Dersu Uzala

There aren’t many Russian/Japanese films out there, and fewer still that can be called classics, which is why this screening of Dersu Uzala is an especially nice treat for film buffs. The 1975 flick, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film that year, was the only film Japanese director Akira Kurosawa ever filmed outside of his native country. Based on the 1923 memoir of Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, Dersu Uzala follows Arsenyev (Yury Solomin) as he leads a mapping expedition through Siberia in the early 20th century. The group meets Dersu Uzala (Maxim Munzuk), an old hunter who befriends Arsenyev and teaches him not only about the Russian wilderness but about life as well.

Next on the Russian Cultural Center’s monthly schedule of homeland flicks is Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, a documentary about scientist Leon Theremin that won the Sundance Filmmakers Trophy. Dersu Uzala screens today at 7:30 p.m. 2337 Bissonnet. For information and a complete schedule, call 713-395-3301 or visit www.ourtx.org. $5 to $7.
Fri., April 25, 7:30 p.m., 2008