Dersu Uzala (1975) – 3/5

Man from the mountains

„Dersu Uzala“, which is set during the really early years of the first half of the 20th century, but far away from war action, is a co-production between the Soviet Union and Japan from 1975, so this film is really close now to its 50th anniversary already. Perhaps it happened even and this depends on when you got here to read this review of mine. The director is Akira Kurosawa and this is of course where the Japanese component comes into play. You probably would not have guessed him to be in charge of the film given the title, but if we look at some other components and parts of the story, then it makes fully sense. In any case, this film won the Oscar in the foreign language category for the Soviet Union and back during the years of the Cold War, this is nothing to be taken for too granted. It is always good though to see a film rewarded and to see politics play a less crucial role. Awards ceremonies these days can learn something from that. That is another story though. As for Kurosawa, the foreign language Oscar does not go to a person, so it was not an Oscar win for him. He was also in his mid60s here already and yet his actually really big successes with the Academy Awards were still several years away. For „Ran“ he was nominated a decade later and another half decade almost he also received the lifetime achievement award then. I am sure they would have loved to give him a competitive Oscar as well, but it wasn’t meant to be, so this film we have here is maybe the closest they came.

It is a very long movie as it is closer to 2.5 hours than to two hours, but it did not drag a lot. Maybe only a little here and there. In my screening, it was split into two halves basically, which is not really required for a film under 150 minutes, but they still did it. I guess this was also because there was such a clean cut. The two protagonists run into each other on two different occasions and one segment is about the first meeting and the second about the later meeting then again. Or actually the second meeting extends to that as we also see how one of the two protagonists takes the other home then, even if their ways in the end are again separated. But there is a break of several years between the two meetings, so I guess it makes sense. I won’t complain. I cannot say too much about the actors here and I am sure fans of old Eastern European films are more familiar with most of the cast than I am, but it can be said that protagonist Maksim Munzuk who plays the title character here acted in a low double-digit amount of films, even if he only started just before the age of 50 and then had another break of over a decade. But as a whole, his acting stretched over five decades and that is quite something. This one we have here is definitely by far his most known work. May he rest in peace. Same is probably true for Yuriy Solomin who is almost 90 now, but apparently still alive according to imdb, even if he stopped acting over a decade ago. Equally long career like Munzuk’s he has and even a far more prolific one as he started acting already as a man in his 20s. That is pretty much it for the cast. Only minor things I can add are that the Eskimo girl we see briefly on one occasion was cute and also that I liked the guy with the blonde hair and beard in the first half of the film. Great recognition value from him there and I am happy to see he is also still alive. He was younger than I thought when this film got made. His face expression when Dersu manages to make the perfect shot there during their training was priceless.

Anyway, on a more general note, this is apparently one of two Dersu Uzala film adaptations out there. Definitely the one that is far more known because the other one is about a decade older and was not seen by many at all. But then again, it does not have the name Kurosawa to it. Both have the name Arsenev to them as he is the one who wrote the original material. With the newer and famous version, the one we have here, you also find the name Yuriy Nagibin and this means that Kurosawa got help with the screenplay from a fairly prolific and experienced Soviet writer. Good choice. A win-win situation for everybody. This is really enough now about the basics, but I will surely keep talking a bit about the story. Towards the end of the film, it reminded me a bit of The Kaspar Hauser tale of a man who simply did not belong there where he was, even if there are also obvious parallels, like Hauser was lost already when he got found and Dersu led a fulfilling and independent and successful life in the wilderness where he was basically hunting animals for a living. The hunter component is crucial throughout the film, also in the final scene when the other guy has to name Dersu’s profession. This was surely a bit of a heartbreaking moment there how his friend was maybe killed with the gun he was given to protect him or at least if he was killed differently, then the perpetrator stole said gun from him. Not a happy ending by any means, but there was not really any option for a happy ending overall, especially as we are already told during the film’s very first minutes that that title has died eventually and we find out about his grave. At least, said grave is where he was at his happiest. Anyway, as for the unhappy ending, Dersu staying in the city would have been equally unfulfilling if you look there and see him sit in front of the fire, even if he had a great connection with the boy from the family. So it was in a way a happy ending for the other protagonist from the two. He has a caring wife, a son and his friend Dersu with him for as long as it was possible.

I mentioned the shooting scene from much earlier already and while this was initially, there is also some sad background to it when we understand how the title character’s eyesight was getting much worse towards the end, how he literally stands in front of an animal and misses the shot. I wish I could say that he missed on purpose to avoid killing it, but this wasn’t the case. Dersu is a hunter after all. But at the same time, it can be said that he cared deeply for nature as he not only feared and prayed to a god of the forest or so, but he also said there is no purpose in killing (animals) if you do not do something with them. Death must not be brought upon creatures just for the sake of it you could say in other words. So overall this is definitely a drama with focus on one great friendship and this becomes obvious during the scene when the two men collaborate and we also realize how physically strong Dersu is despite his advanced age already, much fitter than the successful military general even, but the film will also have you smile on some occasions. The moment most people laughed during my screening was maybe when the two survived this critical situation and Dersu was already awake and called the other man something along the lines of a Russian bear when he asked him to finally wake up. Another moment that resulted in a great deal of laughter was when we found out about Dersu escalating in the city towards the end when he wanted to fell a tree because he thought it was the right thing to do there with his past, but a complete no-go by (then) modern circumstances. This was of course also a bit of a bittersweet moment as Dersu was more and more turning into a man who was moving further and further away from reality.

The nature and some beautiful recordings are also vital to this movie I would say. The taiga is as rough and deadly as it is beautiful. Still today. I was a bit surprised that not too many animals were included in here. The only one that stayed memorable (aside from the brief hunting sequences earlier) was the tiger there and its significance and symbolism in Dersu’s eyes. There is also elaboration on the evil that comes from humans when we find out what a group of ruthless men did to a helpless tribe. But they paid a price for it as we find out immediately afterwards when Dersu meets other locals that are friends with him. So yeah, a great deal of territorial struggles also going on in this region. As I am approaching the end of my review, let me go back to the words from early on where I said that it is a bit surprising to see Kurosawa in charge of this film, but yeah as a great deal here is Asian-focused, it is not too surprising in fact. Look at the title character, look at the Eskimos, look at the full-on Asian eremite they find up there with the background that life, especially love, has taken its toll on him and he chooses isolation. So it makes in a way perfect sense that Kurosawa is the director. I am glad I watched this film and I was baffled how packed the room really was despite the Oscar and Kurosawa. Unreal, but at the same time awesome that so many people come to see old films at movie theaters. It’s a trend that can happily stay as successful for the rest of my life and honestly most of these old films deserve being shown at a movie theater way more than many of the new mediocre movies. So yeah, if you get a chance to see this one, then go for it. I give it a positive recommendation and it deserves to be seen because of moments like when they meet again early in the second half and also in a funnily manner to not get to each other right away because of a little obstacle, just another that they easily overcome there. I also loved how Dersu called his friend, the word he used and how he kept saying it. That is all. Or wait, it isn’t those photographs shown on one occasion were also hilarious. Those were in black-and-white, but the film is of course in color. Now, that is really it. Go see this one, especially if perhaps more movie theaters will show it again on the occasion of its 50th anniversary! It’s surely best on the big screen.