Product Description

Kurosawa's remarkable film, his only produced and financed outside of Japan, is an extraordinary tale of friendship and survival, based on the memoirs of Russian explorer Vladimir Arseniev. In the harsh environs of the Siberian frontier, an expedition led by Arseniev encounter the nomadic Goldi tribesman Dersu Uzala, who agrees to guide the men through the vast uncharted wilderness. Although initially considered by the group as little more than a savage, Dersu's skill, courage and spiritual wisdom soon earn their respect and admiration, as well as instilling in them a new-found compassion for the natural world. Bearing all the unmistakable hallmarks of the great cinema master, Kurosawa's Oscar-winning classic is a visually stunning humanist epic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11219 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-02-26
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Russian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 135 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
During an unusual chapter in the career of director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon), the filmmaker went to Russia because he found working in his native Japan to be too difficult. The result was this striking 1975 near-epic based on the turn-of-the-century autobiographical novels of a military explorer (Yuri Solomin) who met and befriended a Goldi man in Russia's unmapped forests. Kurosawa traces the evolution of a deep and abiding bond between the two men, one civilised in the usual sense, the other at home in the sub-zero Siberian woods. There's no question that Dersu Uzala (the film is named for the Goldi character, played by Maxim Munzuk) has the muscular, imaginative look of a large-canvas Soviet Mosfilm from the 1970s. But in its energy and insight it is absolutely Kurosawa, from its implicit fascination with the meeting of opposite worlds to certain moments of tranquillity and visual splendour. But nothing looks like Kurosawa more than a magnificent action sequence in which the co-heroes fight against time and exhaustion to stay alive in a wicked snowstorm. For fans of the late legend, this is a Kurosawa not to be missed. --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
A man of the woods saves the members of a Russian surveying expedition by teaching them how to cope with nature. Years later, a member of the team meets up with him again, and tries to convince him to come and live in the city.

Customer Reviews

Another Kurosawa Masterpiece
This Kurosawa film is usually ignored by most viewers because it was made outside the realm of Japanese cinema. It was made in the Soviet Union, however, both the subject and the production of the film are pure Kurosawa creations. It deals with the relationship between a native Siberian hunter and a group of Soviet explorers. Kurosawa yet again showcases his talent by presenting us with a poignant, poetic tale of contrasting cultures in the harsh Siberian environment. This beautiful tale is further complemented by its breathtaking cinematography [this film must be viewed in widescreen]. It also won the Best Foreign Film Oscar. A great film for everyone.

good film, poor transfer
while it is pleasing that this has finally been released on region 2 it has to be noted that the print/trasfer is quite poor with grainy, murky colouring on what looks like a ntsc-to-pal conversion clearly taking away much of the impact of a film most noted for its visual beauty. Nevertheless, a remarkable film.

A Film to Change Attitudes
This film, directed not by a Russian but a Japanese (the famous director, Kurosawa) using mostly Russian or Soviet actors and staff, is nonetheless a classic of Russian cinema in the same way that the St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is a symbol of Russia despite having been designed by an Italian. An Imperial Russian Army survey party in pre pre-WW1 times goes to chart previously uncharted lands in Eastern Siberia (at the time of filming, known as the Soviet Far East). There the officer and his small troop meet a native hunter, Dersu. The osmotic effect of this marvellous little man cannot be easily described: he inculcates just by his presence a reverence for Nature and the wellsprings of Life. He hunts animals but respects them, in the way of many primitive people (for example, Australian Aboriginals) who have retained what we of the modern way and world have lost. In typically Russian style, the ending of the film is tragic rather than funny or self-satisfied: Dersu, his sight failing, is brought to a Russian town, I think Khaborovsk, to live with the Russian officer, his wife and little son. Dersu cannot live in a town and begs to return to his taiga (eternal Siberian forest). The officer helps by buying him a new, expensive rifle, so that Dersu can hunt despite his failing eyesight. Later, it transpires that Dersu was murdered by person or persons unknown, probably for his new and expensive hunting rifle. A film like this, made in 1975, shows that (in the way of so many empires, at their most benevolent just before collapse) the Soviet Union was developing into a kind of spiritual social democracy (albeit absurdly militarized and secret police-ridden) as it neared its demise. Very highly recommended.