Dersu Uzala

Sadly this isn't the first Kurosawa movie I've seen been massacred by a poor DvD transfer. Remember Ran? That DvD was a utter disgrace. So was Madadayo and Sanjuro. I'm so sick of these companies seeking a quick profit so they take works of art and destroy them with half assed ports and then charge over inflated prices on top of all that. It makes me sick. And then there are movies like Kagemusha, Ikiru and Throne of Blood (some of the greatest movies ever made) that have yet to be released on DvD and that I find completely unacceptable.

I'm sorry this is beginning sound like a rant but no way is this half assed transfer worth that much money. The movie gets 10 stars but the DvD gets NONE.


Blush, Kino   January 16, 2001
37 out of 39 found this review helpful

Wonderful film, one of my top ten, but this is a terrible DVD. My videotape is MUCH better. Kino must have searched for the worst possible print to transfer; every flaw is preserved and magnified. A ridiculous, cheap, cynical, hack-job on a beautiful film. How did this happen, and why won't someone with a conscience do this film DVD justice?


Technically miserable   January 8, 2001
Cuvelier Fabrice
29 out of 30 found this review helpful

Let's make it clear from start : the movie is a pure masterpiece and will top rank in anyone video collection. The point here is the DVD transfer which is a catastrophy. I am not a techno nut & am very tollerant when there is some quality problems here & there. But this DVD has to be a case on what can go wrong : the sound is scratchy at best, the colors are mostly saturated or are totally faded, the picture goes constantly out of focus, ... Things where so bad I checked my hardware with another DVD ! For the price this is a rip-off.


The old man and the Taiga   May 17, 2004
Eva25at (Vienna, Austria)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

1902: Arseniev (Yuri Solomin), a czarist officer and his men exploit and map the Usuri-region. The gigantic pine-forests of the Taiga evoke visions of the Walpurgis-night. Dersu Uzala (Maxim Munzuk) sits down at their camp-fire and smokes his pipe. The old man who lost his wife and children during a smallpox-epidemic lives in the mountains without permanent refuge and hunts for the stag, the wild boar, the sable. He benefits from the nature, but does not exhaust it. As a matter of course he takes the lead of the expedition and shows them how to cover a roof with bark and instructs them to leave stock- rice, salt, matches - to other travelers. They learn not to squander cartridges and that an empty bottle can be valuable in the wilderness. They wade through the morass and suddenly the winter sets in. Arseniev and Dersu lose their way on the ice-covered lake Hanka and a snow-drift covers their footprints. Their race against time is perhaps the most breathtaking scene in the film: The two men cut as many blades of grass as possible in order to survive the cold night. Arseniev realizes how small man is in from of the big nature. He invites Dersu to join him ("It' comfortable in the city") but Dersu prefers his free life. He sees the men off to the train station and they agree that "He is such a good man!".

1907, spring, snow-break: Arseniev explores the Usuri-region again. Three months later a vast territory has been mapped, but the task would be carried through quicker with Dersu's help. Arseniev looks out for his old friend. Dersu made much money with furs, but a trader disappeared with his savings...

The Taiga in summer is a jungle. "Amdar" (the tiger) follows them. They discover pitfalls with carrion. Dersu is shocked over those needless killings. He is at war with the Chunchuse who abduct women. Arseniev helps him save three of their victims who were nearly drowning, but Dersu fall in a torrential river and the rescue-operation is another absorbing (and ingenious) moment.

The turning-point in Dersu's life comes when he inadvertently kills the tiger. He becomes nervous and irritable and believes the the spirit "Kangar" will punish him. His vision becomes defective; He misses his game. "How can I live in the Taiga?". Arseniev invites him to Chaberowsk: "My house is your house". His wife welcomes Dersu and his little son worhips him, but Dersu cannot manage life in the city where water and wood cost money. He is arrested when he tries to fell a tree. He feels redundant and decides to return to the mountains. Arseniev understands his request and gives him a brand-new gun as farewell-present. A few days later he is forced to identify the body of his old friend: somebody killed Dersu - for his gun.

DERSU UZALA needs no recommendation: it won an oscar as best foreign film in 1975 and every fan of Akira Kurosawa will see it sooner or later. Centra Asia, this gigantic territory, looks awe-inspiring in itself (and bear in mind that there is no wilderness in Japan where nearly every tree has been cultivated for aesthetic reasons) and the cinematography is overwhelming - I wish I could have seen it on the big screen. What impressed me most was the high-mindedness of the performances. There is not one patronizing undertone. Deep respect for those people who live in, of, and most importantly with the nature pervades this film.


Kurosawa at his best   April 8, 1999
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

Being a Foreign Film lover for over twenty years, I would put this movie in my top ten list without hesitation. It is masterfully made with most of the story lines told visually. The first half of the movie is filled with majestic beauty of Siberia, adventure, friendship, and vitality, in stark contrast with the almost unbearable second half, in which the hunter lost his ability to cope with the wild due to advancing age. Forces of nature finally caught on with him and turned into a menacing beast ready to swallow him. Dersu the hunter, the main role of this movie, is such a lovable character that you can't help but fascinated by him. He is simple but full of wisdom, learned through years of surviving in the harshest environment. He would be considered naive and gullible according our civilized standard. But in his own unspoiled wild, he is larger than life, courageous, resourceful, and imbued with moral impecability. He is definitely one of the all-time most memorable figures in films. The image of him in the glow of fleeting camp fire by the river, singing a strangely beautiful song paying respect to his lost family, haunted me for days.

A near perfect movie!