Rating: 
Summary: The old man and the Taiga
Review: 1902: Arseniev (Yuri Solomin), a czarist officer and his men exploit and map the Usuri-region. The gigantic pine-forests of the Taiga evoke visions of the Walpurgis-night. Dersu Uzala (Maxim Munzuk) sits down at their camp-fire and smokes his pipe. The old man who lost his wife and children during a smallpox-epidemic lives in the mountains without permanent refuge and hunts for the stag, the wild boar, the sable. He benefits from the nature, but does not exhaust it. As a matter of course he takes the lead of the expedition and shows them how to cover a roof with bark and instructs them to leave stock- rice, salt, matches - to other travelers. They learn not to squander cartridges and that an empty bottle can be valuable in the wilderness. They wade through the morass and suddenly the winter sets in. Arseniev and Dersu lose their way on the ice-covered lake Hanka and a snow-drift covers their footprints. Their race against time is perhaps the most breathtaking scene in the film: The two men cut as many blades of grass as possible in order to survive the cold night. Arseniev realizes how small man is in from of the big nature. He invites Dersu to join him ("It' comfortable in the city") but Dersu prefers his free life. He sees the men off to the train station and they agree that "He is such a good man!".1907, spring, snow-break: Arseniev explores the Usuri-region again. Three months later a vast territory has been mapped, but the task would be carried through quicker with Dersu's help. Arseniev looks out for his old friend. Dersu made much money with furs, but a trader disappeared with his savings... The Taiga in summer is a jungle. "Amdar" (the tiger) follows them. They discover pitfalls with carrion. Dersu is shocked over those needless killings. He is at war with the Chunchuse who abduct women. Arseniev helps him save three of their victims who were nearly drowning, but Dersu fall in a torrential river and the rescue-operation is another absorbing (and ingenious) moment. The turning-point in Dersu's life comes when he inadvertently kills the tiger. He becomes nervous and irritable and believes the the spirit "Kangar" will punish him. His vision becomes defective; He misses his game. "How can I live in the Taiga?". Arseniev invites him to Chaberowsk: "My house is your house". His wife welcomes Dersu and his little son worhips him, but Dersu cannot manage life in the city where water and wood cost money. He is arrested when he tries to fell a tree. He feels redundant and decides to return to the mountains. Arseniev understands his request and gives him a brand-new gun as farewell-present. A few days later he is forced to identify the body of his old friend: somebody killed Dersu - for his gun. DERSU UZALA needs no recommendation: it won an oscar as best foreign film in 1975 and every fan of Akira Kurosawa will see it sooner or later. Centra Asia, this gigantic territory, looks awe-inspiring in itself (and bear in mind that there is no wilderness in Japan where nearly every tree has been cultivated for aesthetic reasons) and the cinematography is overwhelming - I wish I could have seen it on the big screen. What impressed me most was the high-mindedness of the performances. There is not one patronizing undertone. Deep respect for those people who live in, of, and most importantly with the nature pervades this film.
Rating:
Summary: Great film, but don't expect any sword fights
Review: A brilliant film, and winner of the Best Foreign Film Academy Award. The title character is an outdoorsy Mongolian who is a little bit... eccentric. Some Soviets recruit him for a survaying mission. The Russians dismiss him as a hopeless savage and are, in classic form, proved wrong through his deeds. Rest assured that the Kurosawa camera for focus on the visual splendor that the stark winter landscapes and the dense forests have to offer. Just as the wilderness offers a majestic stillness, so too do the widescreen compositions. The elegance and simplicity of style are directly related to the subject matter. This will be a welcome addition to any film lovers library, and a must for any Kurosawa fan.
Rating:
Summary: Old men.
