MovieChat Forums > Dersu Uzala (1977) Discussion > What An Awesome, Dreamlike Masterwork

What An Awesome, Dreamlike Masterwork

posted 14 years ago by gnolti
4 replies | jump to latest

Where has the film been for the last three decades? Why is it not better known in the States? The new DVD -- whose quality is perfectly fine; no "remastering" required as far as I can tell -- has been much needed.

Kurosawa captures an era and a state of mind at every level: geographically/culturally (he must have studied Prokudin-Gorskii's period photographs very closely), psychologically (the complex, mutually dependent relationship between explorer/imperialist and native/exploited), and historically (a Dersu could not survive in the world he was unwittingly helping to expand).

The only films as good or better than this one are Nanook of the North (in which there are virtually no white men except behind the camera) and Phillip Kaufmann's White Dawn.

There, daddy, do I get a gold star?

[–] PoppyTransfusion 9 years ago

Why is it not better known in the UK either? I think this film is very relevant today as it's about humanity's relationship to the natural world, of which we are a part. How to live off the land and enjoy its riches whilst tending the land and not exploiting, wasting or poisoning it. Beautiful, beautiful film.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

[–] pan-10 9 years ago

It is one of the greatest movies ever made...and for me the greatest and most memorable scene in it is the rush to build the reed shelter. I consider that one of the greatest episodes in motion picture history.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 9 years ago

That was a powerful scene. It's an amazing film and I would argue it's one of the greatest.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

[–] Raxivace 9 years ago

psychologically (the complex, mutually dependent relationship between explorer/imperialist and native/exploited), and historically (a Dersu could not survive in the world he was unwittingly helping to expand).

Just wanted to say that there are two incredibly good points. I was so caught up in the friendship angle of the movie (As well as the wonderful cinematography) that I didn't even consider that in some ways, it was the Captain himself that was damning Dersu.

"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris