bychkov		(as M. Bychkov)
Sovetbek Dzhumadylov
B. Khorulev
Nikolai Volkov

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Vladimir Arsenyev		book "Dersu, okhotnik"
Akira Kurosawa
Yuri Nagibin

Produced by
Yôichi Matsue	....	producer
Nikolai Sizov	....	producer

Original Music by
Isaak Shvarts

Cinematography by
Fyodor Dobronravov
Yuri Gantman
Asakazu Nakai

Art Direction by
Yuri Raksha

Production Management
Karlen Korshikov	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Vladimir Vasilev	....	associate director

Sound Department
Olga Burkova	....	sound

Editorial Department
Lyudmila Feiginova	....	associate editor (as Liuba Fejginova)

Other crew
Roger Corman	....	presenter (1976 re-release)
Takashi Koizumi	....	assistant to director
Lev Korshikov	....	interpreter
Teruyo Nogami	....	associate director

Production Companies

• Atelier 41
• Daiei Studios
• Mosfilm

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1977) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Nihon Herald Eiga (1975) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1976) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Satra Films (1977) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sovexportfilm (1974) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Sovexportfilm (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Empresa Hispanoamericana de Video (EHV) (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Njutafilms (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• RUSCICO (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Дерсу Узала" - Soviet Union (Russian title)
"Dersu Uzala" - International (English title) (imdb display title)
"Derusu Uzara" - Japan
"Dersou Ouzala" - France
"Dersu" - Finland
"Dersu Uzala" - Brazil (imdb display title)
"Dersu Uzala" - Argentina
"Dersu Uzala" - Poland
"Dersu Uzala" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Dersu Uzala" - Greece (DVD title)
"Dersu Uzala" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Dersu Uzala" - Denmark
"Dersu Uzala, a Águia da Estepe" - Portugal (original subtitled version)
"Dersu Uzala, il piccolo uomo delle grandi pianure" - Italy
"Derszu Uzala" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"El cazador" - Spain
"L'aigle de la Taiga" - France (informal title)
"Uzala" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Uzala, der Kirgise" - West Germany
"Vägvisaren" - Sweden

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

Soviet Union | Japan

Language:

Russian | Chinese

Color:

Color (Sovcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:U | Australia:G | Finland:K-3 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 | USA:G | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Atelier 41

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The rifle Captain Arseniev carries is a Winchester Model 1895 musket. The Russians acquired these rifles in 1915-1916, therefore the Captain most likely would not be issued a Winchester in 1905.

Quotes:

Dersu Uzala:Why man live in box?

Movie Connections:

Remake of Dersu Uzala (1961)

Art!

Akira Kurosawa was a masterful director and powerful storyteller, Dersu has always been my favourite of his films. It was also the first I saw - on Christmas Day afternoon 1978 on UK BBC2 - would that they were as adventurous nowadays! Since then of course I've seen all of his films from Stray Dog on, Rashomon and Ran being especial favourites, but I keep on coming back to watch this one, ostensibly the simplest tale Kurosawa ever filmed.

The understanding and bonding that develops between the two men Arseniev and Dersu is wonderful to see, and over two hours holds your attention with expertly observed minutiae of character and scenic interplay. The last ten minutes cover a lot of ground (no pun intended) but it's all so logical and sad that I always need to see the end credits to recover.

So many marvellous scenes: the tiger in the forest in the morning; the phlegmatic reclusive old Chinaman; the raft; wispy blue shaded smoke from night-fires; the conclusion of course; the view of those two great men, the Moon and the Sun in the same shot. Not everyone would like Dersu, their most likely comments being "boring" - but how wrong they are they'll never know!

A film not fit to lick Dersu Uzala's metaphorical boots (or even Plan 9 from Outer Space's for that matter), Blazing Saddles was filmed the same year in America and a generation on still gets more praise than this poetic masterpiece!