Chapter 18: Wind from the East: Japan, India, and China
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The great Japanese stylist noted for his use of color and widescreen in such films as 47 Ronin, The
Makioka Sisters, and his 1985 remake of his own 1956 classic, The Burmese Harp is
a. Masaki Kobayashi. d. Kaneto Shindo.
b. Kon Ichikawa. e. Masahiro Shinoda.
c. Shohei Immamura. f. none of the above
2. The earliest Japanese films were
a. based on kabuki plays.
b. known for their glamorous female stars.
c. made in the 1920s.
d. made in a broad variety of genres.
e. more formally experimental than their Western counterparts.
f. none of the above
3. In early Japanese cinema, the benshi was
a. a historical genre.
b. the narrator.
c. a man who played women’s roles.
d. the style of play that most films were based on.
e. a sword-fighting film.
f. none of the above
4. The Japanese genre of films about contemporary life is called
a. jidai-geki. d. keiko-eiga.
b. chanbara. e. yakuza-eiga.
c. gendai-geki. f. none of the above
5. Which of the following was a type of jidai-geki?
a. the shomin-geki d. the historical romance
b. the children’s film e. both a and c
c. the yakuza-eiga f. none of the above
6. The coming of sound to the Japanese cinema
a. meant the immediate end of the benshi.
b. was smoother and more gradual than in Western countries.
c. caused silent films to no longer be produced by 1930.
d. came as a shock to Japanese audiences who preferred silent films.
e. only b and d
f. all of the above
7. The organization of the Japanese film industry in the 1930s
a. was based on a centralized governmental control.
b. was a loose grouping of dozens of small production companies.
c. was dominated by a single giant production company.
d. was highly volatile, as production companies started up and went out of business very quickly.
e. changed dramatically as the two dominant companies fragmented into about ten smaller ones.
f. none of the above
8. The way an individual became a director in the Japanese industry from the 1920s until the
contemporary era was
a. attending the Japanese film school and graduating as a director.
b. first becoming a successful theater director then crossing over to film.
c. apprenticing with an older, more experienced director who then determined when he was ready to
direct.
d. starting at the entry level in a department such as camera or editing and then working up one step at
a time.
e. raising enough money to finance a film.
f. none of the above
9. During World War II some leading Japanese directors protested the war by
a. making antiwar films set in the feudal past.
b. ignoring the war as a subject in their films.
c. refusing to make films for the war effort.
d. making pacifist documentaries.
e. making war films with subtle messages that undermined their militaristic themes.
f. none of the above
10. During the American occupation of Japan, the CIE put an end to
a. the sempai-kohai system. d. Japanese feature film production.
b. the SCAP. e. the production of Meiji-mono.
c. the zaibatsu. f. all of the above
11. The genre that was virtually eliminated by the American censorship restrictions on Japanese film
production was
a. the Meiji-mono. d. the jidai-geki.
b. the gendai-geki. e. the nansensu-mono.
c. the shomin-geki. f. none of the above
12. The film that began the postwar emergence of the Japanese cinema as one of the most creatively
important in the world was
a. Seven Samurai. d. Ugetsu.
b. Tokyo Story. e. Rashomon.
c. Sanjuro. f. none of the above
13. At the end of Kurosawa’s Rashomon
a. the woodcutter tells the truth about the rape and murder.
b. the wife tells the truth about the rape but not the murder.
c. the bandit denies killing the man and raping the woman.
d. the husband’s ghost appears and tells the truth about the rape and murder.
e. the audience cannot be certain as to what really happened regarding the rape and murder.
f. None of the above; Rashomon is about samurai, not rape and murder.
14. Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai
a. is a symphony of movement with complex tracking shots and fast-paced editing.
b. is staged as a series of remarkably complex tableaux with most of the action choreographed within
the frame rather than being constructed through editing.
c. is a fatalistic account of the last months in the life of a dying bureaucrat.
d. was popular in the United States but not Japan or Europe.
e. both b and c
f. none of the above
15. Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood is adapted from which of the following Shakespearean plays?
a. Hamlet
b. Macbeth
c. King Lear
d. Romeo and Juliet
e. The Merchant of Venice
f. None of the above; Throne of Blood is based on an ancient Japanese folktale.
16. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Akira Kurosawa
a. had an unprecedented string of successful films including Yojimbo and High and Low.
b. went into voluntary retirement, not attempting to make another film until 1976.
c. suffered a disappointment that led him to abandon his own Kurosawa Production unit until 1990.
d. had a successful American career culminating in his codirection of Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970.
e. dissolved his own production company and went back to work for the major studios.
f. none of the above
17. Kurosawa’s Ran
a. was the last film he ever directed.
b. marked Kurosawa’s return to the gendai-geki genre.
c. was made with a tiny cast and crew on Kurosawa’s smallest budget since the 1950s.
d. was the most expensive film ever made in Japan.
e. was not critically recognized until after Kurosawa’s death.
f. all of the above
18. Akira Kurosawa
a. is often considered “the most Japanese” of all Japanese directors.
b. made films with an unwavering sense of optimism and hope.
c. made films that portrayed the bushido codes of loyalty and sacrifice.
d. was a filmmaker who enjoyed critical but not commercial success throughout his career.
e. both c and d
f. none of the above
19. The central thematic concern in the films of Kenji Mizoguchi is
a. the position of women within the Japanese social order.
b. the destruction of traditional Japanese values by the forces of modernization.
c. the bushido codes of loyalty and sacrifice.
d. pacifism and the destructive effects of war.
e. only b and c
f. all of the above
20. Mizoguchi’s films
a. overwhelmingly have been unseen in the West.
b. are shot in a long takes with fluid and thematically significant tracking shots.
c. reveal a mastery of mise-en-scène that places him alongside Murnau and Welles in the history of
the medium.
d. were primarily antifeudalist in theme regardless of whether there was a period or contemporary
setting.
e. only b and d
f. all of the above
21. The Japanese director whose work most clearly expresses traditional Japanese values is
a. Kenji Mizoguchi. d. Kon Ichikawa.
b. Ozu. e. Teinosuke Kinugasa.
c. Akira Kurosawa. f. none of the above
22. The genre in which Ozu chose to work because of its ability to express a “sympathetic sadness” at the
harshness of the natural order was
a. the jidai-geki. d. the chanbara.
b. the “tendency film.” e. the pinku-eiga.
c. the shomin-geki. f. none of the above
23. Which of the following is a stylistic characteristic of the cinema of Yasujiro Ozu?
a. violation of the classical Hollywood 180 degree axis rule
b. stationary camera set three feet off the ground
c. the use of off-center framing
d. centrifugal composition
e. only a and c
f. all of the above
24. The cinematic style of Yasujiro Ozu is characterized by
a. long, fluid tracking and crane shots.
b. fast-paced editing during the action sequences.
c. a wide variety of camera angles.
d. “empty scenes” with no characters in them.
e. complex use of dissolves and fades.
f. all of the above
25. The concept of offscreen space is central to the cinematic style of which Japanese director?
a. Kenji Mizoguchi d. Masahiro Shinoda
b. Akira Kurosawa e. Yasujiro Ozu
c. Kon Ichikawa f. none of the above
26. Yasujiro Ozu
a. was an extremely conservative director who did not make his first sound film until 1936.
b. had varying degrees of control over his films between the mid-1930s and the end of his career.
c. made films with a great deal of stylistic innovation.
d. worked for nearly all the Japanese studios and in most Japanese genres over the course of his
fifty-four-film career.
e. all of the above
f. none of the above
27. Kaneto Shindo is known for his
a. yakuza films. d. shomin-geki.
b. poetic semidocumentary films. e. both b and c
c. violent and sexually graphic jidai-geki. f. none of the above
28. The Japanese New Wave
a. emerged before the French New Wave.
b. produced films of remarkable stylistic similarity.
c. generally worked independently of the Japanese studio system.
d. was a small and short-lived movement but was very influential in Japan.
e. both b and d
f. none of the above
29. The Japanese New Wave director whose films are violent but visually stylish and who has worked in
nearly every major Japanese genre from youth films and historical comedies to mythological fantasy
and bunraku films is
a. Hiroshi Teshigahara. d. Masahiro Shinoda.
b. Susumu Hani. e. Seijun Suzuki.
c. Wakamatsu. f. none of the above
30. The films of Yasuzo Masumura are characterized by
a. a naturalistic plainness of visual style.
b. a very serious dramatic tone.
c. their unflinching exploration of alienation among Japanese youth.
d. long takes with very minimal editing.
e. all being set during the Meiji restoration period.
f. none of the above
31. Which of the following Japanese filmmakers would not be considered one of the post–New Wave
generation?
a. Yoshimitsu Morita
b. Juzo Itami
c. Oguri
d. Takeshi Kitano
e. Masahiro Shinoda
f. All of the above are post–New Wave filmmakers.
