title: Battle of Salamis

text: According to Herodotus, the Persian fleet initially numbered 1,207 triremes. However, by his reckoning they lost approximately a third of these ships in a storm off the coast of Magnesia, 200 more in a storm off the coast of Euboea, and at least 50 ships to Allied action at the Battle of Artemisium. Herodotus claims that these losses were replaced in full, but only mentions 120 ships from the Greeks of Thrace and nearby islands as reinforcements. Aeschylus, who fought at Salamis, also claims that he faced 1,207 warships there, of which 207 were "fast ships". Diodorus and Lysias independently claim there were 1,200 ships in the Persian fleet assembled at Doriskos in the spring of 480 BC. The number of 1,207 (for the outset only) is also given by Ephorus, while his teacher Isocrates claims there were 1,300 at Doriskos and 1,200 at Salamis. Ctesias gives another number, 1,000 ships, while Plato, speaking in general terms refers to 1,000 ships and more.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Herodotus gives a precise list of the ships of the various nations that composed the Achaemenid fleet:


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The number 1,207 appears very early in the historical record (472 BC), and the Greeks appear to have genuinely believed they faced that many ships. Because of the consistency in the ancient sources, some modern historians are inclined to accept 1,207 as the size of the initial Persian fleet; others reject this number, with 1,207 being seen as more of a reference to the combined Greek fleet in the Iliad, and generally claim that the Persians could have launched no more than around 600 warships into the Aegean. However, very few appear to accept that there were this many ships at Salamis: most favour a number in the range 600–800. This is also the range given by adding the approximate number of Persian ships after Artemisium (~550) to the reinforcements (120) quantified by Herodotus.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The overall Persian strategy for the invasion of 480 BC was to overwhelm the Greeks with a massive invasion force, and complete the conquest of Greece in a single campaigning season. Conversely, the Greeks sought to make the best use of their numbers by defending restricted locations and to keep the Persians in the field for as long as possible. Xerxes had obviously not anticipated such resistance, or he would have arrived earlier in the campaigning season (and not waited 4 days at Thermopylae for the Greeks to disperse). Time was now of the essence for the Persians – the huge invasion force could not be reasonably supported indefinitely, nor probably did Xerxes wish to be at the fringe of his empire for so long. Thermopylae had shown that a frontal assault against a well defended Greek position was useless; with the Allies now dug in across the narrow Isthmus, there was little chance of conquering the rest of Greece by land. However, as equally demonstrated by Thermopylae, if the Greeks could be outflanked, their smaller numbers of troops could be destroyed. Such an outflanking of the Isthmus required the use of the Persian navy, and thus the destruction of the Allied navy. Therefore, if Xerxes could destroy the Allied navy, he would be in a strong position to force a Greek surrender; this seemed the only hope of concluding the campaign in that season. Conversely by avoiding destruction, or as Themistocles hoped, by crippling the Persian fleet, the Greeks could effectively thwart the invasion.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: However, it was strategically not necessary for the Persians to actually fight this battle at Salamis. According to Herodotus, Queen Artemisia of Caria pointed this out to Xerxes in the run-up to Salamis. Artemisia suggested that fighting at sea was an unnecessary risk, recommending instead:


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The Persian fleet was still large enough to both bottle up the Allied navy in the straits of Salamis, "and" send ships to land troops in the Peloponnese. However, in the final reckoning, both sides were prepared to stake everything on a naval battle, in the hope of decisively altering the course of the war.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The Persians were at a significant tactical advantage, outnumbering the Allies, and also having "better sailing" ships. The "better sailing" that Herodotus mentions was probably due to the superior seamanship of the crews; most of the Athenian ships (and therefore the majority of the fleet) were newly built as according to Themistocles' request to the Athenians to build a fleet of 200 triremes in 483 BC, and had inexperienced crews. It is important to note that despite the inexperienced crew on the part of the Athenians, these newly constructed triremes would ultimately prove crucial in the forthcoming conflict with Persia. The most common naval tactics in the Mediterranean area at the time were ramming (triremes being equipped with a ram at the bows), or boarding by ship-borne marines (which essentially turned a sea battle into a land one). The Persians and Asiatic Greeks had by this time begun to use a manoeuvre known as "diekplous". It is not entirely clear what this was, but it probably involved rowing into gaps between enemy ships and then ramming them in the side. This manoeuvre would have required skilled crews, and therefore the Persians would have been more likely to employ it; the Allies however, developed tactics specifically to counter this.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: There has been much debate as to the nature of the Allied fleet compared to the Persian fleet. Much of this centres on the suggestion, from Herodotus, that the Allied ships were heavier, and by implication less manoeuvrable. The source of this heaviness is uncertain; possibly the Allied ships were bulkier in construction, or that the ships were waterlogged since they had not been dried out in the winter (though there is no real evidence for either suggestion). Another suggestion is that the heaviness was caused by the weight of fully armored hoplite marines (20 fully armored hoplites would have weighed 2 tons). This 'heaviness', whatever its cause, would further reduce the likelihood of them employing the "diekplous". It is therefore probable that the Allies had extra marines on board if their ships were less manoeuvrable, since boarding would then be the main tactic available to them (at the cost of making the ships even heavier). Indeed, Herodotus refers to the Greeks capturing ships at Artemisium, rather than sinking them. It has been suggested that the weight of the Allied ships may also have made them more stable in the winds off the coast of Salamis, and made them less susceptible to ramming (or rather, less liable to sustain damage when rammed).


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The Persians preferred a battle in the open sea, where they could better utilize their superior seamanship and numbers. For the Greeks, the only realistic hope of a decisive victory was to draw the Persians into a constricted area, where their numbers would count for little. The battle at Artemisium had seen attempts to negate the Persian advantage in numbers, but ultimately the Allies may have realised that they needed an even more constricted channel in order to defeat the Persians. Therefore, by rowing into the Straits of Salamis to attack the Greeks, the Persians were playing into the Allies' hands. It seems probable that the Persians would not have attempted this unless they had been confident of the collapse of the Allied navy, and thus Themistocles's subterfuge appears to have played a key role in tipping the balance in the favor of the Greeks. Salamis was, for the Persians, an unnecessary battle and a strategic mistake.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The battle of Salamis is not well described by ancient sources, and it is unlikely that anyone (other than perhaps Xerxes) involved in the battle had a clear idea what was happening across the width of the straits. What follows is more of a discussion than a definitive account.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: In the Allied fleet, the Athenians were on the left, and on the right were probably the Spartans (although Diodorus says it was the Megareans and Aeginetians); the other contingents were in the center. The Allied fleet probably formed into two ranks, since the straits would have been too narrow for a single line of ships. Herodotus has the Allied fleet in a line running north–south, probably with the northern flank off the coast of modern-day Saint George's Islet ("Ayios Georgis"), and the southern flank off the coast of Cape Vavari (part of Salamis). Diodorus suggests the Allied fleet was aligned east–west, spanning the straits between Salamis and Mount Aigaleo; however, it is unlikely that the Allies would have rested one of their flanks against Persian occupied territory.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: It seems relatively certain that the Persian fleet was sent out to block the exit from the Straits the evening before the battle. Herodotus clearly believed that the Persian fleet actually entered the Straits at nightfall, planning to catch the Allies as they fled. However, modern historians have greatly debated this point, with some pointing out the difficulties of maneuvering in this confined space by night, and others accepting Herodotus's version. There are thus two possibilities; that during the night the Persians simply blocked the exit to the Straits, and then entered the straits in daylight; or that they entered the straits and positioned themselves for battle during the night. Regardless of when they attempted it, it seems likely that the Persians pivoted their fleet off the tip of Cape Vavari, so that from an initial east–west alignment (blocking the exit), they came round to a north–south alignment (see diagram). The Persian fleet seems to have been formed into three ranks of ships (according to Aeschylus); with the powerful Phoenician fleet on the right flank next to Mount Aigaleo, the Ionian contingent on the left flank and the other contingents in the centre.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Diodorus says that the Egyptian fleet was sent to circumnavigate Salamis, and block the northern exit from the Straits. If Xerxes wanted to trap the Allies completely, this maneuver would have made sense (especially if he was not expecting the Allies to fight). However, Herodotus does not mention this (and possibly alludes to the Egyptian presence in the main battle), leading some modern historians to dismiss it; though again, others accept it as a possibility. Xerxes had also positioned around 400 troops on the island known as Psyttaleia, in the middle of the exit from the straits, in order to kill or capture any Greeks who ended up there (as a result of shipwreck or grounding).


