Dersu Uzala (1975 film)

Dersu Uzala Russian , Japanese alternate U.S. title Dersu Uzala The Hunter is a 1975 SovietJapanese coproduction film directed by Akira Kurosawa, his first nonJapaneselanguage film and his first and only 70mm film. The film won the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival and the 1976 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala which took his name by the native trapper by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, about his exploration of the SikhoteAlin region of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century.

The film opens to a forest that is being cleared for development, and Arseniev searching for an unmarked grave of a friend he says he buriedyears ago. The film then flashes back to Arsenievs surveying expedition to the area of Shkotovo in Ussuri region in 1902. A topographic expedition troop, led by Captain Arseniev Yury Solomin, encounters a nomadic, aboriginal Goldi tribesman named Dersu Uzala Maxim Munzuk who agrees to guide them through the harsh frontier. Initially viewed as an uneducated, eccentric old man, Dersu earns the respect of the soldiers through his great intelligence, accurate instincts, keen powers of observation, and deep compassion. He repairs an abandoned hut and leaves provisions in a birch container so that a future traveler would survive in the wilderness. He deduces the identities and situations of people by analyzing tracks and articles left behind.Dersu Uzala saves the life of Captain Arseniev for the first time when the two are lost on a frozen lake and a sudden blizzard overtakes them. Dersu shows Arseniev how to quickly build a straw hut for shelter using grass and then, when Arseniev collapses due to exhaustion, Dersu pulls him into the shelter. The two men avoid freezing to death and are discovered by the rest of their comrades when the blizzard clears. The expedition then, struggling to survive the frozen tundra, encounter a Nani family who invite them into their home, providing the men much needed food, and warmth. At this point Dersu asks where Arseniev will go next to which Arseniev tells him back to the city and invites Dersu to come with him. Dersu tells him that his place is in the forest and that tomorrow he will go on his way. The next day he leaves the soldiers by the railroad tracks and returns to wilderness. ........

Source: Wikipedia