i also didnt care for the jocular, basic russian he spoke-- was the director going for the wise old man angle or the silly, comical old man? you cant have the wise man look like a clown.
I think in real life Dersu kinda spoke like that ,he wasnt fluent in russian.I havent read any Arsenyev's books so i dont know how Dersu spoke in real life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Arsenyev
Many reasons why i liked this movie,character of Dersu is one of them and the comparison between him and orthodox russians who wonder into wilderness and find this funky fella who has these siberian shamanic beliefs and his views on life seem rather strange and odd. But the more they hang out the more they see that this funky fellas wisdom about life and nature are to be respected.
Dersu saw everything as alive or personalised (or spirited or having a soul) .From plants to animals to sun and moon and wind and fire.You upset the fire then forest might burn for days ,u upset the wind then a storm might follow etc.Shortly put - everything around you is to be respected.
Dersu was an totally unselfish character who would think about the well being of others who he would never meet and naturally do something about it (like fixing up the broken shack he wasnt planning to use while soldiers just goofed around being useless and asking for matches and food to be left behind there so that someone who might be in need and ends up in there could use them) .Or when he got upset with one soldier who threw food leftovers to fire instead of throwing it somewhere where animals could consume it.
you have an old man of the woods and a younger russian man sitting around a campfire-- that would the perfect scene for a close-up at darzu, illuminated by the the small fire burning and reflecting off of his wrinkled and wise face while he tells a story of his youth, but that never happened
I think there was something similar when he told the story about his wife and kid dieing and him burning his house down, Otherwise i think life was rather uneventful for a siberian hunter like Dersu .Just daily survival in the endless wilderness.He also seemed to be clueless about his age and people like that are probably most of their time in the moment than dwelling in the past.
You probably watched the dubbed version? i did not like Dersus voice on that one,sound and voices on the original are way better i think.
I wasnt very excited about the ending either but thats how things went down irl.