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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. Which of the following was not a demand Kurosawa made of his actresses in The Most Beautiful?

2. What did Akira's brother do three days before killing himself?

3. At the end of A Salmon's Old Stories, what does Kurosawa accuse Japanese directors of emulating?

4. In Rashomon, Kurosawa wants to recapture the excitement he once felt from what?

5. What settled the debate regarding the cutting of the scene?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Kurosawa's father's death affect his use of music in films?

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

3. What was Kurosawa trying to evoke, visually, with Rashomon?

4. What was the talent like at the PCL?

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

6. What character flaw does Akira Kurosawa admit to at the end of Something Like an Autobiography?

7. How did Kurosawa meet a famous American director without knowing it?

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

9. What was Akira's editing experience under Yanamoto?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about Akira Kurosawa's sense of national identity. What does he state to the reader directly about being a child of the world? What issues did Kurosawa have with Japan during the War, and how did he subtly deny his homeland? Discuss the shift that happens in Kurosawa's attitude when Japan loses the War. What new outlook regarding his home country develops? How does this manifest itself in his interests in art and culture?

Essay Topic 2

Taken together, the events of SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY create the arc of one boys maturing into adulthood. Throughout, Kurosawa state his personal opinion of how a child should be raised. Write an essay delineating his philosophy. Which adults form his childhood define good education for him? Which ones represent the bad educators? What is the difference between good and bad adults to him? What does this mean regarding Kurosawa's philosophy of child rearing?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the relationship between Uekusa and Akira Kurosawa in the book. To what extent does Akira represent the intellect and Uekusa the heart? What romantic and foolhardy exploits does Uekusa undertake at a young age? Does he succeed in any of them? How does Akira deal with girls and danger at this same age? What professional relationship develops between these two men later?

(see the answer keys)

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