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Regardless of what time they entered the straits, the Persians did not move to attack the Allies until daylight. Since they were not planning to flee after all, the Allies would have been able to spend the night preparing for battle, and after a speech by Themistocles, the marines boarded and the ships made ready to sail.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: According to Herodotus, this was dawn, and as the Allies ""were putting out to sea the barbarians immediately attacked them"". If the Persians only entered the straits at dawn, then the Allies would have had the time to take up their station in a more orderly fashion.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Aeschylus claims that as the Persians approached (possibly implying that they were not already in the Straits at dawn), they heard the Greeks singing their battle hymn (paean) before they saw the Allied fleet:


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Herodotus recounts that, according to the Athenians, as the battle began the Corinthians hoisted their sails and began sailing away from the battle, northwards up the straits. However, he also says that other Greeks denied this story. If this did in fact occur, one possible interpretation is that these ships had been a decoy sent to reconnoitre the northern exit from the straits, in case the arrival of the encircling Egyptian detachment was imminent (if indeed this also occurred). Another possibility (not exclusive of the former) is that the departure of the Corinthians triggered the final approach of the Persians, suggesting as it did that the Allied fleet was disintegrating. At any rate, if they indeed ever left, the Corinthians soon returned to the battle.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Approaching the Allied fleet in the crowded Straits, the Persians appear to have become disorganised and cramped in the narrow waters. Moreover, it would have become apparent that, far from disintegrating, the Greek fleet was lined up, ready to attack them. However, rather than attacking immediately, the Allies initially appeared to back their ships away as if in fear. According to Plutarch, this was to gain better position, and also in order to gain time until the early morning wind. Herodotus recounts the legend that as the fleet had backed away, they had seen an apparition of a woman, asking them "Madmen, how far will ye yet back your ships?" However, he more plausibly suggests that whilst the Allies were backing water, a single ship shot forward to ram the nearest Persian vessel. The Athenians would claim that this was the ship of the Athenian Ameinias of Pallene; the Aeginetans would claim it as one of their ships. The whole Greek line then followed suit and made straight for the disordered Persian battle line.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The details of the rest of the battle are generally sketchy, and no one involved would have had a view of the entire battlefield. Triremes were generally armed with a large ram at the front, with which it was possible to sink an enemy ship, or at least disable it by shearing off the banks of oars on one side. If the initial ramming was not successful, marines boarded the enemy ship and something similar to a land battle ensued. Both sides had marines on their ships for this eventuality; the Greeks with fully armed hoplites; the Persians probably with more lightly armed infantry.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Across the battlefield, as the first line of Persian ships was pushed back by the Greeks, they became fouled in the advancing second and third lines of their own ships. On the Greek left, the Persian admiral Ariabignes (a brother of Xerxes) was killed early in the battle; left disorganised and leaderless, the Phoenician squadrons appear to have been pushed back against the coast, many vessels running aground. In the centre, a wedge of Greek ships pushed through the Persians lines, splitting the fleet in two.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: According to Plutarch, Ariabignes was killed by Ameinias and Socles () of Pallene. When Ariabignes attempted to board on their ship, they hit him with their spears, and thrust him into the sea. Plutarch also mentions that it was Artemisia who recognized Ariabignes' body floating among the shipwrecks and brought it back to Xerxes.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Herodotus recounts that Artemisia, the Queen of Halicarnassus, and commander of the Carian contingent, found herself pursued by the ship of Ameinias of Pallene. In her desire to escape, she attacked and rammed another Persian vessel, thereby convincing the Athenian captain that the ship was an ally; Ameinias accordingly abandoned the chase. However, Xerxes, looking on, thought that she had successfully attacked an Allied ship, and seeing the poor performance of his other captains commented that "My men have become women, and my women men". The friendly ship she sank was a Calyndian ship and the king of the Calyndians, Damasithymos () was on it. None of the crew of the Calyndian ship survived.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The Persian fleet began to retreat towards Phalerum, but according to Herodotus, the Aeginetans ambushed them as they tried to leave the Straits. The remaining Persian ships limped back to the harbour of Phalerum and the shelter of the Persian army. The Athenian general Aristides then took a detachment of men across to Psyttaleia to slaughter the garrison that Xerxes had left there.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The exact Persian casualties are not mentioned by Herodotus. However, he writes that the next year, the Persian fleet numbered 300 triremes. The number of losses then depends on the number of ships the Persian had to begin with; something in the range of 200–300 seems likely, based on the above estimates for the size of the Persian fleet. According to Herodotus, the Persians suffered many more casualties than the Greeks because most Persians did not know how to swim.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Xerxes, sitting on Mount Aigaleo on his throne, witnessed the carnage. Some ship-wrecked Phoenician captains tried to blame the Ionians for cowardice before the end of the battle. Xerxes, in a foul mood, and having just witnessed an Ionian ship capture an Aeginetan ship, had the Phoenicians beheaded for slandering "more noble men". According to Diodorus, Xerxes "put to death those Phoenicians who were chiefly responsible for beginning the flight, and threatened to visit upon the rest the punishment they deserved", causing the Phoenicians to sail to Asia when night fell.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: In the immediate aftermath of Salamis, Xerxes attempted to build a pontoon bridge or causeway across the straits, in order to use his army to attack the Athenians; however, with the Greek fleet now confidently patrolling the straits, this proved futile. Herodotus tells us that Xerxes held a council of war, at which the Persian general Mardonius tried to make light of the defeat:


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Fearing that the Greeks might attack the bridges across the Hellespont and trap his army in Europe, Xerxes resolved to do this, taking the greater part of the army with him. Mardonius handpicked the troops who were to remain with him in Greece, taking the elite infantry units and cavalry, to complete the conquest of Greece. All of the Persian forces abandoned Attica, however, with Mardonius overwintering in Boeotia and Thessaly; the Athenians were thus able to return to their burnt city for the winter.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The following year, 479 BC, Mardonius recaptured Athens and led the second Achaemenid destruction of Athens (the Allied army still preferring to guard the Isthmus). However, the Allies, under Spartan leadership, eventually agreed to try to force Mardonius to battle, and marched on Attica. Mardonius retreated to Boeotia to lure the Greeks into open terrain and the two sides eventually met near the city of Plataea (which had been razed the previous year). There, at the Battle of Plataea, the Greek army won a decisive victory, destroying much of the Persian army and ending the invasion of Greece; whilst at the near-simultaneous Battle of Mycale the Allied fleet destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: The Battle of Salamis marked the turning point in the Greco-Persian wars. After Salamis, the Peloponnese, and by extension Greece as an entity, was safe from conquest; and the Persians suffered a major blow to their prestige and morale (as well as severe material losses). At the following battles of Plataea and Mycale, the threat of conquest was removed, and the Allies were able to go on the counter-offensive. The Greek victory allowed Macedon to revolt against Persian rule; and over the next 30 years, Thrace, the Aegean Islands and finally Ionia would be removed from Persian control by the Allies, or by the Athenian-dominated successor, the Delian League. Salamis started a decisive swing in the balance of power toward the Greeks, which would culminate in an eventual Greek victory, severely reducing Persian power in the Aegean.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Like the Battles of Marathon and Thermopylae, Salamis has gained something of a 'legendary' status (unlike, for instance, the more decisive Battle of Plataea), perhaps because of the desperate circumstances and the unlikely odds. A significant number of historians have stated that Salamis is one of the most significant battles in human history (though the same is often stated of Marathon). In a more extreme form of this argument, some historians argue that if the Greeks had lost at Salamis, the ensuing conquest of Greece by the Persians would have effectively stifled the growth of Western Civilization as we know it. This view is based on the premise that much of modern Western society, such as philosophy, science, personal freedom and democracy are rooted in the legacy of Ancient Greece. Thus, this school of thought argues that, given the domination of much of modern history by Western Civilization, Persian domination of Greece might have changed the whole trajectory of human history. It is also worth mentioning that the celebrated blossoming of hugely influential Athenian culture occurred only "after" the Persian wars were won.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: Militarily, it is difficult to draw many lessons from Salamis, because of the uncertainty about what actually happened. Once again the Allies chose their ground well in order to negate Persian numbers, but this time (unlike Thermopylae) had to rely on the Persians launching an unnecessary attack for their position to count. (Hale, John R.). Since it brought about that attack, perhaps the most important military lesson is to be found in the use of deception by Themistocles to bring about the desired response from the enemy.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: According to Plutarch, the previously undistinguished Cimon "obtained great repute among the Athenians" due to his courage in battle; this reputation later enabled him to launch his political career.


title: Battle of Salamis

text: On March 17, 2017, archaeologists announced that they had uncovered the partially submerged remains of the anchorage used by the Greek warships prior to the Battle of Salamis. The site of the ancient mooring site is on the island of Salamis, at the coastal Ambelaki-Kynosaurus site.


title: Chinese water torture

text: Chinese water torture or a "dripping machine" is a mentally painful process in which cold water is slowly dripped onto the scalp, forehead or face for a prolonged period of time. The process causes fear and mental deterioration in the subject. The pattern of the drops is often irregular, and the cold sensation jarring, which causes anxiety as a person tries to anticipate the next drip. This form of torture was first described by Hippolytus De Marsiliis in Italy in the 15th or 16th century.


title: Chinese water torture

text: "Chinese water torture" is mentioned in the 1892 short story "The Compromiser" suggesting some public familiarity with the term by that date. It may have been popularised by the predicament escape Chinese Water Torture Cell (a feat of escapology introduced in Berlin at Circus Busch on September 13, 1910). The escape entailed Harry Houdini being bound and suspended upside-down in a locked glass and steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, from which he escaped, together with the Fu Manchu stories of Sax Rohmer that were popular in the 1930s (in which Fu Manchu subjected his victims to various ingenious tortures, such as the wired jacket).


