Thursday, February 4, 2010

O Capitan, My Capitan!: Dersu Uzala

Dersu Uzala (1975) - Kurosawa


I'll keep it short. Dersu Uzala is a tender story of budding friendship btwn a captain of military land surveyor team and a Goldi hunter with the stunning Siberian forests as a backdrop. It's also about changing times and somber observation of disappearing way of life. Even though settings and actors are foreign, you can tell right away it's a Kurosawa film- the mastery of exterior shots and movements are unmistakable AK. It's much more personable Dances with Wolves/Kaspar Hauser for grown-ups. It's mature, guileless, direct and teeming with mutual respect. AK fan or not, one can't deny that he is a master storyteller. There is a real feeling of joy seeing the cheerful reunion of Dersu and his capitan. I really loved this film.

The show at Film Forum was sold out even though it was a weeknight. A lot of AK love going on here in NY. Even though the 35mm film print was scratched and discolored, I was glad to see it on the big screen with my good friend Ben.

doodling at work #2

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Just read this short story. Couldn't get the image out of my head, so had to put it down on paper.

It's one of 57 short stories from the book Varieties of Disturbance: Stories. I love it so far.

doodling at work #1

Doodling at work. More to come.
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