Which Russian explorer's memoir inspired Dersu Uzala?

Vladimir Arsenyev’s memoir Dersu Uzala inspired Akira Kurosawa’s 1975 film Dersu Uzala.

Arsenyev was a Russian explorer, military surveyor, and writer who described expeditions through the Russian Far East in the early twentieth century. His memoir centers on Dersu Uzala, a Nanai hunter who became a guide and trusted companion during Arsenyev’s journeys through the taiga.

Kurosawa’s film dramatizes the friendship between the explorer, played by Yury Solomin, and Dersu, played by Maxim Munzuk. The story contrasts formal surveying and imperial exploration with Dersu’s intimate understanding of weather, animals, terrain, and survival. Episodes involving blizzards, hunger, shelter, and a dangerous river crossing give the film its emotional force.

A common mix-up is treating Dersu Uzala as the explorer’s name. Dersu is the hunter; Arsenyev is the memoirist and the historical figure whose book supplied the source material. Kurosawa had considered adapting the story much earlier, but the eventual production became a Soviet-Japanese project made with Mosfilm. Shot largely in difficult wilderness conditions, the film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.