32. The New Wave filmmaker whose Branded to Kill, with its confusing structure and hard to follow plot,
got him fired from Nikkatsu studio was
a. Seijun Suzuki. d. Masahiro Shinoda.
b. Yoshishige Yoshida. e. Inoshiro Honda.
c. Yasuzo Masumura. f. none of the above
33. Politically radical filmmaker Koji Wakamatsu is known for his
a. popular series of samurai films.
b. true sex crime films.
c. neorealist political melodramas.
d. semidocumentary films of social alienation.
e. monster films.
f. none of the above
34. The early films of Shohei Imamura
a. were notable for their color cinematography.
b. reflected the influence of his apprenticeship with Ozu.
c. combined a documentary sense of detail with experimental visual composition.
d. were lighthearted comedies of social manners.
e. were so controversial as to prematurely end his career.
f. none of the above
35. The most influential figure to emerge from the Japanese New Wave, whose film, Naked Youth,
challenged Japan’s changing society, was
a. Shohei Imamura. d. Nagisa Oshima.
b. Seijun Suzuki. e. Masahiro Shinoda.
c. Yasuzo Masamura. f. none of the above
36. The films of Nagisa Oshima
a. have all been shot in Academy ratio black-and-white.
b. celebrate traditional Japanese culture with their clear, though low-key, narratives.
c. all deal with Japanese history and are set in the past.
d. are the least formally experimental of the Japanese New Wave.
e. use graphic sex as a vehicle for social protest.
f. none of the above
37. The Japanese director of satirical comedies whose film The Gangster’s Moll resulted in an assault by
the Yakuza and whose increasingly autobiographical films blurred the lines between life and art was
a. Juzo Itami. d. Nagisa Oshima.
b. Takeshi Kitano. e. Masahiro Shinoda.
c. Ishii Sogo. f. none of the above
38. The character that writer-director-star Takeshi Kitano plays in his films is
a. an heroic samurai fighting for justice in Imperial Japan.
b. an antihero who has seen so much violence that brutality hardly makes an impression on him
anymore.
c. a kindly yakuza who lives in a violent world but is himself a pacifist.
d. a wry, comic commentator on the problems of modern Japan.
e. a wise but stoic private detective who avoids violent confrontation.
f. none of the above
39. The filmmakers of the “new Japanese New Wave”
a. shoot exclusively in 16mm.
b. produce their work through the Japanese studio system.
c. set up their own film schools.
d. usually work at the one- to two-million-dollar budget range.
e. adopted a style close to that of Italian neorealism.
f. none of the above
40. The signature film genre of the “new Japanese New Wave” is
a. the pinku-eiga. d. the horror film.
b. the samurai film. e. animation.
c. the shomin-geki. f. none of the above
41. The Japanese studio system
a. began to decline as early as 1961.
b. is no longer monolithic but still strong, with the same five companies continuing to dominate the
market.
c. turned to the production of exploitation films in the mid-1960s.
d. supported the work of the “new Japanese New Wave.”
e. both a and c
f. none of the above
42. The Japanese pinku-eiga is
a. a gangster genre. d. children’s films.
b. a graphically violent horror genre. e. chivalry films.
c. a genre of historical romance. f. none of the above
43. The Japanese genres that comprised over half the industry’s output between 1965 and 1975 were
a. the pinku-eiga and the yakuza-eiga.
b. the pinku-eiga and the shomin-geki.
c. the yakuza-eiga and the horror film.
d. the yakuza-eiga and the shomin-geki.
e. the horror film and the pinku-eiga.
f. none of the above
44. The still surviving Japanese studio that revived its Godzilla franchise in the 1980s is
a. Shochiku. d. Nikkatsu.
b. Toho. e. Daiei.
c. Toei. f. none of the above
45. The most important director of Japanese anime who has been called the Japanese Walt Disney for the
commercially and critically successful work produced at his studio is
a. Takeshi Kitano. d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
b. Kon Ichikawa. e. Seijun Suzuki.
c. Hayao Miyazaki. f. none of the above
46. During the 1990s the Japanese film industry
a. lost almost its entire domestic market to U.S.-produced blockbusters.
b. collapsed as a result of an ongoing economic crisis.
c. turned away from the violence and sexual content that defined Japanese cinema of the 1960s and
1970s.
d. enjoyed a wave of international popularity grounded in anime which constitutes 60 percent of total
annual production.
e. both a and b
f. none of the above
47. Since the 1980s, almost every significant filmmaker who has emerged in the Japanese cinema has
gotten their start in
a. television. d. sex films.
