Click the ISF image for the complete list of ISF cited DVDs. Films on Disc has been sited by Classic Movies as one of their Best New Links. 2.35 Dersu Uzala is Kurosawa at his most contemplative, pondering the interaction of man and nature and man and man. The most exciting moments of this outdoor drama are restrained and the tension evolves from the patient methodology of the filmmaker. Whether rescuing Dersu from impending river rapids or frantically cutting stalks of grass to build a shelter against the menacing icy night, it is the pacing of these scenes that mesmerize the viewer.
Beautiful lighting is retained.
The film is structured in three acts along with a prologue and epilogue. In 1902, Captain Arseniev leads a Russian surveying expedition to Siberia where he encounters Dersu, a native huntsman, who impacts upon the mission and the captain. After surviving the journey, Dersu and the Arseniev part, with their emotions finally trying to connect as each calls out the other's name over the increasing distance. Five years later, Arseniev heads a mission to Siberia and again connects with Dersu, but the years have taken their toll on the aging hunter and by this journey's end it becomes more and more apparent. The captain asks Dersu to come back with him to stay at his home in a small city.