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About This Quiz
Explore Japanese cinema at its finest with this ultimate Akira Kurosawa movie quiz!
How many films did renowned filmmaker Akira Kurosawa make in his lifetime?
25
45
35
30
Kurosawa made his 30 films in a career that spanned 57 years.
In which country was Kurosawa born?
Korea
China
Japan
Thanks to Kurosawa’s films, western film markets became receptive to the products of the Japanese film industry.
Taiwan
What is the title of Kurosawa’s breakthrough film, the ticket to having Japanese cinema recognized worldwide?
Ikiru
Rashomon
Rashomon is now considered as one of the greatest films in the history of world cinema.
Seven Samurai
Ran
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Kurosawa’s breakthrough film, Rashomon, told the whole story from four points of view of various characters: the bandit, the wife, the woodcutter, and this fourth character.
the samurai
This Rashomon storytelling technique of using different characters tell one story has been emulated and copied in Hollywood and other national cinemas from the time Kurosawa made this film.
the husband
the teacher
the farmer
What specific award did Rashomon win at the 1951 Venice Film Festival, cementing Kurosawa’s place at the world cinema stage?
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion is the highest prize awarded at the Venice Film Festival.
Golden Tiger
Golden Bear
Golden Cub
Many of Kurosawa’s "samurai films" are actually part of the jidaigeki genre, also known as this type of drama.
fantasy drama
period drama
Jidaigeki films are set during Japan’s Edo Period and usually depict the lives of the samurai and other typical characters of the period.
futuristic drama
adventure drama
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Before Kurosawa became a renowned director, this was his first designation in the Japanese film industry.
Associate director
Second unit director
Crowd director
Assistant director
Kurosawa made 24 films as an A.D.
Perhaps the best advice assistant director Kurosawa got from his mentor-boss, director Kajiro Yamamoto, was to master this aspect of filmmaking if one wants to be an excellent director.
Editing
Cinematography
Screenwriting
Thanks to this precious advice, Kurosawa ended up writing or co-writing most of his directed films.
Musical score
Akira Kurosawa’s directorial debut, released in 1943, was Sanshiro Sugata, a film about this important 1941 event in world history.
the start of World War II
the bombing of Pearl Harbor
Sanshiro Sugata was based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita.
the fall of Adolf Hitler
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
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If not for this other renowned Japanese filmmaker’s help, Kurosawa’s controversial directorial debut Sanshiro Sugata would not have been approved for showing.
Hayao Miyazaki
Haruki Murokami
Yasujiro Ozu
Aside from Kurosawa, Ozu is also hailed as one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of world cinema.
Nagisa Oshima
Kurosawa’s sophomore film, The Most Beautiful, although fictional in story, was also shot following the conventions of this filmmaking format.
documentary
The Most Beautiful is about the lives of female factory workers during World War II.
neorealism
surrealism
reality TV
It was during the shoot of this film when master filmmaker Kurosawa met his future wife.
The Most Bountiful
The Most Eloquent
The Most Gorgeous
The Most Beautiful
Actress Yoko Yaguchi, who plays a part in this film, became Akira Kurosawa’s wife.
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This Japanese actor, although having made 170 films, became more popular for appearing in 16 of Kurosawa’s films.
Ken Watanabe
Takeshi Kitano
Mako
Toshiro Mifune
Mifune also debuted on the radars of western cinema because of his starring role in Kurosawa’s breakthrough film Rashomon.
Toshiro Mifune appeared in 16 of Kurosawa’s films, except for this title.
Dreams
Mifune started collaborating with Kurosawa on the director’s 8th studio film.
Drunken Angel
The Idiot
Seven Samurai
Kurosawa’s wartime product, The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail, was based on this kind of stage play.
Shakespearean drama
kabuki play
The film was based on the kabuki play entitled Kanjincho.
historical play
Greek tragedy
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This postwar-made film was the first Kurosawa film to have a female protagonist.
No Regrets for Our Youth
During the 1940s, it was quite unheard of to have a female protagonist in Japanese cinema.
