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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What settled the debate regarding the cutting of the scene?
(a) A court order.
(b) A drinking contest.
(c) A treat of firing.
(d) An actors' strike.

2. Why did Fushimizu Shu suddenly stop making movies?
(a) He was elected Mayor of his hometown.
(b) He was blacklisted as a Communist.
(c) He died.
(d) He renounced the art of cinema.

3. Why did Akira apply to PCL at 26?
(a) He incurred gambling debts.
(b) He discovered his girlfriend was pregnant.
(c) He lost faith in his art.
(d) He wanted to learn the science behind film-making.

4. The film One Wonderful Sunday reconnected Akira with whom?
(a) Mr. Iwamatsu.
(b) His father.
(c) Mr. Tachikawa.
(d) Yamamoto Kajiro.

5. How old was Kurosawa when he got married?
(a) 35.
(b) 40.
(c) 29.
(d) 23.

6. For what studio did Kurosawa make A Salmon's Old Stories?
(a) Janus Films.
(b) Film Art Association.
(c) Toho.
(d) He privately distributes.

7. Which individual's death does Kurosawa not describe in the book?
(a) His older sister.
(b) His mother.
(c) His older brother.
(d) His father.

8. Who did Uekusa and Akira base the antagonist of The Drunken Angel on?
(a) A bully who once attacked Uekusa.
(b) The teacher they both hated.
(c) An unlicensed doctor they knew.
(d) A Japanese war criminal.

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

10. What adjective did the censors use to describe their problems with Sugata Sanshiro?
(a) Insinuating.
(b) Decadent.
(c) American.
(d) Subversive.

11. Which on-set worker was moved to tears while filming the final scene of The Quiet Duel?
(a) The script supervisor.
(b) The cameraman.
(c) The makeup girl.
(d) The assistant director.

12. What is the primary memory Kuosawa has of a Yamamoto Kajiro set?
(a) Sleeplessness.
(b) Fear of firing.
(c) Chaos.
(d) Serenity.

13. In An Alleyway in the Floating World, how long did Akira's brother let him stay in his tenement room?
(a) 1 year.
(b) 1 month.
(c) 5 years.
(d) 1 week.

14. What era was Kurosawa trying to capture in The Stray Dog?
(a) Turn of the century Japan.
(b) Wartime Japan.
(c) Post-war Japan.
(d) Medieval Japan.

15. What enemy of Kurosawa's disappeared with the end of World War II?
(a) The censor board.
(b) An unscrupulous producer.
(c) The military tribunal.
(d) A rival director.

Short Answer Questions

1. What separated Akira from his contemporaries on set with Yamamoto Kajiro?

2. What was different about The Most Beautiful's shooting concept?

3. What was Yaguchi Yoko's job on The Most Beautiful?

4. Who became terrified when they happened upon the shoot of Sugata Sanshiro, Part II?

5. What is the PCL?

(see the answer keys)

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