Review: A movie about an old man made by an old man. And yes, it's enthralling, sometimes downright thrilling, despite the elegiac pace and its absolute refusal to be rushed. *Dersu Uzala*, which takes place at the turn of the previous century, is about the friendship between a somewhat inept Russian army captain and a bowlegged, grizzled little Mongolian trapper named Dersu. They meet one spooky night while the Captain and his platoon are camped out somewhere in east Siberia on a surveying expedition. Though the guys in the platoon are at first inclined to make fun of the eccentric Asian frontiersman, the Captain is fascinated by him, and is smart enough to ask Dersu to be their guide through the forbidding wilderness. What follows is pure photographic magic that's probably pointless to describe because, as they say, pictures say a thousand words. What can be said is that Kurosawa, despite his 70mm cameras, eschews any attempt to CRAM the total landscape in his shots, opting instead to present Siberia at eye-level, so to speak -- which takes the "omnipotent eye" away from the audience, putting us intimately with the adventurers on screen . . . i.e., we see what they see. This is the sort of trend-bucking that one expects from a genius like this director. Then there's the character of Dersu Uzala himself, wonderfully played by a fellow named Maksim Munzuk. Kurosawa and this actor created a WHOLE character here, a true hero -- warts, and all. You know you've witnessed artistic truth when, late in the movie, you realize how ridiculous Derzu appears in a blue sweater, sitting by the fire in the Captain's house. A warmly humane, touching, and ultimately heartbreaking movie. Good for kids, too, in my opinion, if they can sit through the subtitles -- it is, after all, rated G. [A note on the DVD: Several yahoo "reviewers" here have bemoaned the quality of Kino's DVD presentation. Frankly, I don't know what these digital cineasts expect -- *Matrix*-quality crispness and Dolby 5.1 audio? Give me a break. *Dersu Uzala* is, let's face it, an obscure art-house oddity, a joint venture between a then-down-on-his-luck Japanese filmmaker and Soviet MOSFILM studios, for Pete's sake. The point being, just be glad the movie is available and, like, shut up. As a matter of fact, there are several brief shots -- curiously enough, practically all 3-4 second compositional shots -- that are indeed scratchy, but the reality is that the rest of the movie looks excellent. And as for the bellyaching about the price . . . what, you're not willing to pay... for a masterpiece? So don't buy it. Or get a job, one.]
Rating:
Summary: Superb even to a six year old
Review: After twenty-five years,Dersu Uzala remains at the top of my list of the best films ever. The previous reviews describe this magnificent film quite well, so I won't add to it, but offer instead a story. About twenty years ago, my wife and I took her four small children, only one of whom could read at the time, to an art theater showing of Dersu. We knew this was a little risky; the response one might rightly expect from children that age to a long, slow moving, subtitled film would be squirmy boredom and complaining, but that is not what happened at all. Kurosawa's storytelling genius captured even these very young minds; they remained attentive throughout the entire film and despite the the fact that three of them had no way of knowing what the characters were saying, enjoyed it to the end. Kurosawa's cinematic mastery carried them along on those long-ago expeditions, and into the intimacy of a deep friendship.
Rating:
Summary: Kurosawa at his best
Review: Being a Foreign Film lover for over twenty years, I would put this movie in my top ten list without hesitation. It is masterfully made with most of the story lines told visually. The first half of the movie is filled with majestic beauty of Siberia, adventure, friendship, and vitality, in stark contrast with the almost unbearable second half, in which the hunter lost his ability to cope with the wild due to advancing age. Forces of nature finally caught on with him and turned into a menacing beast ready to swallow him. Dersu the hunter, the main role of this movie, is such a lovable character that you can't help but fascinated by him. He is simple but full of wisdom, learned through years of surviving in the harshest environment. He would be considered naive and gullible according our civilized standard. But in his own unspoiled wild, he is larger than life, courageous, resourceful, and imbued with moral impecability. He is definitely one of the all-time most memorable figures in films. The image of him in the glow of fleeting camp fire by the river, singing a strangely beautiful song paying respect to his lost family, haunted me for days. A near perfect movie!
Rating: 
Summary: shame shame shame
Review: Dersu is one of my favorite films of one of my favorite directors. What a shame it did not get an adaquate treatment on DVD. The pictorial quality is inferior awful and disgusting. If You love this film don't buy this product.
