Tenacity

It is obvious with the birth of Akira Kurosawa that he is different—special—but different. He does not cry immediately at birth but his hands are tightly pressed against one another. When his hands are finally pulled apart, bruises are apparent on the tiny hands. Akira begins life the way he wants—silently but with strength. This characteristic never leaves him and serves him well in later years as he pursues a career in the turbulent world of filmmaking.

Due to his non-conformist attitude, Akira has some less than congenial relationships with some of his teachers. One teacher takes every opportunity to humiliate and degrade him. After the instructor harshly criticizes a simple drawing by Akira, he vows to work so hard from that point on that the teacher will never again have the opportunity to criticize him. That criticism strengthens Akira's resolve&mdash...