Dersu Uzala (1975)

Dersu Uzala (Russian: Дерсу Узала; Japanese: デルス·ウザーラ, romanized: Derusu Uzāra; alternative U.S. title: Dersu Uzala: The Hunter) is a 1975 epic biographical film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Maxim Munzuk and Yury Solomin, the film is based on the 1923 memoir (named for the native trapper Dersu Uzala) by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, about his exploration of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century. During his exploration, he forms a deep friendship with Dersu as the trapper helps him navigate through the taiga.

Following a series of personal and professional difficulties, Kurosawa was approached by the Soviet Union in 1972 with an offer to produce a film there. A contract with Mosfilm was signed in March 1973, and production began in 1974. The Soviet side of production had requests and stipulations, including a limit to the number of Japanese crew members, but it was agreed that Kurosawa would maintain full artistic control. Shot on 70 mm film, the production of Dersu Uzala experienced difficult conditions, including illness, freezing temperatures, and difficulties filming planned shoots. Filming ended in the Russian Far East in January 1975, after eight months in the wilderness, before wrapping in April of that year in Moscow. The estimated cost of production was $4 million.

Dersu Uzala had its premiere at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival in 1975, before being released widely in Japan in August, and the Soviet Union in September. The film's release coincided with Kurosawa beginning to form a public image, as he found himself without an income. Screened in United States in February 1976, the film went on to win Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film before seeing a limited release in December 1977. In the US the film saw a mixed reception. Many scholars and critics, even those who had supported Kurosawa's earlier work, disliked the film. Academic analyses of the film have looked at the characterisation of Dersu and the relationship between nature and civilisation.