Review of Dersu Uzala (1961) by Matt C — 26 Jun 2010

Another superb film from legendary director Akira Kurosawa. It's a film that explores friendship, the wilderness, and society. It's cynical, yet also touching. Set in the early 1900's in the Russian wilderness I believe, the film follows a captain and his men who are sent into the wilderness to accurately map out the land.

They come across Dersu Uzala early in their travels; a wise, compassionate Mongolian man of the wilderness who's humanity is incomparable. The captain and Dersu form a loving friendship, and eventually part ways.

Three years later, the captain sent on a similar expedition in the same region, accompanied by more soldiers, eventually finds Dersu roaming the wilderness once again. Dersu develops a horrible paranoia because of shooting a tiger, and discovers his eyesight is giving way.

So the captain takes him into his home and town, where Dersu feels constricted and sticks out like a sore thumb. He finally decides his place is in the wilderness, where man truly belongs, and the ending is powerful in its cynicism of our now common society structure.

The cinematography is particularly amazing, along with the performances and direction. The movie's pretty slow, so if you don't like slow films in the wilderness it's not up your alley. I've had to write this really fast because I have to leave in a minute so it's probably not incredibly coherent but my main point: don't pass this film up.

Very powerful stuff.