578. Dersu Uzala

Dersu Uzala
1974
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

I watched this back when I was greedily viewing anything that Kurosawa was remotely involved in.  This was certainly not what I expected.  For one thing, the film is in Russian.  There were also no wipe effects!  Still, it is a great film.  Kurosawa could direct an infomercial and I would be impressed.

Arseniev is the leader of an expedition troop and uses a nomadic tribesman named Dersu Uzala as a guide.  Of course, he is looked down on as a crazy old man in the woods.  But it quickly becomes clear that he isn't the clueless one.

That was a pretty shitty plot summary, but I felt like I would spoil it if I revealed anymore details.  I won't give anything away, but the ending hit me pretty hard with the feels.

Of course this is a beautiful movie, since Kurosawa was involved. The relationship between Dersu and Arseniev has to go down as one of the greatest bromances of all time.  And hey, now I can technically say that I found a Russian film I enjoy.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Only six members of his crew were Japanese.