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Dersu Uzala Details

1975 DVD Certificate U.gif
  • Rated:
  • 80
  • from 683 members

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 encounters the nomadic Goldi tribesmaan Dersu Uzala, who .. Read more

Starring Yuri Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Svetlana Danilchenko, Dmitri Korshikov
Director Akira Kurosawa
Genres Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema

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Dersu Uzala

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 encounters the nomadic Goldi tribesmaan Dersu Uzala, who agrees to guide the men through the vast unchartered widerness. 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.

Starring Yuri Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Svetlana Danilchenko, Dmitri Korshikov, Suimenkul Chokmorov, Vladimir Kremena, Aleksandr Pyatkov
Director Akira Kurosawa
Studio ARROW FILMS
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 16 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate U.gif
Genres Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema
Language Russian
Dubbed English, French
Subtitles English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portugese, Japanese, Hebrew, Swedish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic
Released DVD: 26 Feb 2007
Production year: 1975
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (3) of Dersu Uzala

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Anxious to appear open to cultural exchange, the Soviet Union gave Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa untold roubles and all of Siberia's wilderness to play with for this eco-epic. It's a vast tone poem, set in the early 20th century when an expedition led by Yuri Solomin sets out to map the icy wastes. And that's it, really — a collection of episodes showing man's attempt to come to terms with nature at its toughest. There are some great moments, and Maxim Munzuk has undoubted charisma as the title character, an old man living in the wilds who acts as a guide to the survey group. But there are also long periods when the camera just stares meaningfully at nothing: you expect David Attenborough's soft voice any moment.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Kurosawa went to Russia because he'd found it impossible to get work in Japan, but sadly he succumbed almost completely... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of Dersu Uzala

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  • 7 out of 7 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Beauteous wanderings in Siberia

    An epic journey of life, your companions being a 'civilised' Russian army surveying team and an old man as your guide. A man who has truly fused with the wild Taiga landscapes so beauteously captured within this epic. Just sit back and RELAX on this ANTI-roller-coaster ride. Best viewed as big as you can get it, as silently as you can get it. GET IT?! No? Go back to the Matrix then...

      • A customer from Kendal, UK
      • Posted 18 Apr 2006 20:10

  • Most recent members' review of Dersu Uzala

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Worlds meet in Siberia

    If you were expecting katana-wielding samurai from 16th century Japan...wrong film. Here, Kurosawa explores the theme of friendship, which develops between two people from vastly different backgrounds, the Russian explorer Arseniev and the Goldi hunter Dersu Uzala. A friendship that is born from the fight for survival in the vast, relentless, unforgiving Siberian landscape.

    Expect two DVDs and the movie to be spread over both of them (it was the same when I rented Tarkovsky's 'Solaris', so it must be a Russian thing). I would have made more sense to put the movie in one and the extras, which are well-worth watching, in the other, but whatever. And the negative must have been in really bad shape, because the colors are totally off, specially at the beginning.

    Anyway, if you are in a contemplative mood, the topic and specially the pacing of this movie is just right. No samurai, though. REALLY.

      • rpere008 from Bangor
      • Posted 20 Apr 2008 23:18

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      • 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 ...