At 12:33 PM 8/6/96, Bonnie Engels wrote:
>You should try some of the Kurasawa films.  Peckinpah and Kurasawa often
>"borrowed" effects, etc. from each other.
>
I do not believe that Kurosawa "borrowed" any effects from Peckinpah,
though Peckinpah most assuredly borrowed from Kurosawa (but, then, who
didn't).  Kurosawa's output is drastically curtailed after 1970, precisely
when Peckinpah, with the success of _The Wild Bunch_ (1969) is at his
height.
 
Kurosawa's use of slow motion for the death of the kidnapper early on in
_Seven Samurai_ (1954) was quite astonishing in its time.  Kurosawa uses
slow motion only rarely in his films, and moreso in his later films (_Ran_
and _Rahpsody in August_, the latter rather absurdly) which, however, have
a more "epic" view to them and are quite different from his more vibrant
work in his greatest period, 1950-1965.  The work of this great middle
period has the strongest resemblance to "American-style" action films and
contemporary dramas, and it was the films of this period which gave
inspiration to a generation of American directors, including Peckinpah, but
also, of course, Lucas, Spielberg, Coppola, Milius, Carpenter, Hill, etc.
 
David
 
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