Dersu Uzala (1975 film)

Dersu Uzala Дерсу Узала デルス·ウザーラ
Japanese release poster
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay by	Akira Kurosawa Yuri Nagibin
Based on	Dersu Uzala by Vladimir Arsenyev
Produced by	Yoichi Matsue Nikolai Sizov
Starring	Maxim Munzuk Yury Solomin
Cinematography	Asakazu Nakai Yuri Gantman Fyodor Dobronravov
Edited by	Valentina Stepanova
Music by	Isaak Shvarts
Production companies	Daiei Film Mosfilm
Distributed by	Mosfilm (USSR) Daiei Film (Japan)
Release dates	July 1975 (1975-07) (USSR) 2 August 1975 (1975-08-02) (Japan)
Running time	144 minutes
Countries	Soviet Union Japan
Languages	Russian Mandarin Kyakhta Russian–Chinese Pidgin
Budget	$4 million (est.)
Box office	21 million tickets (USSR/EU) $1.2 million (USA/Canada)

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 Soviet-Japanese biographical adventure drama film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa, his only non-Japanese-language film and his only 70mm film.

The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala (which was named after the native trapper) by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, about his exploration of the Sikhote-Alin region of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century. Shot almost entirely outdoors in the Russian Far East wilderness, the film explores the theme of a native of the forests who is fully integrated into his environment, leading a style of life that will inevitably be destroyed by the advance of civilization. It is also about the growth of respect and deep friendship between two men of profoundly different backgrounds, and about the difficulty of coping with the loss of capability that comes with old age.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,^[1] the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival,^[2] and other awards. It was also a box office hit, selling more than 21 million tickets in the Soviet Union and Europe in addition to grossing $1.2 million in the United States and Canada.