title: Chinese water torture

text: Hippolytus de Marsiliis is credited with the invention of a form of water torture. Having observed how drops of water falling one by one on a stone gradually created a hollow, he applied the method to the human body. Other suggestions say that the term "Chinese water torture" was invented merely to grant the method a sense of ominous mystery. The victim would be stripped of their clothes, shown to the public, then tortured. They would be driven insane while bystanders watched, mocked, and laughed at them.


title: Chinese water torture

text: The victims could see each drop coming and, after a long duration of time, were gradually driven frantic to the point of insanity, usually because they were led to believe that a hollow or severe ulcer would develop there, or as a (sometimes combined) result of prolonged restraint under irritating conditions, isolation, or the humiliation of being tortured publicly.


title: Chinese water torture

text: There is very little evidence pertaining to the effectiveness of torture for interrogation purposes. The method itself causes lasting mental damage in victims proportional to the intensity of exposure. The television series "MythBusters" investigated the effectiveness of Chinese water torture, and while it was found quite effective, they noted that the restraining equipment was providing most of the effect by itself, and when testing the dripping water alone on a relaxed, unrestrained subject, it was found almost negligible. Nevertheless, in the Episode 3, Season 2 of the web television series "Mind Field" the "MythBusters" host Adam Savage said the following: "The creepiest thing that happened after we did this episode was that I got an email from someone from a throw away account. He said, 'We found that randomizing when the drops occurred was incredibly effective. That anything that happens on a regular periodicity can become a type of meditation, and you can then tune it out. If you couldn't predict it, he said, 'We found, we were able to induce a psychotic break within 20 hours.'" In addition to the victims experiencing mental deterioration, psychosis is a common side effect when undergoing the Chinese Water Torture. During the psychosis episode, victims experience delusions, hallucinations, and losing touch with reality. In 2012, Australian artist, Lottie Consalvo, performed the Chinese Water Torture for an art project, Steer a Steady Ship, to represent her emotions after her sister's passing. Whilst lying under the drips of water, she felt the presence of her deceased sister lying beside her. In the article, Australian Artist Recreates Chinese Water Torture, that explains Consalvo's experience during the performance, the author states, ‘She came to the idea of Chinese water torture, which can cause psychosis, through its association with the head, which for her represents the physicality of the mind - something she believes is "more physical than anything in life.”


title: Tabbouleh

text: Tabbouleh (; also tabouleh, tabbouli, tabouli, or taboulah) is a Levantine salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur (soaked, not cooked), and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sweet pepper. Some variations add lettuce, or use semolina instead of bulgur.


title: Tabbouleh

text: Tabbouleh is traditionally served as part of a mezze in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Arab world. Like hummus, baba ghanoush, pita bread, and other elements of Arab cuisine, tabbouleh has become a popular food in the United States.


title: Tabbouleh

text: The Levantine Arabic "tabbūle" is derived from the Arabic word "tābil" from the Aramaic root word "t-b-l", meaning "seasoning" or more literally "dip". Use of the word in English first appeared in the 1950s.


title: Tabbouleh

text: Edible herbs known as "qaḍb" formed an essential part of the Arab diet in the Middle Ages. Dishes like tabbouleh attest to their continued popularity in Middle Eastern cuisine today. Originally from the mountains of Lebanon and Syria, tabbouleh has become one of the most popular salads in the Middle East. The wheat variety "salamouni" cultivated in the Beqaa Valley region in Lebanon, was considered (in the mid-19th century) as particularly well-suited for making bulgur, a basic ingredient of tabbouleh. In Lebanon, the Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day is a yearly festivity day dedicated to Tabbouleh. Since 2001, it is celebrated the first Saturday of the month of July.


title: Tabbouleh

text: In the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq, it is usually served as part of a meze. The Syrian and the Lebanese use more parsley than bulgur wheat in their dish. A Turkish variation of the dish known as "kısır", and a similar Armenian dish known as "eetch" use far more bulgur than parsley. Another ancient variant is called terchots. In Cyprus, where the dish was introduced by the Lebanese, it is known as "tambouli". In the Dominican Republic, a local version introduced by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants is called "Tipile". It is widely popular in Israel.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In Norse mythology, Huginn (Old Norse: "thought") and Muninn (Old Norse "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. Huginn and Muninn are attested in the "Poetic Edda", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources: the "Prose Edda" and "Heimskringla"; in the "Third Grammatical Treatise", compiled in the 13th century by Óláfr Þórðarson; and in the poetry of skalds. The names of the ravens are sometimes modernly anglicized as Hugin and Munin.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In the "Poetic Edda", a disguised Odin expresses that he fears that they may not return from their daily flights. The "Prose Edda" explains that Odin is referred to as "Hrafnaguð" (O.N.: ; "raven-god") due to his association with Huginn and Muninn. In the "Prose Edda" and the "Third Grammatical Treatise", the two ravens are described as perching on Odin's shoulders. "Heimskringla" details that Odin gave Huginn and Muninn the ability to speak.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Examples of artifacts that may depict Odin with one of the ravens include Migration Period golden bracteates, Vendel era helmet plates, a pair of identical Germanic Iron Age bird-shaped brooches, Viking Age objects depicting a moustached man wearing a helmet, and a portion of the 10th or 11th century . Huginn and Muninn's role as Odin's messengers has been linked to shamanic practices, the Norse raven banner, general raven symbolism among the Germanic peoples, and the Norse concepts of the fylgja and the hamingja.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In the "Poetic Edda" poem "Grímnismál", the god Odin (disguised as "Grímnir") provides the young Agnarr with information about Odin's companions. He tells the prince about Odin's wolves Geri and Freki, and, in the next stanza of the poem, states that Huginn and Muninn fly daily across the entire world, Midgard. Grímnir says that he worries Huginn may not come back, yet more does he fear for Muninn:


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In the "Prose Edda" book "Gylfaginning" (chapter 38), the enthroned figure of High tells Gangleri (king Gylfi in disguise) that two ravens named Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders. The ravens tell Odin everything they see and hear. Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and the birds fly all over the world before returning at dinner-time. As a result, Odin is kept informed of many events. High adds that it is from this association that Odin is referred to as "raven-god". The above-mentioned stanza from "Grímnismál" is then quoted.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In the "Prose Edda" book "Skáldskaparmál" (chapter 60), Huginn and Muninn appear in a list of poetic names for ravens. In the same chapter, excerpts from a work by the skald Einarr Skúlason are provided. In these excerpts Muninn is referenced in a common noun for 'raven' and Huginn is referenced in a kenning for 'carrion'.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In the "Heimskringla" book "Ynglinga saga", a euhemerized account of the life of Odin is provided. Chapter 7 describes that Odin had two ravens, and upon these ravens he bestowed the gift of speech. These ravens flew all over the land and brought him information, causing Odin to become "very wise in his lore."


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In the "Third Grammatical Treatise" an anonymous verse is recorded that mentions the ravens flying from Odin's shoulders; Huginn seeking hanged men, and Muninn slain bodies. The verse reads:


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Migration Period (5th and 6th centuries CE) gold bracteates (types A, B, and C) feature a depiction of a human figure above a horse, holding a spear and flanked by one or more often two birds. The presence of the birds has led to the iconographic identification of the human figure as the god Odin, flanked by Huginn and Muninn. Like Snorri's "Prose Edda" description of the ravens, a bird is sometimes depicted at the ear of the human, or at the ear of the horse. Bracteates have been found in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and, in smaller numbers, England and areas south of Denmark. Austrian Germanist Rudolf Simek states that these bracteates may depict Odin and his ravens healing a horse and may indicate that the birds were originally not simply his battlefield companions but also "Odin's helpers in his veterinary function."


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Vendel era helmet plates (from the 6th or 7th century) found in a grave in Sweden depict a helmeted figure holding a spear and a shield while riding a horse, flanked by two birds. The plate has been interpreted as Odin accompanied by two birds: his ravens.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: A pair of identical Germanic Iron Age bird-shaped brooches from Bejsebakke in northern Denmark may be depictions of Huginn and Muninn. The back of each bird features a mask motif, and the feet of the birds are shaped like the heads of animals. The feathers of the birds are also composed of animal heads. Together, the animal heads on the feathers form a mask on the back of the bird. The birds have powerful beaks and fan-shaped tails, indicating that they are ravens. The brooches were intended to be worn on each shoulder, after Germanic Iron Age fashion. Archaeologist Peter Vang Petersen comments that while the symbolism of the brooches is open to debate, the shape of the beaks and tail feathers confirm that the brooch depictions are ravens. Petersen notes that "raven-shaped ornaments worn as a pair, after the fashion of the day, one on each shoulder, makes one's thoughts turn towards Odin's ravens and the cult of Odin in the Germanic Iron Age." Petersen says that Odin is associated with disguise and that the masks on the ravens may be portraits of Odin.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: The Oseberg tapestry fragments, discovered within the Viking Age Oseberg ship burial in Norway, feature a scene containing two black birds hovering over a horse, possibly originally leading a wagon (as a part of a procession of horse-led wagons on the tapestry). In her examination of the tapestry, scholar Anne Stine Ingstad interprets these birds as Huginn and Muninn flying over a covered cart containing an image of Odin, drawing comparison with the images of Nerthus attested by Tacitus in 1 CE.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Excavations in Ribe in Denmark have recovered a Viking Age lead metal-caster's mould and 11 identical casting-moulds. These objects depict a moustached man wearing a helmet that features two head-ornaments. Archaeologist Stig Jensen proposes that these ornaments should be interpreted as Huginn and Muninn, and the wearer as Odin. He notes that "similar depictions occur everywhere the Vikings went—from eastern England to Russia and naturally also in the rest of Scandinavia."


