144: Dersu Uzala

It’s interesting to note that for a time in the mid 1970s Japanese master director Akira Kurosawa was not appreciated in his native country.  During that period, the film industry of the Soviet Union beckoned and Kurosawa answered the call, undoubtedly aware that the soviet government-funded industry there would spare no expense in financing one of his pictures.  The result was Dersu Uzala (1974).  This epic captures much of what was great about Kurosawa’s productions in his homeland, but feels infused with the emotional distance which often accompanied Soviet films.

            That’s not to say that this film is altogether cold, in fact it features a warm friendship, but that the characters themselves never feel developed or offer themselves to the audience.  The story centers on a Russian army captain (Yuri Solomin) who is charged with leading a topographical expedition of Siberia at the turn of the century.  He is a good leader and his men respect him, but none are prepared for the harsh conditions they will face.  When they meet a local hunter, Dersu (Maksim Munzuk), who has experience and knowledge of survival in the unforgiving landscape, they take him on as their guide. 

            A relationship develops between the Captain and the hunter that initially seems strange to the men.  Though they embrace their guide’s advice, he is to them more of a clown than the sage that the Captain perceives.  As their friendship grows, so slowly does the respect of the other members of the expedition.  The first half of the film features some exciting sequences of survival, as Dersu and the Captain battle the elements at every turn.  In the film’s key scene they are caught in a storm out on the tundra when Dersu saves the Captain’s life by constructing a makeshift hut to shield them from the wind.  Though the Captain profusely thanks his companion, the old man acts as if this was all in a days work.

            Though the expedition ends, the Captain returns to the area in subsequent years to finish his mapmaking work.  He reunites with Dersu joyously, remarking that he seems to defy time.  Though Dersu does not know how old he is, and despite the Captains remarks, it becomes clear that his site is fading, leaving him more prone to the elements.  Though the Captain invites his friend to live with him in the city, Dersu cannot adjust to life away from his native hills.  Ironically, though Dersu saved the Captain, he is unable to return the favor. 

            The film is in many ways a beautiful testament to friendship and the lasting nature thereof, but as I said it has a distance that keeps it from effectively functioning.  Though much of the cinematography is beautiful as well, capturing the vast and haunting reaches of Asia, it is unbalanced and dark in some portions.  Though it may have been the intension of D.P. Fyodor Dobronravov, the scenes which take place in at the Captain’s home in the city are downright flat.  This flatness offers an interesting juxtaposition, but one without a pleasing aesthetic.

Grade: 2 Hats Off