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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what film festival was Rashomon hailed to the international Press?

2. Why was PCL first established?

3. At the beginning of this section, what does Kurosawa has been a struggle for him?

4. What is The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail based on?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Akira accept japan's defeat in the war?

3. How did Akira become disillusioned with the Proletariat Artists League?

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

5. What was the talent like at the PCL?

6. How is Akira Kurosawa angered by the state of Japan's film industry?

7. What demands did Kurosawa make of his actresses in The Most Beautiful?

8. Describe Kurosawa's relationship with Japanese censors.

9. How did an army major and Akira Kurosawa come to an agreement regarding cutting a scene from one of his films?

10. What controversy does Kurosawa have filming a night scene in Sugata Sanshiro?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Akira Kurosawa's development over the course of the book is defined not only by the growing experiences that allow him to improve himself. Unfortunate and often tragic events allow him the ability to develop in their own way. Write an essay about three such events:

Part 1) What is Akira's experience during the Great Kanto Earthquake? How old was he at this point, and what cruel realities did he learn from it? Discuss not only the initial damage from the quake itself but also the human violence that followed. Why did Akira's brother force him to observe the carnage?

Part 2) Why does Akira's brother commit suicide? Discuss how this moment - occurring at a crossroads in the author's life - affects the direction of Akira's career? What was his brother's connection to the film industry, and how did this connection precipitate his suicide?

Part 3) Discuss Akira Kurosawa's involvement in the Second World War. Why did he not fight in the Pacific? What were his feelings toward his nation's imperialist actions, and what did he do about them? What was the affect of defeat on Akira? How did his concept of nation change overnight?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the relationship Akira has with his older brother. When the author is young and considered a crybaby, what pointed differences exist between him and his brother? How does his brother toughen him up at this age, and what other tactics does his brother use to make him tougher over the years that follow? how does the relationship develop in the years leading to Akira's brother's suicide? What similarities between them become clear only after the brother's death?

Essay Topic 3

When Akira Kurosawa began to establish himself in the film industry, the War was still going on and a group of Japanese censors were reviewing his films. Write an essay about his conflicts with the censors. What specific issues do the censors have with his early pictures? How does he respond to these issues? Discuss the way Kurosawa describes the censors int he text. How did the conflict between the censors and Kurosawa end with the War?

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