Dersu Uzala

Dersu Uzala (1975) is set in Siberia at the start of the twentieth century. Arseniev, a Russian explorer and surveyor, meets an old hunter in the forest. Dersu Uzala is Nanai; he can read the forest, understands tracks, and treats nature as a living thing. The two travel together several times across the years. The reason the film exists is Kurosawa's own collapse. Dodes'ka-den failed commercially in 1970, and after the troubles on the production of Tora! Tora! Tora! he fell into a serious crisis. In December 1970 he attempted suicide, in a period when he doubted his own creative ability. Japanese studios would not fund him afterwards. The offer came from the Soviet Union. In 1972 Soviet filmmakers approached the producer Yoichi Matsue; Kurosawa travelled to Moscow in early 1973 and an agreement was signed. Under it the film would be a Soviet production while he retained full artistic control. The Mosfilm contract was signed on 14 March 1973. Filming ran from February 1974 to April 1975, roughly eight months, in the Russian Far East. It was shot in 70mm using Soviet cameras and poor quality stock. Temperatures dropped to forty below, and both Kurosawa and cinematographer Asakazu Nakai fell ill. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in March 1976. Kurosawa expressed regret at not having won it with a Japanese film; it had competed against Japanese submissions. It runs 141 minutes. Good for: cinema about nature, Kurosawa, and stories of friendship. Less good for: the pace is very slow and there is almost no plot. The film is two men walking and it asks for patience. The landscape shots are long, and it is entirely the wrong film for anyone wanting crowds and speed.