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: A portion of (a partly surviving runestone erected at Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man) depicts a bearded human holding a spear downward at a wolf, his right foot in its mouth, and a large bird on his shoulder. Andy Orchard comments that this bird may be either Huginn or Muninn. Rundata dates the cross to 940, while Pluskowski dates it to the 11th century. This depiction has been interpreted as Odin, with a raven or eagle at his shoulder, being consumed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir during the events of Ragnarök.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: In November 2009, the Roskilde Museum announced the discovery and subsequent display of a niello-inlaid silver figurine found in Lejre, Denmark, which they dubbed "Odin from Lejre". The silver object depicts a person sitting on a throne. The throne features the heads of animals and is flanked by two birds. The Roskilde Museum identifies the figure as Odin sitting on his throne Hliðskjálf, flanked by the ravens Huginn and Muninn.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Scholars have linked Odin's relation to Huginn and Muninn to shamanic practice. John Lindow relates Odin's ability to send his "thought" (Huginn) and "mind" (Muninn) to the trance-state journey of shamans. Lindow says the "Grímnismál" stanza where Odin worries about the return of Huginn and Muninn "would be consistent with the danger that the shaman faces on the trance-state journey."


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Rudolf Simek is critical of the approach, stating that "attempts have been made to interpret Odin's ravens as a personification of the god's intellectual powers, but this can only be assumed from the names Huginn and Muninn themselves which were unlikely to have been invented much before the 9th or 10th centuries" yet that the two ravens, as Odin's companions, appear to derive from much earlier times. Instead, Simek connects Huginn and Muninn with wider raven symbolism in the Germanic world, including the raven banner (described in English chronicles and Scandinavian sagas), a banner which was woven in a method that allowed it, when fluttering in the wind, to appear as if the raven depicted upon it was beating its wings.


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Anthony Winterbourne connects Huginn and Muninn to the Norse concepts of the fylgja—a concept with three characteristics; shape-shifting abilities, good fortune, and the guardian spirit—and the hamingja—the ghostly double of a person that may appear in the form of an animal. Winterbourne states that "The shaman's journey through the different parts of the cosmos is symbolized by the "hamingja" concept of the shape-shifting soul, and gains another symbolic dimension for the Norse soul in the account of Oðin's ravens, Huginn and Muninn." In response to Simek's criticism of attempts to interpret the ravens "philosophically", Winterbourne says that "such speculations [...] simply strengthen the conceptual significance made plausible by other features of the mythology" and that the names "Huginn" and "Muninn" "demand more explanation than is usually provided."


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: The "Heliand", an Old Saxon adaptation of the New Testament from the 9th century, differs from the New Testament in that an explicit reference is made to a dove sitting on the shoulder of Christ. Regarding this, G. Ronald Murphy says "In placing the powerful white dove not just above Christ, but right on his shoulder, the "Heliand" author has portrayed Christ, not only as the Son of the All-Ruler, but also as a new Woden. This deliberate image of Christ triumphantly astride the land with the magnificent bird on his shoulders (the author is perhaps a bit embarrassed that the bird is an unwarlike dove!) is an image intended to calm the fears and longings of those who mourn the loss of Woden and who want to return to the old religion's symbols and ways. With this image, Christ becomes a Germanic god, one into whose ears the Spirit of the Almighty whispers".


title: Huginn and Muninn

text: Bernd Heinrich theorizes that Huginn and Muninn, along with Odin and his wolves Geri and Freki, reflect a symbiosis observed in the natural world among ravens, wolves, and humans on the hunt:


title: Lust, Caution

text: Lust, Caution () is a 2007 erotic period espionage mystery romance film directed by Ang Lee, based on the 1979 novella by Eileen Chang. "Lust, Caution" is set in Hong Kong in 1938 and in Shanghai in 1942, when the city was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army and ruled by the puppet government led by Wang Jingwei. The film depicts a group of Chinese university students from The University of Hong Kong who plot to assassinate a high-ranking special agent and recruiter working for the puppet government by luring him into a honey trap. The film is generally accepted to be based on the historical event of Chinese spy Zheng Pingru's failed attempt to assassinate the Japanese collaborator Ding Mocun.


title: Lust, Caution

text: With this film, Lee won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for the second time, the first being with "Brokeback Mountain". The film adaptation and the story are loosely based on events that took place during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. The film's sex scenes resulted in the film being rated NC-17 in the United States. The film grossed $67 million worldwide over $16 million budget, making it the highest grossing NC-17 rated film of all time.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The title of the work, "Lust, Caution", has a double meaning in Chinese. The character for "lust" (色, "sè") can be read as "colour", while "caution" (戒, "jiè") can be read as "ring", therefore the title can also read as "colored ring", an object that plays a pivotal role in the story. The two alternate readings of the title are interwoven into a cautionary tale of lust and love through the symbolic use of the ring.


title: Lust, Caution

text: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, a shy, inexperienced university student, Wong Chia Chi, travels from Shanghai to Hong Kong and attends her first year at Lingnan University. Male student Kuang Yu Min invites her to join his patriotic drama club and she soon becomes a lead actress, inspiring both her audience and her colleagues. Inspired by the club's patriotic plays, Kuang persuades the group to make a more concrete contribution to the war against Japan. He devises a plan to assassinate Mr. Yee, a special agent and recruiter of the puppet government of Wang Jingwei set up by the Japanese occupation in China. The beautiful Chia Chi is chosen to take on the undercover role of "Mrs. Mai", the elegant wife of a trading company owner. She inserts herself into the social circle of Mrs. Yee.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Chia Chi catches the eye of Mr. Yee and tries to lure him to a location where he can be assassinated. Chia Chi is still a virgin, and she reluctantly consents to having sex with another student involved in the plot in order to practice her role as a married woman. Kuang, who has feelings for Chia Chi, is upset by this but agrees to the arrangement. Attracted to Chia Chi, Yee nearly falls for the trap but withdraws at the last minute. Soon after, Mr. and Mrs. Yee move back to Shanghai, leaving the students with no further chance to complete their mission. While they are preparing to disband, an armed subordinate of Yee turns up unannounced and tells them that he is aware of their plans. After a violent struggle, the university students kill the subordinate and then go into hiding.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Three years later, in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, Chia Chi again encounters Kuang, who is now an undercover agent of the Kuomintang (KMT) secret service the "Juntong", which is seeking to overthrow the Japanese occupation forces and the puppet government. Kuang enlists her into a renewed assassination plan to kill Yee. By this time, Yee has become the head of the secret police department under the puppet government and is responsible for torturing and executing Chinese resistance members working for the KMT. Chia Chi's advances to become Yee's mistress are reciprocated. During their first sexual encounter, Yee violently rapes Chia Chi. Over the next few weeks, their sexual relationship becomes more consensual and affectionate, stirring conflicting emotions within in Chia Chi's mind, who is still involved in the assassination plot.


title: Lust, Caution

text: When Chia Chi reports to her KMT superior officer, she exhorts him to carry out the assassination soon so that she will not have to continue her sexual liaisons with Yee, but she is told that the assassination needs to be delayed for strategic reasons. Chia Chi describes the emotional conflict she finds herself embroiled in, sentimentally bound to a man whom she is plotting to assassinate. When Yee sends Chia Chi to a jewelry store with a sealed envelope, she discovers that he has arranged for a large and extremely rare six-carat pink diamond for her, to be mounted in a ring. This provides the Chinese resistance with a chance to get at Yee when he is not accompanied by his bodyguards.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Soon after, Chia Chi invites Yee to accompany her to collect the diamond ring. While entering the jewelry shop, she notices that all her friends involved in the assassination plot are undercover outside. When she puts on the ring, she is overcome by emotion and quietly urges him to leave. Understanding her meaning, Yee immediately flees the shop and escapes the assassination attempt. By the end of the day, most members of the resistance group are captured. Yee's deputy was aware of the resistance cell, but did not inform Yee because he hoped to use the opportunity to catch their leader. Emotionally turmoiled, Yee signs the resistance members' death warrants. They, Chia Chi, are led out to a quarry to be executed. As the resistance members group are forced to their knees at gunpoint, a sad Kuang gazes at her. Meanwhile, Yee sits on Chia Chi's empty bed in the family guest room while his wife asks him what is going on, since his secretary and two men had taken Chia Chi's belongings and some papers from his office. Yee tells her to keep quiet and to continue playing downstairs, to avoid letting anyone know of his affection for Chia Chi.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The actors who played university classmates, spent six months of preproduction in Hong Kong just to get into character and understand the period before filming. During this period the group of actors, including Tang Wei and Wang Leehom became very close friends. Both Tang Wei and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai were asked whether the sex scenes in the movie were unsimulated. Tang Wei responded, "In the movie, we are just doing what we should do to have a baby." As for Tony Leung, he responded, "When the bodies collide with each other, it is indeed like a fake show!"


