Film: Dersu Uzala (1975)
Dersu Uzala is for me the probably most touching movie of AK. The change of style after dodeskaden is crystal clear, almost like a resentment expressed by the way he films, like "a trahison" of the "Japanese way of filmmaking" ("wasn't he the most western Japanese movie director?"). For sure, one can say signifies a new stage of the director filmography. But beyond that, the movie is a huge universal history about connection of people. Finding purpose in life and meaning of your existence.
For our historical and symbolical Dersu, taiga was his one lair. He was part of that fauna and flora, a truly man-nature hybridization that cannot be broken. What is the purpose other than having and finding ours truly taiga in life? In this sense, Dersu Uzala is a universal history.