Rating:
Summary: Stunningly beautiful and stunningly moving
Review: Dersu Uzala is a deeply moving, occasionally humorous, and hauntingly beautiful Akira Kurosawa film about a most unlikely of friendships between an Russian Army captain and a native Siberian hunter who lives alone in the wilderness - Dersu Uzala. The film is shot almost entirely outside in the Siberian wilderness, featuring some of the most stunningly bleak landscapes I have ever seen captured on film, and is so brialliantly acted that it seems more like documentary about real people than actors reading a script. This Russian-language film is one of Kurosawa's lesser known gems and shows his directing at its best, when he was at the height of his mature talent. In its own way this film has a lot to say about the plight of native peoples and the high price of modernity. Not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Dersu Uzala :Kurosawa's Vision of Man in Nature
Review: Dersu Uzala is one of my favorite films, a film to be cherished for its subtlties and how they eventually lead to larger truths. Very few films are made on the themes of compassion and subtle bravery. Yuri Solomin, the Russian captain who leads a small squad of soldiers into the Siberian wilds to survey the land, is one of the most memorable portraits of compassion ever put on film. His relationship to Dersu (Maksum Muzuk)is almost totally intuitive and wordless. The captain knows almost from the onset that this Goldi wilderness hunter is special and step by step the captain and his men learn gentle and harsh lessons from this marvelous woodsmen, how to survive in almost impossible weather conditions, how to act like a man, with dignity and compassion. This was one of Kurosawa's last films. It was a difficult time in his life when it was reported he attempted suicide and that George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola help him get this movie made, knowing that this lengendary director should not be neglected. The cinematography goes much farther than nature specials and some scenes, like the distant icy landscapes lit by firelight, create a beautiful, unforgettable vision of that wild place. I guess you could call this an action picture, but Kurosawa gives us more, dives deeper to show us the day to day wonders, the harsh existence, and sadness when one is taken out one's element and put in an alien one. Dersu Uzala is a brilliant, lasting vision of man humbled by nature but respecting nature, and then bringing it back in a poem of reflection. The understated ending, so subtle, almost mute, is one of the most moving I've ever watched. All viewers should cherish this film for so many strengths and be glad that we had such a master film maker as Kurosawa among us. He will be greatly missed by all. Highly recommended for all ages, a masterpiece that will test and reward the audience like the harshness of the Siberian landscapes it so boldly portrays.
Rating:
Summary: Dersou Ouzala: Pure Poetry!
Review: Dersu Uzala is probably one of the most beautiful and touching movies ever made. A 1971 production directed by the genius Akira Kurosawa, based on Vladimir Arsenyev's novel, this movie received the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film. A true visual experience -- like every Kurosawa picture --, this movie portraits the breath-taking paradisiacal wilderness of Siberia. The story focus on the relationship between a russian captain (played by Yuri Solomin) and a Goldi hunter (Maxim Munzuk), and its development, nature, and consequences. It is a very moving picture, about true feelings, emotions, and above all friendship. As far as the DVD is concerned, the quality is disappointing, especially when one takes in consideration the price. However, I believe this is still a worthy acquisition for any serious movie collector. Akira Kurosawa is definitely one of the best movie directors ever, and Dersu Uzala is a movie to be not only watched, but experienced.
Rating:
Summary: Kurosawa's most obscure and least Kurosawa-like film
Review: Dersu Uzala is the name of an indigenous hunter living in the cold and wilds of Siberia. The main character is a russian officer assigned to head an expedition of soldiers and cartographers to survey some of the Siberia's unexplored areas. The first night they settle down and build a campfire Dersu happens upon them and they offer him some food. In broken russian the main character talks with Dersu and hearing how well he knows the terrain he asks Dersu if he'd tag along with them and serve as their guide. Dersu accepts for the company and for a handful of bullets which he'll receive later (as ammunition was scarce in the wilderness). The rest of the story plays out like a modern day version of "Deer Slayer" with Dersu playing the knowledgable and noble savage and the main character playing the slightly naive but capable civilized gentleman. Kurosawa's hand can be seen in the long still sequences that show the vastness and beauty of nature. Siberia is used as a surrogate for the majestic untamed wilderness and forests of Fennimore Cooper, ironically showing civilization moving eastwards instead of westwards. The story moves very slowly with intermittant voice over sequences by the main character describing what happens as if he were a narrator from a book, a very un-Kurosawa-like quality. Kurosawa doesn't usually use main-character voiceovers. He usually shows the action or uses wordless plainly readable editted sequences. Dersu Uzala is his most conventional film; a must-see for the avid Kurosawa buff but maybe a movie you can pass on by if you're looking for something more in the vein of a classic Kurosawa work.
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