Dersu Uzala

At the start of the twentieth century, a group of soldiers are sent to explore the wilderness of their Eastern Siberian province. Led by "Capt. Arseniev" (Yuriy Solomin) they venture deep into the unforgiving territory where they are fortunate to encounter the local Goldi hunter "Dersu" (Maksim Munzuk). They are able to communicate rudimentarily and pretty swiftly they realise that without their wily and respectful guide they would perish amidst the wintry conditions. Indeed, after the tour has finished they all owe this diminutive man an undying debt of gratitude. Many years later, "Arseniev" returns to this wilderness and again happens upon his old friend. This time, though, it's not mapping they are doing but hunting the hunters. A tribe...

Akira Kurosawa's film, based on the memoirs of the Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev. In 1976, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, earning Akira Kurosawa the distinction of being the only director to have won this award twice at the time. It teaches lessons about friendship, love of nature, and humanism. It is a very impressive film, both in its dialogues and its cinematography; each frame is like a painting or a magnificent nature photograph.