title: Lust, Caution

text: The music for "Lust, Caution" created by French composer Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat. The soundtrack, which was released by Decca Records, contains 24 songs running at approximately 60 minutes in length.


title: Lust, Caution

text: "Lust, Caution" premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion, the second such award for Ang Lee. It was released in U.S. theaters on September 28, 2007, where it was rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America due to some explicit sex scenes. Lee stated that he would make no changes to attempt to get an R rating. After the movie's premiere, director Ang Lee was displeased that Chinese news media (including those from Taiwan) had greatly emphasized the sex scenes in the movie. The version released in the People's Republic of China was cut by about seven minutes (by the director himself) to make it suitable for younger audiences, since China has no rating system. Scenes of violence were also removed from the Mainland version, and the total minutes of the cuts was around 30. The version released in Malaysia was approved by the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia without alterations and was rated 18SX—those under 18 are barred from the cinema. The uncut version was released on DVD in 2008, as well as R-rated version since certain rental outlets and stores like Blockbuster video do not carry NC-17 titles.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In a number of countries, notably the People's Republic of China and India, the sex scenes had to be cut before the film could be released. In Singapore, the film's producers initially decided to release a cut version with an NC-16 rating, but a public outcry stating that the producers of the film were underestimating censorship standards in the country (the film was released uncut in Hong Kong and Taiwan) prompted them to eventually release the uncut version with an R-21 rating. The film is rated R18 and was released uncut in New Zealand.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In a further example of censorship affecting the Mainland China release of "Lust, Caution", the line in which Chia Chi whispers "Go, go quickly" to the Japanese collaborator that she has fallen in love with in order to save him from capture and death; in the edited version, Ang Lee changes this to "Let's go" in order to redeem the lead protagonist's sabotage of the assassination attempt of Mr. Yee by implicating them both in the escape rather than Chia Chi sacrificing herself and her classmates alone. This form of censorship was done in order to avoid criticism for glorifying a traitor such as Mr. Yee during a time of Japanese occupation in World War II. Chia Chi's betrayal of her classmates and China as a nation in order to save a traitor was received by some Mainland Chinese audiences with distaste, with some media websites referring to the film as an insult to China.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The film's sexuality brought critique from The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC), who decried Ang Lee's adaptation as a "Hall of Shame" film that glorifies the torturous Stockholm syndrome-like relationship between Wong Chia Chi's "Mrs. Mai" and her colluding lover/target Mr. Yee.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The sexual violence that Chia Chi experiences from the men in Ang Lee's film adaptation of "Lust, Caution" is not explicitly described or outlined in the original novella written by Eileen Chang, rather the unspoken violence that is experienced is a representation of the everyday and intrusive violence felt by those living under colonial occupation.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Tang Wei was ostracized from the Mainland Chinese movie industry and did not work for three years because the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) disapproved of her sexual acts in the film. All print ads and video content using Tang's image were removed and her endorsements were discontinued. She was set to star in Tian Zhuangzhuang's big-budget period film "The Warrior and the Wolf" (2009), but was replaced by Maggie Q. Director Ang Lee released a statement saying that he is "very regretful" over Tang's blacklisting and that he "will do everything I can to support her in this difficult time". Co-star Tony Leung stated that "our work is only to express our roles and I don't think that an actor should be blacklisted because of this" and that "the whole crew should have a responsibility. We are a team and not an individual, and I'm a part of this team". In February 2009, during her absence from the movie industry, Tang was reported to have briefly attended drama classes at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The film was co-produced by American companies Focus Features and River Road Productions, Chinese companies Shanghai Film Group Corporation and Haishang Films, and the Taiwanese Hai Sheng Film Production Company. The film was directed by Ang Lee, a Taiwanese citizen, and the actors/actresses are from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. It was shot in Shanghai, the neighboring province of Zhejiang, Hong Kong (at Hong Kong University), and some locations in Penang and Ipoh in Malaysia used as 1930s/1940s Hong Kong.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Initially, the film's country was identified as "China-USA" by the organizers of the Venice Film Festival. However, the Venice Film Festival changed the film to "USA-China-Taiwan, China" on its official schedule shortly thereafter. When the film premiered at the event, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council protested the Venice event's use of "Taiwan, China" to identify films from the island and blamed the People's Republic of China for the move.


title: Lust, Caution

text: After the film's premiere, Taiwan submitted the film as its Best Foreign Film Oscar entry. However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asked Taiwan to withdraw the film because key members of the film crew were not locals. Academy spokeswoman Teni Melidonian said in an e-mail organizers refused to accept the film because "an insufficient number of Taiwanese participated in the production of the film," violating a rule that requires foreign countries to certify their locals "exercised artistic control" over their submission.


title: Lust, Caution

text: On September 13, 2007, an elderly lady, Zheng Tianru, staged a press conference in Los Angeles, claiming that the movie was about real-life events that happened in World War II, and wrongfully portrayed her older sister, Zheng Pingru, as a promiscuous secret agent who seduced and eventually fell in love with the assassination target Ding Mocun, alleging the characters were renamed to Wong Chia Chi and Mr. Yee in the film. Taiwan's investigation bureau confirmed that Zheng Pingru failed to kill Ding Mocun because her gun jammed, rather than developing a romantic relationship with the assassin's target. Ang Lee maintains that Eileen Chang wrote the original short story as fiction.


title: Lust, Caution

text: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 72% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 6.60/10. The site's consensus reads: "Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" is a tense, sensual and beautifully-shot espionage film". On Metacritic, the film had a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 35 reviews.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The Chinese press gave the film generally positive reviews. In analyzing how successful Lee's film was as an adaptation of Eileen Chang's short story, literary critic Leo Ou-fan Lee wrote in "Muse" Magazine that he 'found [his] loyalties divided between Eileen Chang and Ang Lee. But after three viewings of the film, I have finally opted for Lee because deep down I believe in film magic which can sometimes displace textual fidelity.' In an earlier issue of "Muse" however, film critic Perry Lam had criticized Lee's direction: 'in his eagerness to make the movie appealing to a mass audience, Lee seems guilty of sentimentalism.' Sentimental or not, there is certainly a palpable trace of Lee's sympathy for Chang's personal love life, "It was hard for me to live in Eileen Chang's world...There are days I hated her for it. It's so sad, so tragic. But you realize there's a shortage of love in her life: romantic love, family love." He added, "This is the story of what killed love for her."


title: Lust, Caution

text: Audiences across Taiwan received the premiere of "Lust, Caution" with excitement stemming from pride over the fact that Ang Lee hails from Taiwan and the fact that the film received many international awards. The mainstream media in Taiwan built up an enormous amount of anticipation and fever for the world premiere of "Lust, Caution" with a continuous gossip channel focused on the explicit and controversial portrayal of sexuality which seemed to indicate to the positive, or at least curious reception of the film.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Jack Mathews of the New York "Daily News" named it the 5th best film of 2007. Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" named it the 6th best film of 2007.


title: Lust, Caution

text: It has been noted by critics (including Bryan Appleyard) that the Hong Kong sequences in the film set in the late 1930s include "London taxis" of two types (FX3, FX4) that were only manufactured onwards from 1948 and 1958 respectively.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Tony Leung’s wrist watch is not period-accurate for the 1930s. The size is much larger than a men’s rectangular-shaped watch from this period.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" Chia Chi's virginity is used as a symbol of both her status as an innocent woman and a barrier to the role she must play in order to prove her patriotism. Chia Chi's virginity is ultimately given as a sacrifice but consequently, her sexuality that has been awakened is used as a weapon against Mr. Yee in order to ensnare him into a relationship.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The portrayal of female sexuality and desire in the film emphasizes the shame and awkwardness of Chia Chi's sexuality versus the role she must play as "Mrs. Mai", which serves the nation rather than her needs as a woman. Sex and sexuality are used as tangible tools in proving patriotism in this film, and in each instance of Chia Chi's bodily sacrifice, she is representing the recognizable symbol of violation experienced by China as a nation while under Japanese occupation


title: Lust, Caution

text: Through each of the sex scenes, a tangible but subtle difference can be seen in Wong Chia Chi's character as she becomes more comfortable with her sexual desires; a gradual acceptance of pleasure along with a growing role of dominance in hers and Mr. Yee's relationship as compared to the submissive and easily manipulated role she fills in the group of comrades that she is plotting against the Japanese and their collaborators with.


