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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Rashomon, Kurosawa wants to recapture the excitement he once felt from what?
(a) Hearing master storytellers.
(b) Kendo.
(c) Painting.
(d) Silent films.

2. How many years did it take Akira Kurosawa to rise to chief assistant under Yamamoto Kajiro?
(a) 3.
(b) 6.
(c) 1.
(d) 12.

3. How did young Akira look different than his brother?
(a) He had a positive expression.
(b) He was shorter.
(c) He was paler.
(d) He parted his hair on the other side.

4. What does Kurosawa blame for the failure of Scandal?
(a) His own lack of narrative clarity.
(b) A supporting character dominates the film.
(c) Mifune Toshiro's overacting.
(d) His plot was severely trancated in editing.

5. Which of the following was not a demand Kurosawa made of his actresses in The Most Beautiful?
(a) He made them run laps.
(b) he would not let them use makeup.
(c) He made them cut off their hair.
(d) He makes them take jobs in a factory.

Short Answer Questions

1. In An Alleyway in the Floating World, how long did Akira's brother let him stay in his tenement room?

2. What does Kurosawa admit he suffers from at the very end of SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY?

3. After the war, what did Akira make a conscious effort to learn about?

4. Which is not an additional job that assistant directors had on set with Yamamoto Kajiro?

5. Why was PCL first established?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the talent like at the PCL?

2. Who were Akira's major influences in becoming the man he became?

3. How did Yanamoto help Akira grow as a director?

4. Why was the final fight of Sugata Sanshiro a challenge for Kurosawa?

5. Describe the incident with the censor and the gate?

6. How did Akira's brother die?

7. What was the break from the Toho, and how did it affect Kurosawa?

8. How did Mifune Toshiro and Kurosawa begin work together?

9. How did Rashomon catapult Kurosawa to a new level of international recognition?

10. What terrible experience does Kurosawa relate at the end of An Alleyway in the Floating World?

(see the answer keys)

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