No Regrets for Our Mothers
No Regrets for Our Fathers
No Regrets for Our Elders
Drunken Angel, the first collaboration between director Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune, is this kind of genre film.
gangster film
mafia film
yakuza film
If the Italian-Americans have the mafia, the Japanese have the yakuza.
noir film
This 1949 Kurosawa film is said to be the father of buddy cop films popular in world cinema today.
Stray Dogs
Stray Dogs follows the film noir style and is set in postwar Tokyo.
Stray Animals
Stray Criminals
Stray Pets
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The 1951 film The Idiot is Kurosawa’s version of this author’s novel of the same title.
Ivan Dostoevsky
Alexei Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky is Kurosawa’s favorite author.
Leo Dostoevsky
Kurosawa’s epic film version of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot originally had this total running time.
250 minutes
190 minutes
200 minutes
265 minutes
Producer Shochiku Studio found this original cut too long, and ordered the film to be cut down, against Kurosawa’s wishes.
One of Kurosawa’s award-winning and critically-acclaimed films, Ikiru, translates to this English meaning, which is the central theme of the film.
to live
Ikiru won at the 4th Berlin International Film Festival.
to die
to wait
to wander
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Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru is partly inspired by this Russian novelist’s 1886 novella called The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
Ivan Tolstoy
Sergei Tolstoy
Alexander Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Kurosawa admired Russian literature ever since he was young.
Kurosawa’s 1954 epic historical drama film Seven Samurai featured this group of people as protagonists.
ronin
The ronin character is common during Japan’s feudal period.
samurai
shaolin
sensei
Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai was a big influence in Hollywood, as evident in this 1960 western remake.
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven was directed by John Sturges.
The Eloquent Seven
The Dirty Seven
The Courageous Seven
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Kurosawa’s 1957 film Throne of Blood is actually an adaptation of this Shakespearean tragedy.
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Kurosawa transposes Shakespeare’s Scotland-set story into feudal Japan.
Yet another of Kurosawa’s epic masterpieces is said to be the heavy influence that inspired George Lucas’ Star Wars film series. Which film was this?
The Looming Fortress
The Hidden Fortress
The Hidden Fortress was released in 1958.
The Escaping Fortress
The Loose Fortress
The Hidden Fortress was also monumental since this was the first time Kurosawa used “Tohoscope," influencing the film’s quality very much. What exactly is that?
dual-sound format
stereoscopic format
split-screen format
widescreen format
Kurosawa continued to shoot in this Tohoscope widescreen format after trying it in The Hidden Fortress.
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This 1961 Kurosawa classic was remade into a spaghetti western entitled A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood.
Yojimbo
Kurosawa actually sued the spaghetti western producers because they failed to secure the proper rights to do the remake.
Sanjuro
Madadayo
Ikiru
Yojimbo actually had a sequel. What was its title?
Dersu Uzala
Sanjuro
Sanjuro was released in 1962, a year after Yojimbo’s release.
Yojimbo II
None of the above
This 1985 tragedy was Kurosawa’s last epic film.
Ran
Ran was a co-production by Japanese and French producers.
Wan
Han
Ban
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Ran was Kurosawa’s epic film partly based on yet another Shakespearean play. Which was it, this time?
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Aside from King Lear, Ran also merged inspiration from legends of a famed Japanese feudal lord named Mori Motonari.
Richard III
This 1990 Kurosawa film is a magical realist opus.
Dreams
The film’s 8 episodic stories is actually based on dreams that Kurosawa had.
Ran
Red Beard
High and Low
Dreams featured Hollywood director Martin Scorsese as one of its actors. But which famous Hollywood director helped realize this Kurosawa classic?
George Lucas
Francis Ford Coppola
Steven Spielberg
all of the above
Aside from these notable filmmakers, Dreams was also funded by the Hollywood production company Warner Bros.
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Kurosawa’s last film, Madadayo, is about a Japanese professor constantly teased by his former students if he is ready to die. This is its English title, which explains the professor’s refusal to accept the inevitable.
Not Now
Not Ever
Not Today
Not Yet
Madadayo was released in 1993, about 5 years before Kurosawa’s death.
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