b. commercials and music videos. e. studio apprenticeship programs.
c. yakuza films. f. none of the above
48. The largest film producing nation in the world, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the global film
output is
a. the United States. d. France.
b. Japan. e. India.
c. China. f. none of the above
49. The average Indian film is
a. a musical. d. sold on the basis of its stars.
b. about three hours long. e. rigidly conventional in every way.
c. filmed in bright, garish color. f. all of the above
50. The Indian film industry in the 1930s
a. grew rapidly, quickly becoming one of the most productive in the world.
b. struggled with the coming of sound and didn’t really take off until after World War II.
c. was practically nonexistent.
d. made films only in the Hindi language.
e. both b and d
f. None of the above is true.
51. The “Hindustani” cinema
a. did not produce musicals.
b. offered directors a great deal of creative freedom.
c. emerged in the 1960s and continued until the 1980s.
d. was produced in the Bengali language.
e. was characterized by the work of Satyajit Ray.
f. none of the above
52. Satyajit Ray was first influenced by
a. American musicals.
b. Italian neorealism.
c. the French New Wave.
d. the Japanese samurai film.
e. the films of the Soviet montage movement.
f. none of the above
53. The Indian “parallel cinema”
a. is the term for non-Hindi language, regionally-based film production.
b. never produced films that were commercially popular.
c. was a short-lived movement that was over by the mid-1960s.
d. offered an alternative to the commercial industry’s formulaic musicals.
e. only c and d
f. all of the above
54. In the 1960s the Indian government founded the Indian Film Finance Corporation (FFC) for the
purpose of
a. training directors for the Indian film industry.
b. preserving the Indian film heritage in the face of foreign encroachment.
c. funding noncommercial films in order to create a high quality art cinema.
d. supporting the producers of entertainment particularly in terms of foreign distribution.
e. both a and b
f. none of the above
55. Shyam Benegal is
a. the first Indian director to work in the parallel cinema.
b. the most famous director to emerge from the Golden Age of Hindustani film.
c. a radical Marxist filmmaker whose autobiographical films are among the most important Bengali
films ever made.
d. the most popular Bollywood director of “curry westerns.”
e. the most commercially successful director of the parallel cinema.
f. none of the above
56. Contemporary Indian cinema is moving toward
a. an even greater emphasis on formulaic entertainment.
b. a highly politicized cinema with much less emphasis on singing, dancing, and stars.
c. a higher rate of film production and higher profits as distribution outlets proliferate.
d. a greater degree of independence from Hollywood influence.
e. both a and c
f. none of the above
57. Prior to the Japanese invasion of 1937, the film industry in China was
a. nonexistent.
b. extremely small due to the lack of interest of the Chinese people in cinema.
c. still producing primarily silent films, as the industry did not adapt to sound until the 1950s.
d. centered in Shanghai with outposts in other coastal cities.
e. decidedly nonpolitical with the Communist ideology that was gaining ground in the country not
evident in cinema.
f. none of the above
58. In the People’s Republic of China from 1950 to 1966, the film industry was
a. nonexistent.
b. extremely active, producing opera films and adaptations of classic literature as well as socialist
realist works.
c. always highly controlled by the government so that only socialist realist films were made.
d. held back by the fact that there was only one studio in the entire country.
e. highly restricted and limited to the production of about ten feature films a year.
f. none of the above
59. After Mao’s death, the Chinese film industry
a. ended fully subsidized production.
b. collapsed.
c. experienced an immediate surge in production and international prestige.
d. did not change for at least ten years.
e. moved immediately to a full market economy.
f. none of the above
60. In the cinema of the People’s Republic of China, the term “Fifth Generation” refers to
a. the first group of filmmakers to emerge after the end of Communism.
b. the new wave of Chinese directors who emerged in the 1980s.
c. the group of Chinese directors who began the Shanghai industry in the 1930s.
d. the latest group of filmmakers to graduate from the Beijing Film Academy.
e. the filmmakers who made revolutionary opera films during the Cultural Revolution.
f. none of the above
61. Zhang Yimou
a. makes the most commercially successful films of the Fifth Generation.
b. directed the first Fifth Generation film One and Eight.
c. often sees his films banned in China as they’re winning international awards.
d. is known for his ethnographic studies of the Mongolian and Tibetan peoples.
e. makes films that are narratively engaging but not visually stylish.
f. none of the above
62. Almost all serious films from the People’s Republic of China
a. are made by Fifth Generation filmmakers.
