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A giant of world cinema, the Japanese master’s extraordinary career includes such classic films
as Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood and Ran.
DERSU UZALA is the only Kurosawa film shot outside of Japan and not in Japanese.
Following Red Beard in 1965, his last collaboration actor Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa struggled to
find financing for his films, despite his international reputation. This, together with a commercial
downtown in the fortunes of his films, his withdrawl from the Hollywood film Tora! Tora! Tora!
and a bout of ill health led to a suicide attempt. But a return to filmmaking was made possible
when the Russian studio Mosfilm agreed to finance Dersu Uzala, a project Kurosawa had long
wished to realise. After an arduous two years in production, the film went on to win the Oscar
for Best Foreign language Film in 1975.
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