Dersu Uzala (Film 1975)

Dersu Uzala is a 1975 Soviet-Japanese film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa, his only non-Japanese-language film and his only 70mm film. Audio in Russian with English subtitles.

The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala (which was named after the native trapper) by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, about his exploration of the Sikhote-Alin region of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century.

Shot almost entirely outdoors in the Russian Far East wilderness, the film explores the theme of a native of the forests who is fully integrated into his environment, leading a style of life that will inevitably be destroyed by the advance of civilization. It is also about the growth of respect and deep friendship between two men of profoundly different backgrounds, and about the difficulty of coping with the loss of capability that comes with old age.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival, and other awards. It was also a box office hit, selling more than 21 million tickets in the Soviet Union and Europe.

Cast & Characters:
Yury Solomin as Vladimir Arsenyev
Maxim Munzuk as Dersu Uzala
Vladimir Kremena as Turtygin
Alexander Pyatkov as Olenev
Svetlana Danilchenko as Anna
Suimenkul Chokmorov as Chzhan Bao