Akira Kurosawa's first film after his failed suicide attempt tells the story of
a small party of Russian soldiers who are out on a peaceful exploration mission
in a remote area of Siberia when they meet Dersu Uzala, a gentle mountain man
who instantly takes a liking to the Captain and agrees to become their guide. At
first, the men find Dersu to be an quirky, superstitious old goat and laugh at
him, but soon they start to admire him. Especially after he saves the
Captain's life from certain death in a blizzard. The mission ends and they part
ways, but a few years later the Captain, while out with another map-making party
runs into Dersu again. This time they become inseparable and the new group of
soldiers quickly take a liking to him also. They have many adventures, but all
things cannot be perfect forever...
This is a slower Kurosawa film, so if you're looking for the action of his more
popular samurai films then you're going to be disappointed. That said it is
still an entertaining and beautifully shot film. As always, Kurosawa knows
exactly where to place the camera. The only problem I had and maybe it's just a
personal one is I didn't really feel anything for either of the lead characters.
They both felt distant and even after 141 minutes I still felt nothing for
either one.
A good film, but not in my Top 10 Favorite Kurosawa Films. If you're a fan
of Kurosawa then of course you need to watch it, but others will probably just
find it slow. It really depends on how much you enjoy foreign cinema.