title: Lust, Caution

text: Eileen Chang's original work from which Ang is drawing from does not contain the sex scenes of the film, yet with their addition a change can be seen in the levels of participation and assertiveness from Wong Chia Chi and her own agency in them: the first sex scene focuses on the forced and unpleasant intercourse between the couple; stronger levels of consent and enjoyment from Chia Chi is found in the second sex scene; finally, Wong Chia Chi has recognized her full agency in the third sex scene and is acting with assertion by taking control of her own desires and pleasure with Mr. Yee.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In order to prove herself in this lust caution film, chia chi's virginity is used as an example of both innocence and a barrier to the role which she must play. The great message shared by the film is sexuality and power as it is used as tangible tools in order to prove patriotism. In her character, it has been noted that she is very comfortable with her role, body language, and her appearance makes her more attractive and power as it is related to her desires and love for Mr. Yee.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In Hong Kong, where the film was screened uncut, "Lust, Caution" grossed US$6,249,342 (approximately $48 million HKD) despite being saddled with a restrictive Category III rating. It was the territory's highest-grossing Chinese language film of the year, and third highest overall (behind "Spider-Man 3" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix").


title: Lust, Caution

text: The film was also a box office success in Mainland China despite the cuts made to allow screening. There, the film grossed US$17,109,185, making it the Mainland's fifth highest-grossing film of 2007 and third highest-grossing domestic production.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In North America, the film received NC-17 rating, which severely limited the number of cinemas willing to screen it. In its opening weekend in one U.S. theater, the grossed $63,918. Expanding to seventeen venues the next week, its per-screen average was $21,341, before cooling down to $4,639 at 125 screens. Never playing at more than 143 cinemas for the duration of its entire U.S. run, the film ultimately grossed $4,604,982. As of August 15, 2008, the film was the fifth highest-grossing NC-17 production in North America. Focus Features was very satisfied with the United States release of this film.


title: Lust, Caution

text: In 2007, two DVD versions of "Lust, Caution" were released: the original NC-17 version and the censored R-rated version. On March 30, 2021, Kino Lorber released the NC-17 version of the film on Blu-ray.


title: Lust, Caution

text: The film has generated more than $24 million from its DVD sales and rentals in the United States, an impressive result for a film that only grossed $4.6 million in limited theatrical release in the United States.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: , often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: He played for the Japan national team from 1990 to 2000, and was the first Japanese recipient of the IFFHS Asia's Footballer of the Year award. Miura, whose rise to fame in Japan coincided with the launch of the J.League in 1993, was arguably Japan's first superstar in football. He is also known for his trademark "Kazu Feint" and his famous "Kazu dance", when he scores great goals or produces great plays.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: Miura holds the records for being the oldest goalscorer in the J-League, the footballer with the world's longest professional career, and, as of 2022, is the oldest professional footballer in the world at 55. He also holds the unique distinction of having played professional football in five separate decades (1980s–2020s). His elder brother Yasutoshi is also a former professional footballer.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In 1982, Miura left the Shizuoka Gakuen High School after less than a year, and travelled alone to Brazil at the age of fifteen to become a professional footballer there. He signed with the youth squad of São Paulo side Juventus, and in 1986, Miura signed his first professional contract with Santos. He played for several other Brazilian clubs, including Palmeiras and Coritiba, until his return to Japan in 1990.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: His time in Brazil elevated him to star status and on his return to Japan, he joined the Japan Soccer League (JSL) side Yomiuri SC, which later spun off from its parent company Yomiuri Shinbun and became Verdy Kawasaki with the launch of the J1 League in 1993. With Yomiuri/Kawasaki, Miura won four consecutive league titles playing alongside fellow Japanese national team regulars Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa. Yomiuri won the last two JSL titles in 1991 and 1992, and Verdy Kawasaki won the first two J1 League titles in 1993 and 1994. He was named the first J.League Most Valuable Player in 1993.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: Miura then became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoa in the 1994–95 Serie A season. In his Italian stint, he played 21 times and scored one goal, during the Genoa derby against Sampdoria. On 15 January 1994, Miura assisted Antonio Manicone's match-winning goal against Padova.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: He returned to Verdy Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them until the end of the 1998 season.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: He returned to Japan, however, following a brief trial with AFC Bournemouth, in the same year, and played with Kyoto Purple Sanga and Vissel Kobe.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In 2005, Miura signed for Yokohama FC in 2005. In 2007, Miura was selected for the 2007 J.League All-Star Soccer for J-East and played exceptionally well.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In November 2015, Miura signed a new one-year contract with Yokohama FC at the age of 48. In January 2017, Miura signed another new one-year contract with Yokohama, taking his professional career into his fifties.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: On 5 March 2017, Miura became the oldest ever player to feature in a professional match when he started in Yokohama's 1–1 draw against V-Varen Nagasaki. With 50 years and seven days, he surpassed the previous record held by Stanley Matthews from 1965 by two days. Seven days later, he broke Matthews' record for oldest goalscorer in professional football when he struck the only goal of a 1–0 win over Thespakusatsu Gunma.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In January 2018, he signed a new contract, and renewed it again in January 2019, January 2020, and January 2021.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: On 5 August 2020, he started in a J.League Cup match against Sagan Tosu, becoming the oldest player to take to the pitch in Japan's league cup competition, at the age of 53 years, 5 months and 10 days. By doing so, he surpassed the previous record of 42 years, 10 months set in 2017 by Yukio Tsuchiya.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: On 23 September 2020, he started in the J1 League match against Kawasaki Frontale and in doing so became the oldest player to take to the pitch in a J1 League match and the oldest player ever in a football match in the highest national division worldwide. Miura played 57 minutes in this match.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: On 30 December 2021, it was reported that Miura had reached an agreement to join Suzuka Point Getters in the Japan Football League (JFL), the fourth tier of Japanese football. On 13 March 2022, Kazua, at the age of 55, made his debut for Suzuka Point Getters, in the first round of the Japan Football League, which led to 4,620 spectators to watch his debut, which is the highest attendance at a Suzuka home match, breaking their previous record of 1,308 spectators in 2019. His debut also meant he broke the record of the oldest player to have ever featured in a JFL match at 55 years old, with a 12-year gap to the previous record holder. His presence at the club brought many curious spectators to see him in action, leading to Suzuka Point Getters having featured in nine of the ten matches with the highest attendance numbers throughout the 2022 season. This includes the match between Suzuka Point Getters and Criacao Shinjuku, that gathered a crowd of 16,218 people watching the match at the Japan National Stadium, where he featured in a 1–0 win for Suzuka on 9 October 2022. It broke the record of the biggest attendance on a single JFL match. On 30 October 2022, Kazu became the oldest player to score at the JFL having converted from the penalty spot at the 85th minute of the match, to seal Suzuka's 3–1 win against Tiamo Hirakata. He broke the record two weeks after, on 12 November 2022, becoming the oldest player to score at the JFL at 55 years and 259 days old. With this goal, he also became the oldest to score at the competition from an open play situation. From 30 October to 12 November of 2022, then, he played three times and scored two goals, making it the first time he scored two goals in a single season since 2016, while at Yokohama FC.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In September 1990, Miura was named as part of the Japan squad for the 1990 Asian Games. At this competition, on September 26, he debuted against Bangladesh. After his debut, he played as a forward until 1997. In 1992, he played at the 1992 Asian Cup, which Japan went on to win. In 1993, in the 1994 World Cup qualification, he played thirteen games and scored thirteen goals. However, Japan failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. He also played at the 1994 Asian Games, the 1995 King Fahd Cup and the 1996 Asian Cup.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In 1997, Miura scored fourteen times for Japan during qualification for the 1998 World Cup, leading the "Samurai Blue" to their first ever World Cup finals. Despite this, Miura was controversially left out of the squad.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In February 2000, Miura played for Japan for the first time in two years. He played his last national team match later that year, and finished with the second-most career goals in Japanese national team history with 55 goals in 89 matches.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: In 2012, and at the age of 45, Miura made his debut for the Japan futsal team in a 3–3 draw against Brazil. He came off the bench and was involved in the build up for the second goal scored by Nobuya Osodo. In his second appearance with the futsal team, he scored the third goal in a 3–1 win over Ukraine. In the 2012 Futsal World Cup, Miura appeared in all four matches for Japan, but failed to score as the Japanese were knocked out by Ukraine in the round of 16.


title: Kazuyoshi Miura

text: Since 1993, he has been married to former actress and model Risako Shitara. They have two children, Ryota Miura (born 1997) and Kota Miura.


title: Frank Capra

text: Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, his rags-to-riches story has led film historians such as Ian Freer to consider him the "American Dream personified".


