Grew of mapping surveyors meet a Nanai-hunter and this old man teaches them about life and nature, and forms a close friendship with the leader of the group. The beauty is in the simplicity and the wild is naturally captured like nothing else. It was not just the beautiful imagery but also all the birds and what have you making noise in the background, all that was just enjoyable to behold by itself.
I've been annoyed way worse by it, but this too was filled with all those Kurosawaisms, like scenes where characters start to abruptly yell at each others feet, because it's all so dramatic damn it, or scenes where the main character does something, anything at all really, and all the other characters look at him in silence and awe because even if Dersu Uzala would have only said that the sun is big or something, it's all so perfectly wonderful and amazing, and everyone is taken aback. That moment when the characters are eating fish and every goes silent and are unable to give any kind of response or shall I say notice at all a woman who is offering the gang more fish as Dersu Uzala mentions about his oncoming departure with the group was actually kind of annoying. He has given that group a lot and he has formed a close companionship with them, but demonstrating the effect of his departure like that was very corny.
Similar to some other movies from the director, this too makes the character through actions instead of words, like when Dersu Uzula starts repairing a cabin and leaves food there for the next person who comes. I get what they're trying to do with that. The character is a really good person who cares for other people etc. It's that basic Kurosawa-humanism I guess, but I don't for it, because it's so obvious and often very sentimental - that scene in High and Low where Mifune decides to pay the ransom and the father of the other son starts to cry at his feet and all the other people start to look at other directions to demonstrate the drama of the situation is one of the worst instances - and just to rub it the viewer's face, some other character usually needs to make a remark on what a good person that guy is, either directly after an action or just at some point of the movie. Kurosawa is always doing that.
There was that one scene where the titular character and the narrator get lost in a snow-storm and by Dersu Uzala's instructions they start to collect all the reeds they can get their hands on. The narrator collapses after a while and he wakes up in a hut made with those reeds, and he goes "Now I knew what he was doing. He was saving my life with his resourcefulness". Like what else could he have possibly been doing? And he was saving his own life at the same time anyway. The scene itself was good because it felt natural and not forced in the "message", but that dumb line took it down a notch.
But still, all that didn't manage to ruin the movie for me. Could have probably gone on without some of it, but the straightforward and plotless story, with nothing but people going about in the wild was easy to watch and easy to like and was able to compensate those kind of moments, and they were able to keep that stuff behind the line in this.
Because Dersu Uzala is an old wise man who is in with the nature he doesn't know his age and of course he answers to that inquiry that he has been past "many winters".
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Comments 1 - 12 of 12
Shingwauk
Kurosawa provides us with a lost love of the earth and the undying loyalty to each other.Public Enemy
I wish I didn't put this off as long as I had. It was great.valters
how can men sit in box?Rene Narciso
Probably the most touching movie ever made about friendship.AdGuzman
perfection!nestorjal
Great history! I'm missing the forest right now...Rohit
Beautiful!Typically Thomas
After searching for 3.5 years I finally got to watch this movie and am I glad I did. Beautiful story.Jpit
Grew of mapping surveyors meet a Nanai-hunter and this old man teaches them about life and nature, and forms a close friendship with the leader of the group. The beauty is in the simplicity and the wild is naturally captured like nothing else. It was not just the beautiful imagery but also all the birds and what have you making noise in the background, all that was just enjoyable to behold by itself.I've been annoyed way worse by it, but this too was filled with all those Kurosawaisms, like scenes where characters start to abruptly yell at each others feet, because it's all so dramatic damn it, or scenes where the main character does something, anything at all really, and all the other characters look at him in silence and awe because even if Dersu Uzala would have only said that the sun is big or something, it's all so perfectly wonderful and amazing, and everyone is taken aback. That moment when the characters are eating fish and every goes silent and are unable to give any kind of response or shall I say notice at all a woman who is offering the gang more fish as Dersu Uzala mentions about his oncoming departure with the group was actually kind of annoying. He has given that group a lot and he has formed a close companionship with them, but demonstrating the effect of his departure like that was very corny.
Similar to some other movies from the director, this too makes the character through actions instead of words, like when Dersu Uzula starts repairing a cabin and leaves food there for the next person who comes. I get what they're trying to do with that. The character is a really good person who cares for other people etc. It's that basic Kurosawa-humanism I guess, but I don't for it, because it's so obvious and often very sentimental - that scene in High and Low where Mifune decides to pay the ransom and the father of the other son starts to cry at his feet and all the other people start to look at other directions to demonstrate the drama of the situation is one of the worst instances - and just to rub it the viewer's face, some other character usually needs to make a remark on what a good person that guy is, either directly after an action or just at some point of the movie. Kurosawa is always doing that.
There was that one scene where the titular character and the narrator get lost in a snow-storm and by Dersu Uzala's instructions they start to collect all the reeds they can get their hands on. The narrator collapses after a while and he wakes up in a hut made with those reeds, and he goes "Now I knew what he was doing. He was saving my life with his resourcefulness". Like what else could he have possibly been doing? And he was saving his own life at the same time anyway. The scene itself was good because it felt natural and not forced in the "message", but that dumb line took it down a notch.
But still, all that didn't manage to ruin the movie for me. Could have probably gone on without some of it, but the straightforward and plotless story, with nothing but people going about in the wild was easy to watch and easy to like and was able to compensate those kind of moments, and they were able to keep that stuff behind the line in this.
Because Dersu Uzala is an old wise man who is in with the nature he doesn't know his age and of course he answers to that inquiry that he has been past "many winters".
locovoco
The Revenant Schmevenant!- THIS is a survivalist movie! No CGI here, baby!...and "But bad to kill animals for nothing"....you are so right there Dersu Uzala
GodPepper
In Rashomon is the monk, here is Dersu, but in both Kurosawa's, the director offers us a character living within goodness.I loved it.
nicolaskrizan
very moving rumination on friendship and agehttp://1001movies.posterous.com/1038