Keiko McDonald

Back in college, I took a course titled "Westerns and Samurai" at Pitt. This class compared and contrasted the American Western with the Japanese chanbara film placing Sergio Leone next to Akira Kurasowa. Showing "A Fist Full of Dollars" and "Yojimbo" back-to-back. "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Seven Samurai." Giri and ninjo. Western honor and justice. It was one of the best courses I ever took and I became a long time fan of oriental films bcause of it. I might have been a typical American movie viewer, with no appreciation for foreign films were it not for this course taught by Keiko McDonald.

I just heard that she fell, struck her head and died while trout fishing.

I can't watch a western or a samurai film without thinking of her class. I can't watch a Godzilla film without being reminded of her introductory comment at a screening of "Godzilla: Final Wars"; "Leave your sophistication at the door." She taught me that even the badly dubbed "chop saki" flicks are not as unsophisticated as they first appear.

Thank you, Keiko McDonald.