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra became one of America's most influential directors during the 1930s, winning three Academy Awards for Best Director from six nominations, along with three other Oscar wins from nine nominations in other categories. Among his leading films were "It Happened One Night" (1934), "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), "You Can't Take It with You" (1938), and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939). During World War II, Capra served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and produced propaganda films, such as the "Why We Fight" series.


title: Frank Capra

text: After World War II, Capra's career declined as his later films, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), performed poorly when they were first released. In ensuing decades, however, "It's a Wonderful Life" and other Capra films were revisited favorably by critics. Outside of directing, Capra was active in the film industry, engaging in various political and social activities. He served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, worked alongside the Writers Guild of America, and was head of the Directors Guild of America.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra was born Francesco Rosario Capra in Bisacquino, a village near Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He was the youngest of seven children of Salvatore Capra, a fruit grower, and the former Rosaria "Serah" Nicolosi. Capra's family was Roman Catholic. The name "Capra", notes Capra's biographer Joseph McBride, represents his family's closeness to the land, and means "goat". He notes that the English word "capricious" derives from it, "evoking the animal's skittish temperament", adding that "the name neatly expresses two aspects of Frank Capra's personality: emotionalism and obstinacy."


title: Frank Capra

text: In 1903, when he was five, Capra's family emigrated to the United States, traveling in a steerage compartment of the steamship "Germania"—the least expensive way to make the passage. For Capra, the 13-day journey remained one of the worst experiences of his life:


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra remembers the ship's arrival in New York Harbor, where he saw "a statue of a great lady, taller than a church steeple, holding a torch above the land we were about to enter". He recalls his father's exclamation at the sight:


title: Frank Capra

text: The family settled in Los Angeles's East Side (today Lincoln Heights) on avenue 18, which Capra described in his autobiography as an Italian "ghetto". Capra's father worked as a fruit picker and young Capra sold newspapers after school for 10 years, until he graduated from high school. Instead of working after graduating, as his parents wanted, he enrolled in college. He worked through college at the California Institute of Technology, playing banjo at nightclubs and taking odd jobs like working at the campus laundry facility, waiting tables, and cleaning engines at a local power plant. He studied chemical engineering and graduated in the spring of 1918. Capra later wrote that his college education had "changed his whole viewpoint on life from the viewpoint of an alley rat to the viewpoint of a cultured person".


title: Frank Capra

text: Soon after graduating from college, Capra was commissioned in the United States Army as a second lieutenant, having completed campus ROTC. In the Army, he taught mathematics to artillerymen at Fort Point, San Francisco. His father died during the war in an accident (1916). In the Army, Capra contracted Spanish flu and was medically discharged to return home to live with his mother. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1920, taking the name Frank Russell Capra. Living at home with his siblings and mother, Capra was the only family member with a college education, yet he was the only one who remained chronically unemployed. After a year without work, seeing how his siblings had steady jobs, he felt he was a failure, which led to bouts of depression.


title: Frank Capra

text: Chronic abdominal pains were later discovered to have been an undiagnosed burst appendix. After recovering at home, Capra moved out and spent the next few years living in flophouses in San Francisco and hopping freight trains, wandering the Western United States. To support himself, he took odd jobs on farms, as a movie extra, playing poker, and selling local oil well stocks.


title: Frank Capra

text: During this time the 24-year-old Capra directed a 32-minute documentary film titled "La Visita Dell'Incrociatore Italiano Libya a San Francisco". Not only did it document the visit of the Italian naval vessel "Libya" to San Francisco, but also the reception given to the crew of the ship by San Francisco's L'Italia Virtus Club, now known as the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club.


title: Frank Capra

text: At 25, Capra took a job selling books written and published by American philosopher Elbert Hubbard. Capra recalled that he "hated being a peasant, being a scrounging new kid trapped in the Sicilian ghetto of Los Angeles. ... All I had was cockiness—and let me tell you that gets you a long way."


title: Frank Capra

text: During his book sales efforts—and nearly broke—Capra read a newspaper article about a new movie studio opening in San Francisco. Capra phoned them saying he had moved from Hollywood, and falsely implied that he had experience in the budding film industry. Capra's only prior exposure in films was in 1915 while attending Manual Arts High School. The studio's founder, Walter Montague, was nonetheless impressed by Capra and offered him $75 to direct a one-reel silent film. Capra, with the help of a cameraman, made the film in two days and cast it with amateurs.


title: Frank Capra

text: After that first serious job in films, Capra began efforts to finding similar openings in the film industry. He took a position with another minor San Francisco studio and subsequently received an offer to work with producer Harry Cohn at his new studio in Los Angeles. During this time, he worked as a property man, film cutter, title writer, and assistant director.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra later became a gag writer for Hal Roach's "Our Gang" series. He was twice hired as a writer for a slapstick comedy director, Mack Sennett, in 1918 and 1924. Under him, Capra wrote scripts for comedian Harry Langdon and produced by Mack Sennett, the first being "Plain Clothes" in 1925. According to Capra, it was he who invented Langdon's character, the innocent fool living in a "naughty world"; however, Langdon was well into this character by 1925.


title: Frank Capra

text: When Langdon eventually left Sennett to make longer, feature-length movies with First National Studios, he took Capra along as his personal writer and director. They made three feature films together during 1926 and 1927, all of them successful with critics and the public. The films made Langdon a recognized comedian in the caliber of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Capra and Langdon later had a falling out, and Capra was fired. During the following years, Langdon's films went into decline without Capra's assistance. After splitting with Langdon, Capra directed a picture for First National, "For the Love of Mike" (1927). This was a silent comedy about three bickering godfathers—a German, a Jew, and an Irishman—starring a budding actress, Claudette Colbert. The movie was considered a failure and is a lost film.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra returned to Harry Cohn's studio, now named Columbia Pictures, which was then producing short films and two-reel comedies for "fillers" to play between main features. Columbia was one of many start-up studios on "Poverty Row" in Los Angeles. Like the others, Columbia was unable to compete with larger studios, which often had their own production facilities, distribution, and theaters. Cohn rehired Capra in 1928 to help his studio produce new, full-length feature films, to compete with the major studios. Capra would eventually direct 20 films for Cohn's studio, including all of his classics.


title: Frank Capra

text: Because of Capra's engineering education, he adapted more easily to the new sound technology than most directors. He welcomed the transition to sound, recalling, "I wasn't at home in silent films." Most studios were unwilling to invest in the new sound technology, assuming it was a passing fad. Many in Hollywood considered sound a threat to the industry and hoped it would pass quickly; McBride notes that "Capra was not one of them." When he saw Al Jolson singing in "The Jazz Singer" in 1927, considered the first talkie, Capra recalled his reaction:


title: Frank Capra

text: Few of the studio heads or crew were aware of Capra's engineering background until he began directing "The Younger Generation" in 1929. The chief cinematographer who worked with Capra on a number of films was likewise unaware. He describes this early period in sound for film:


title: Frank Capra

text: During his first year with Columbia, Capra directed nine films, some of which were successful. After the first few, Harry Cohn said: "it was the beginning of Columbia making a better quality of pictures." According to Barson, "Capra became ensconced as Harry Cohn's most trusted director." His films soon established Capra as a "bankable" director known throughout the industry, and Cohn raised Capra's initial salary of $1,000 per film to $25,000 per year. Capra directed a film for MGM during this period, but soon realized he "had much more freedom under Harry Cohn's benevolent dictatorship", where Cohn also put Capra's "name above the title" of his films, a first for the movie industry. Capra wrote of this period and recalled the confidence that Cohn placed in Capra's vision and directing:


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra directed his first "real" sound picture, "The Younger Generation", in 1929. It was a rags-to-riches romantic comedy about a Jewish family's upward mobility in New York City, with their son later trying to deny his Jewish roots to keep his rich, gentile girlfriend. According to Capra biographer Joseph McBride, Capra "obviously felt a strong identification with the story of a Jewish immigrant who grows up in the ghetto of New York ... and feels he has to deny his ethnic origins to rise to success in America." Capra, however, denied any connection of the story with his own life.


title: Frank Capra

text: Nonetheless, McBride insists that "The Younger Generation" abounds with parallels to Capra's own life. McBride notes the "devastatingly painful climactic scene", where the young social-climbing son, embarrassed when his wealthy new friends first meet his parents, passes his mother and father off as house servants. That scene, notes McBride, "echoes the shame Capra admitted feeling toward his own family as he rose in social status".


title: Frank Capra

text: During his years at Columbia, Capra worked often with screenwriter Robert Riskin (husband of Fay Wray), and cameraman Joseph Walker. In many of Capra's films, the wise-cracking and sharp dialogue was often written by Riskin, and he and Capra went on to become Hollywood's "most admired writer-director team".


