The main line of the film is very simple. A survey team from the former Soviet Union was ordered to conduct topographic survey and mapping work in the remote mountainous area of Ussuri. On a dark forest night, the old Hezhe hunter—Delsu Uzala met with him. So, he became the guide of the survey team, and forged a deep friendship with the leader of the survey team-Arseniev.
A simple story has its deep core. It is a discussion between man and nature, as well as a collision between civilization and primitiveness. The story that happened in the background of the wild forest was narrated by Master Kurosawa. It was naturally smooth and shocking.
Delsu Uzala’s appearance was mysterious. According to Arsenyev, it was a night like a witch gathering day. When asked about his age, the vicissitudes of old man gave the answer after careful calculation. It is also "not so clear, I have been alive for a long time". But then the old hunter's longing for his deceased family, coupled with his survival wisdom honed in the forest, made us not only empathize with him, but also rely on him. He has saved Arseniev’s life more than once, and he has also given great help to the survey team. In the complex jungle, he seems to be the only constant reliability.
In his eyes, everything in the world is "human." In the civilized belief, God created man on the sixth day after creating the world and all things. How is everything different from us? The Lord made people out of dust and breathed life into their nostrils. With a spirit, people live. There are similar sayings in the myths of the East and the West, and the emphasis is nothing more than being born with an aura, which is higher than that. Delsu Uzala doesn't know this. He just fears nature. In his most simple faith, everything in the world "everything is human and everything is alive". He talked to Bonfire. He believed that "fire, water, and wind are three very powerful people." He respected every existence between heaven and earth. When calling "them" as "people", Delsu Uzala not only recognized that they have souls, but also placed them in the same position as "people". So is Del Su, who has been alone in the jungle for decades, alone? I think the answer is no.
In the second half of the movie, Arsenyev and Delsu Uzala met again after five years, but we found that he was dying.
He is still Delsu Uzala, who "has amazing insight and a beautiful heart", but when the once-a-beaten sharpshooter can't hit the glove that he hangs from a hundred meters away, he is terrified. He fled the forest and came to the home of Captain Arseniev in Boli. But in this series of urban scenes, what Delsu Uzala left for everyone is usually a lonely back sitting in front of the fire, or a vague half-face. But when he condemned the water giver for charging water fees and questioned the rules of a civilized city, he finally faced the camera. This is also a reflection of the frontal conflict and confrontation between nature and city, primitive and civilization.
Is there a result of such a struggle?
At the end of the film, Kurosawa Akira, the master who has just walked out of the shadow of suicide, gave us a world-weary answer-irreconcilable. Delsou Uzala left. He took the gift Arseniev gave him, the latest rifle, and left the city, but died on the road leading to the forest because the gun was robbed. The gift of the city was finally taken back by the city people, and the forest once again accepted the old hunter, it swallowed him, and was completely integrated.
In fact, Delsu Uzala is the epitome of nature in some respects. His problems have become more and more serious as the dense forests of Ussuri are cut down and wild animals are hunted and killed. The old hunter was swallowed by aging, and nature was swallowed by the city. Isn't the decline of Delsu Uzala a natural decline?
So, after the film is over, we look back again and think about the dialogue between Chief Arseniev and the loggers, and you will find out. Delsou Uzala disappeared with this stubborn forest of Ussuri.
This will be a spring without del Su.
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