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 ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]