b. receive only limited distribution through the official government agencies.
c. are made by auteurist writer-directors, who often shoot and edit their films as well.
d. are based on published literary work.
e. have ceased to be produced in the face of diminishing state subsidies.
f. none of the above
63. As compared to the Fifth Generation films of China, the Sixth Generation films
a. are more experimental and daring.
b. are notably more commercial.
c. are made in internationally popular genres like horror and action-adventure.
d. have received very little distribution in the West.
e. are made completely without the support or protection of the Chinese government.
f. none of the above
64. The Hong Kong director who combined Peking Opera and classical painting style with the swordplay
genre in such films as Come Drink with Me and A Touch of Zen was
a. Chen Kaige. d. Chang Cheh.
b. Raymond Chow. e. King Hu.
c. Ronny Yu. f. none of the above
65. All of the following are true of Hong Kong produced kung fu films EXCEPT that they
a. were extremely popular in the United States.
b. employed separate directors and martial arts directors.
c. shot their action sequences in short segments rather than in master shot and coverage.
d. were most often skillfully shot and edited.
e. were extremely authentic in terms of their use of martial arts.
f. All of the above are true.
66. All of the following are primary genres of the Hong Kong New Wave EXCEPT
a. the family melodrama.
b. the action comedy.
c. the heroic bloodshed film.
d. the martial arts fantasy film.
e. the urban crime thriller.
f. None of the above are genres of the Hong Kong New Wave.
67. During the 1990s, Hong Kong cinema
a. declined because of VCD piracy.
b. declined because there was a serious decrease in government support for the film industry.
c. declined because all of its major filmmakers emigrated to the United States.
d. saw average film budgets increase from $300,000 to several million dollars.
e. saw work slow to a near stop as a result of shrinking overseas markets.
f. none of the above
68. Hong Kong Category III films are
a. children’s films.
b. films featuring graphic sex and violence.
c. films designated for export.
d. films banned from public theatrical exhibition but available on videotape.
e. the smallest category of films produced in Hong Kong.
f. none of the above
69. The director credited with the development of the heroic bloodshed genre in his film A Better
Tomorrow is
a. Jackie Chan. d. Sammo Hung.
b. Tsui Hark. e. Stanley Kwan.
c. John Woo. f. none of the above
70. All of the following are true of Tsui Hark EXCEPT
a. he produced A Better Tomorrow.
b. he brought modern special-effects technology to Hong Kong.
c. he directed a series of films that starred Jet Li as Wong Fei-hung.
d. he has worked exclusively in the martial-arts fantasy genre.
e. he left Hong Kong for Hollywood but ultimately returned.
f. all of the above
71. Which of the following Hong Kong filmmakers was NOT one of the “Seven Little Fortunes” who
emerged from the Peking Opera School of Sifu Yu Jim Yuen?
a. Jackie Chan
b. Ringo Lam
c. Sammo Hung
d. Tsui Hark
e. Neither b nor d was a student of Sifu Yu Jim Yuen.
f. All of the above were students of Sifu Yu Jim Yuen.
72. Wong Kar-Wei
a. makes more formal conventional films than his Hong Kong counterparts.
b. has brought a renewed commercial vigor to the Hong Kong cinema.
c. is practically neorealist in his avoidance of stars or contrived plots.
d. always works on extremely small budgets.
e. both c and d
f. none of the above
73. The dominant genre in the Taiwanese cinema of the 1960s and 1970s was
a. the swordplay film. d. the historical costume film.
b. the melodrama. e. both a and d
c. the political propaganda film. f. none of the above
74. The films of Hou Hiaso-hsien
a. are more modern and stylistically daring than any other Taiwanese filmmaker.
b. feature the use of long takes and off-screen space.
c. include A Brighter Summer Day and Taipei Story.
d. are known for their innovative use of montage-style editing.
e. are all set in the present day.
f. None of the above is true.
75. The Taiwanese film industry of the 1990s
a. operated with no government subsidies for production.
b. had several competing studios each of which specializes in a certain genre.
c. controlled less than 1 percent of its domestic box office.
d. completely collapsed, managing only two or three films per year.
e. both a and d
f. none of the above
76. The films of Tsai Ming-liang
a. are independently financed allowing for complete creative freedom.
b. are the most successful martial arts films coming from Taiwan.
c. evoke comparisons to Bresson, Ozu, and Antonioni.
d. are stylistically conventional but narratively daring.
e. are popular in Taiwan but never shown abroad.
f. none of the above