Since George Lucas's "Star Wars" was 1977 he could have borrowed it, and it wouldn't have been the only thing he borrowed from Kurosawa. But I always thought of this film as the closest the Soviets could come to something like "Little Big Man." At least before glasnost.
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The old grandfather from the seven samurai reminds me of Yoda.
shareI hadn't thought of it while watching the film but I do think you have a point. I was more struck by the similarities between Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" and "Star Wars". There's no question Lucas drew a lot of inspiration from Kurosawa's films.
shareI definitely thought while watching this film that Yoda was inspired by Dersu.
shareThat's a very reasonable theory, in my opinion.
Also during the first half hour of the film or so, there is that shot of the Captain with Dersu watching the sunset and the moon. It looks just like Luke watching the 2 suns go down in Tatooine.
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