Kurosawa’s first film after his 1971 suicide attempt, Dersu Uzala was made in response to an offer from the Soviet Union for Kurosawa to direct a film of his choice there, and is based on a true story that he had discovered many years before. En route to a remote region of Siberia, a Russian surveyor and his party are joined by the wise native guide Dersu Uzala, whose quiet presence hides a powerful grace and an even more powerful connection to the world around him. Abandoning the tight narrative structures, genre settings, and star-driven power of his prior career, Kurosawa turns this simple tale of discovery and exploration (in both physical and metaphysical senses) into a work of true awe: awe at nature and at humanity, and at the possibility of harmony between the two. Shot on location in the vast forests of Eastern Siberia, filmed in 70mm to best capture the sheer magnitude and force of nature, this epic work won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

—Jason Sanders

• Written by Kurosawa, Yuri Nagibin, based on the writings of Vladimir Arseniev. Photographed by Fyodor Dobronravov, Yuri Gantman, Asakazu Nakai. With Yuri Solomin, Maxim Munzuk, Svetlana Danilchenko, Dmitri Korshikov. (165 mins, In Japanese with English subtitles, Color, ’Scope, 35mm, From Kino International)