Watch Dersu Uzala For Free

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I too loved this movie when I saw in cinema, I have just bought a copy from Amazon and hope with my wide screen TV that it will give a satisfactory viewing. I was so impressed with the relationship between the two main characters and considering that this movie was made during the height of the Cold War in an area of Russia that was very restricted to visit, it is a wonder that it was ever made. I wonder if Russian censors ever got to see this film as it shows an official wavering between duty and his personal sense of right and wrong.It has subtitles but do not let that put you off watching this marvelous film that has spectacular scenery and dynamic interplay between the protagonists plus a political comment (between the lines) about Russia of the time and the world in general when first world meets third world... {:~)

Akira Kurosawa's "Dersu Uzala" (1975) is an oddity in the director's oeuvre, but nonetheless, or precisely because of it, beloved by many. It has a historical setting, though it has no samurais and very little action. It focuses on the lyric moments of humanity which have always been integral to the beauty of Kurosawa's cinema. The film is based on Vladimir Arsenev's novel about his expeditions to Ussuria in the early 20th century during which he became acquainted with an aging hunter living in the woods, gathering all he needs from the environment. The simple charm of the story probably fascinated Kurosawa and offered a perfect basis for that time in his career. Before making "Derzu Uzala", Kurosawa had suffered both a professional and a personal tragedy as his first film in color "Dodes'ka-den" (1970) became a huge financial flop, and subsequently Kurosawa tried to commit suicide. Thus, in the early 1970's Kurosawa had truly lost his faith in cinema, the modern world, and life itself (for a moment at least). For this level of desolation, Arsenev's story offered a perfect means of meditation since its setting was far from capitalism and modern life as well as contemporary cinema. After all, "Derzu Uzala" is, at its heart, a story about total unselfishness, utter humility, and the beauty of life in touch with nature. What is more, Kurosawa uses a veritably lingering narrative which is combined with ascetic aesthetics. Overall, the style is very stripped. The gorgeous shots of the Russian landscape may be sublime, but it is really the landscape that is sublime. The form that shows it is naturalistic. "Dersu Uzala" is far from the surrealistic poetry combined with Gorky's realism that characterized Kurosawa's previous film, "Dodes'ka-den". It is much simpler. It gave Kurosawa a moment to contemplate the values and ideals of life that were dearest to him.In all its simplicity, "Dersu Uzala" tells us about the friendship between two different men: a Russian soldier, Arsenev, and a self-reliant hunter, Dersu. It studies the conflict of nature and civilization which forces a life of nature to diminish. The heart-rending tale is heavy with nostalgic yearning for the past and a melancholic sense of emptiness for the future. All this might sound sentimental, but somehow Kurosawa manages to create a character out of Dersu that is not idealized in a sentimental fashion. Yet, it is very difficult to point out the elements in the film which cause this effect; that is, the believable disposition of Dersu's character. On paper, it sounds naive and sentimental, but on screen -- in Kurosawa's images -- it gathers a new dimension. Arguably "Dersu Uzala" is the simplest story Kurosawa ever told, but maybe even more importantly it is also the story which he told in the simplest fashion.

Akira Kurosawa's breathtaking "Dersu Uzala" looks at a meeting of cultures in pre-revolutionary Russia, as a captain in the czar's army befriends a hunter in Russia's far east. Even as Dersu helps the platoon negotiate the forest and tundra, it is clear that his way of life is dying out as the Russian Empire expands and swallows the indigenous peoples of northeast Asia.The movie has some of the most amazing cinematography. I wouldn't expect a Kurosawa movie to be anything except great, but this movie has to be seen to be believed. There is no description that I can give that will do "Dersu Uzala" justice. It is one of the movies that you must see before you die.

This is one world-class piece of work desperately in the waiting line for a BluRay revamp, watched this Kurosawa's Soviet Union film in DVD format, the quality is discouraging, but the film speaks for itself in shedding bells and whistles and homing in on a camaraderie between a Soviet military explorer and a seasoned local hunter among the bleak Ussuri inhospitable region. Storyline-aside, it is another Kurosawa's awesome visual spectacle, a tremendous field shooting endeavor, epitomizes by the sun-moon co-existence with solemn placidness, furthermore, it is a hymn to mother nature, Dersu personifies as the harmonious co-habitant of the mighty wilderness, a sublime soul with well-versed survival skills, on the contrary to my recent watched documentary TOUCHING THE VOID (2003, 8/10), DERSU UZALA owns a purer and more admirable prospect, instead of conquering the insurmountable to chase a spur of glory and invincibility, it is far more intrepid and unpretentious to be a part of it with reverence and be respectful to its law and act, in addition to its indefatigable undertone against industrialized modernism (it is the brand-new rifle, a token of friendship, actually wreaks the somber demise of Dersu). Strictly speaking, there is merely two characters in the film, Dersu (Munzuk) and the Russian Captain (Solomin), a bond is tenably formed through their expedition in the wild, from lush jungle to walking-on-the-thin-ice frozen river, the life-saving bravado during a squalling night when they lost their track on a snow land or a torrent peril, Kurosawa molds a great range of topography with taut excitement where it is required. The character study of Dersu also is been executed through the observation and the interaction from Captain (viewers' proxy), who is enthralled by Dersu's simple yet ethereal nature, a rare bird may or may not be extinct now. The dual-acting from Munzuk and Solomin is the fruit of naturalistic emancipation and unassuming engagement. Also a memorable presence is Isaak Shvarts's accompanying score segues from lithe to menacing, eerie to sonorous, with Russian folklore and shanty as well.Being a Chinese, I cannot avoid mentioning the sensitive timing (after China and Japan's rapprochement in 1972 and China and Soviet Union's dispute in 1969) of the film-making, which prompted an accusation from Chinese government concerns a so-called political libel on Chinese people, mainly by vilifying Hunhutsi (which literally means red beard in Mandarin) as the villain and the nature-balance defier. But honestly, this episode is largely overstated since there is no direct confrontation at all in the film, at least for my compatriots, don't let this smokescreen blinds your eyes, DERSU UZALA is a spirited ethnological oeuvre could inspire whoever has a chance to watch it, preferably on a big screen or at least a BluRay edition.