The following content is excerpted from "Anti-China Movie Script
Shooting "Del Su" is my dream for thirty years (excerpt)
Kurosawa
The process of deciding to put "Del Su" on the screen
Thirty years ago I considered making "Delsu Uzala" into a movie. When I was an assistant director, I read the original "Delsu Uzala" because I liked adventures, and I liked the character Delsu very much. I really want to make it into a movie. I remember that after I finished filming "Idiot" in 1951, I discussed with Eijiro Kuita and asked him to write the script for the movie. Of course, I didn't even think about filming in the Soviet Union at that time, so the background and people were changed to Japanese, but the script was not quite right. In short, shooting in Japan is not good.
Later, in February 1971, when Soviet director Sergei Gerasimov visited Japan, he asked me if I wanted to make a film in the Soviet Union. Then, I went to the Soviet Union with the special film "I'm Going on the Tram" for the Moscow Film Festival this year, and the other party repeated the old saying. ······I met director Lev Kulzanov who had visited Japan in a restaurant on the outskirts of Moscow. When I talked to him, I mentioned that I wanted to make "Delsu Uzala". When he heard it, he said in surprise: "So you know "Delsu Mazara"." I said, "Yes, I have had this wish for thirty years." He said, "Would you not just do it like this." Okay? Actually, the Soviet Union has already filmed a "Delsu Uzala", but it is a very dry and boring film. It will be made by Mr. Kurosawa, it will definitely be a completely different film. Very good La.” The filming of "Delsu Uzala" was thus decided.
About Arsenyev
Arseniev was the captain of the expedition who once asked Del Su as a guide. He wrote about the exploration of the coastal area from 1902 to 1903 and from 1906 to 1907. After years of exploration, in addition, I wrote several books. The book from 1907, called "Delsu Uzala", was widely distributed; from 1902, there was only one book collected in the Ueno Library in Japan at that time-I was reading it. The one I've used.
Arseniev graduated from the Army Junior Officer School and turned out to be a soldier. I was very interested in zoology, botany, geography, and geology in my childhood. He was sent to the Far East as a young officer. At first, he began expeditions out of strategic research needs of the military, but soon he began to conduct formal Siberian academic investigations. Later, he served as the curator of the Khabarovsk Museum for eight years. He is not so much a soldier and explorer as a geographer and writer. He is highly respected to this day, and Khabarovsk needless to say, even the place where he died, Vladivostok, erected a large bronze statue of him. There is another city in the Soviet Union named after him. This time the shooting is based in the city of Arsenyev. ...
Son of the Great Forest-The Charm of Del Su
Arseniev and Delsu met during an expedition in 1906. I read the original book and like him very much. Delsu is a member of the Hezhe ethnic group. Like the Udehai and Oroqen ethnic groups, it is an oriental ethnic minority living in the Wusuli area. For example, his idea of celestial bodies is also very simple, and there is no such philosophical taste. Arsenyev asked him: "What is the sun?" Delsu pointed to the sun and said, "You, haven't seen it? Take a look." I like this kind of place very much. It simply expresses the wisdom of a person who has lived alone in the Great Forest of Siberia, and how strong it is. I want to describe the characteristics of Del Su according to the original work. ·····
...However, I feel that the people in this mountain have died miserably. Those who make a living by hunting can no longer see and can't live anymore.
I think that people who live alone in nature like Del Su, who loves, respects and fears nature, his attitude is what people all over the world should learn most today. ...
The script of the movie was mainly based on the first draft I wrote, and it was processed by Yuli Najibin from the Soviet Union. I rewritten it again, and the two people further studied some detailed points. ...
Humanitarian, peaceful and friendly
This time, one of the difficult things is the way to deal with the Chinese. This has been a problem since the script was written. As long as you read the original work and the script of the movie, you can know that during the period of Arseniev’s expedition, Ussuri was not clearly distinguished from the border of China. In addition to a few indigenous people, mainly Chinese, as well as Koreans and Japanese, also came here. However, now, the Sino-Soviet issue is not so subtle, it is already extremely serious, so the way to deal with the Chinese has become a problem in the movie script.
I thought it was fair, but the other party said that I had done too much to describe good Chinese people.
I retorted that both Russians and Chinese are good and bad. First of all, this was from 1902 to 1907. The situation at that time was different from the current situation. Isn’t it wrong to move the current political reality into the film? Besides, as international film workers, we are I shot this film from the standpoint of the Moscow Film Festival’s slogan "For the humanitarianism in film art and peace and friendship between nations". I firmly expressed my unwillingness to move politics into the film. To the Chinese The way to deal with is that the (Soviet) State Film Commission is also very concerned. This is the most difficult problem during the writing of the screenplay.......
(Translated by Wan Lan)
The original text of this article was published in Japan's "Movies"
(May 7, 1974 supplement)
View more about Dersu Uzala reviews