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra's films in the 1930s enjoyed immense success at the Academy Awards. "It Happened One Night" (1934) became the first film to win all five top Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay). Written by Robert Riskin, it is one of the first screwball comedies, and with its release in the Great Depression, critics considered it an escapist story and a celebration of the American Dream. The film established the names of Capra, Columbia Pictures, and stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in the movie industry. The film has been called "picaresque". It was one of the earliest road movies and inspired variations on that theme by other filmmakers.


title: Frank Capra

text: He followed the film with "Broadway Bill" (1934), a screwball comedy about horse racing. The film was a turning point for Capra, however, as he began to conceive an additional dimension to his movies. He started using his films to convey messages to the public. Capra explains his new thinking:


title: Frank Capra

text: This added goal was inspired after meeting with a Christian Scientist friend who told him to view his talents in a different way:


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra began to embody messages in subsequent films, many of which conveyed "fantasies of goodwill". The first of those was "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), for which Capra won his second Best Director Oscar. Critic Alistair Cooke observed that Capra was "starting to make movies about themes instead of people".


title: Frank Capra

text: In 1938, Capra won his third Director Oscar in five years for "You Can't Take It with You", which also won Best Picture. In addition to his three directing wins, Capra received directing nominations for three other films ("Lady for a Day", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", and "It's a Wonderful Life"). On May 5, 1936, Capra hosted the 8th Academy Awards ceremony.


title: Frank Capra

text: Although "It's a Wonderful Life" is his best-known film, Friedman notes that it was "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), which most represented the "Capra myth". That film expressed Capra's patriotism more than any others, and "presented the individual working within the democratic system to overcome rampant political corruption".


title: Frank Capra

text: The film, however, became Capra's most controversial. In his research before filming, he was able to stand close to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during a press conference after the recent acts of war by Germany in Europe. Capra recalls his fears:


title: Frank Capra

text: When the filming was completed, the studio sent preview copies to Washington. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., U.S. ambassador to the UK, wrote to Columbia head Harry Cohn, "Please do not play this picture in Europe." Politicians were concerned about the potential negative effect the film might have on the morale of the United States' allies, as World War II had begun. Kennedy wrote to President Roosevelt that, "In foreign countries this film must inevitably strengthen the mistaken impression that the United States is full of graft, corruption and lawlessness." Many studio heads agreed, nor did they want negative feelings about Hollywood instilled in political leaders.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra pleaded with Cohn to allow the film to go into distribution and remembers the intensity of their decision making:


title: Frank Capra

text: Cohn and Capra chose to ignore the negative publicity and demands and released the film as planned. It was later nominated for 11 Academy Awards, only winning one (for Best Original Story) partly because the number of major pictures that were nominated that year was 10, including "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind". Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons called it a "smash patriotic hit" and most critics agreed, seeing that audiences left the theaters with "an enthusiasm for democracy" and "in a glow of patriotism".


title: Frank Capra

text: The significance of the film's message was established further in France, shortly after World War II began. When the French public was asked to select which film they wanted to see most, having been told by the Vichy government that soon no more American films would be allowed in France, the overwhelming majority chose it over all others. To a France soon to be invaded and occupied by Nazi forces, the film most expressed the "perseverance of democracy and the American way".


title: Frank Capra

text: In 1941 Capra directed "Meet John Doe" (1941), which some consider Capra's most controversial movie. The film's hero, played by Gary Cooper, is a former baseball player now bumming around, lacking goals. He is selected by a news reporter to represent the "common man," to capture the imagination of ordinary Americans. The film was released shortly before America became involved in World War II, and citizens were still in an isolationist mood. According to some historians, the film was made to convey a "deliberate reaffirmation of American values," though ones that seemed uncertain with respect to the future.


title: Frank Capra

text: Film author Richard Glazer speculates that the film may have been autobiographical, "reflecting Capra's own uncertainties". Glazer describes how, "John's accidental transformation from drifter to national figure parallels Capra's own early drifting experience and subsequent involvement in movie making ... "Meet John Doe", then, was an attempt to work out his own fears and questions."


title: Frank Capra

text: Within four days after the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Capra quit his successful directing career in Hollywood and received a commission as a major in the United States Army. He also gave up his presidency of the Screen Directors Guild. Being 44 years of age, he was not asked to enlist, but, notes Friedman, "Capra had an intense desire to prove his patriotism to his adopted land."


title: Frank Capra

text: During the next four years of World War II, Capra's job was to head a special section on morale to explain to soldiers "why the hell they're in uniform", writes Capra, and were not "propaganda" films like those created by the Nazis and Japan. Capra directed or co-directed seven documentary war information films.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra was assigned to work directly under Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, the most senior officer in command of the Army, who later created the Marshall Plan and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Marshall chose to bypass the usual documentary film-making department, Signal Corps, because he felt they were not capable of producing "sensitive and objective troop information films". One colonel explained the importance of these future films to Capra:


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra ended up directing a seven-episode "Why We Fight" series: "Prelude to War" (1942), "The Nazis Strike" (1942), "Divide and Conquer" (1943), "The Battle of Britain" (1943), "The Battle of Russia" (1943), "The Battle of China" (1944), and "War Comes to America" (1945). Additionally, Capra directed or co-directed the propaganda films "Tunisian Victory" (1945) "" (1945), "Here Is Germany" (1945), and "Two Down and One to Go" (1945), which do not bear the "Why We Fight" banner. Capra also produced the critically-acclaimed "The Negro Soldier" (1944), which was directed by Stuart Heisler. Capra also directed, uncredited, the 13-minute film "Your Job in Germany" (1945), which was meant for US troops headed to Allied-occupied Germany.


title: Frank Capra

text: After he completed the first few documentaries, government officials and U.S. Army staff felt they were powerful messages and excellent presentations of why it was necessary for the United States to fight in the war. All footage came from military and government sources, whereas during earlier years, many newsreels secretly used footage from enemy sources. Animated charts were created by Walt Disney and his animators. A number of Hollywood composers wrote the background music, including Alfred Newman and Russian-born composer Dimitri Tiomkin. After the first complete film was viewed by General Marshall along with U.S. Army staff—and Franklin Roosevelt—Marshall approached Capra: "Colonel Capra, how did you do it? That is a most wonderful thing."


title: Frank Capra

text: FDR was effusive: "I want every American to see this motion picture. General--please make all necessary arrangements". "Prelude To War" was distributed by 20th Century-Fox, and was nationally acclaimed. Fox also released Capra's "Why We Fight" opus, "The Battle Of Russia". Released to service audiences in two-parts to accommodate hour-long periods during induction training, the nine-reel (nearly 90 minutes) epic detailed Russian history using excerpts of the films of Sergei Eisenstein, then proceeded to recent history through captured Nazi newsreels and those supplied reluctantly by Stalin. When he was shown the film in Moscow, Stalin was effusive and ordered one thousand 35mm prints. He was so anxious that his people should see the film that he did not bother creating a Russian soundtrack. Capra laughed in amazement years later when re-counting the tale: "Stalin had interpreters at the side of the stage in all the theatres. They simply translated the film on the fly, yelling like hell to be heard over the music and sound effects". The series was seen in theaters throughout the U.S. They were also translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese for screening in other countries, under the aegis of Robert Riskin. Winston Churchill ordered that all of them be shown to the British public in theaters.


title: Frank Capra

text: Following a shifting of alliances at the end of World War II, some of the "Why We Fight" films were effectively banned. "The Battle Of Russia", due to its positivity toward the Soviet Union, was essentially banned until the 1980s. Conversely, some of the other films, which spoke negatively of the Germans and Japanese, were taken out of print, as these countries were now allies. "Know Your Enemy: Japan", which barely saw a release because its release date came just days before the Japanese surrender, was kept under wraps afterwards as well: Capra noted that the U.S. "suddenly needed friendly relations with the Japs and the film, along with several others, was locked up".


title: Frank Capra

text: The "Why We Fight" series is widely considered a masterpiece of war information documentaries. "Prelude to War", the first in the series, won the 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. When his career ended, Capra regarded these films as his most important works. He was discharged from the service in 1945 as a colonel, having been awarded the Legion of Merit in 1943, the Distinguished Service Medal in 1945, the World War I Victory Medal (for his service in World War I), the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.


title: Frank Capra

text: After the war ended, along with directors William Wyler and George Stevens, Capra founded Liberty Films. Their studio became the first independent company of directors since United Artists in 1919 whose goal was to make films without interference by studio bosses. However, the only pictures completed by the studio were "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) and "State of the Union" (1948). The first of these was a box office disappointment but was nominated for five Academy Awards.


title: Frank Capra

text: While the film did not resonate with audiences in 1946, its popularity has grown through the years, partly due to frequent airings during those years it was commonly known to be in the public domain. Through legal manipulation, Paramount, successor-in-interest to NTA/Republic, made a false claim of having "retrieved" the film's copyright from the public domain. (Under American law, no work that ever enters the Public Domain may ever have its copyright restored.) But none of the literally dozens of tape purveyors selling public domain copies of the film was willing to spend the money required to bring a challenge in court, when the upshot of their victory would be that everyone in the business—not just them—could exploit the film in the public domain. The only challenge to date, by the children and families of the actors who played the Bailey Children in the film, was settled out of court. The claims made as to song copyrights in the soundtrack protecting the film have become moot, with "California, Here I Come" lapsing into the public domain. The copyright status of Frank Capra's greatest film remains in question—and in flux. In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) named it one of the best films ever made, putting it at 11th on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list of the top American films of all time. In 2006, the AFI put the film at the top of its AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers list, ranking what AFI considers the most inspirational American movies of all time. It would become Capra's last film to win major acclaim—his successful years were now behind him, although he directed five more films over the next 14 years.


title: Frank Capra

text: For "State of the Union" (1948), Capra changed studios. It would be the only time he ever worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although the project had an excellent pedigree with stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film was not a success, and Capra's statement, "I think "State of the Union" was my most perfect film in handling people and ideas" has few adherents today.


title: Frank Capra

text: In January 1952, the U.S. Ambassador to India asked Capra to represent the U.S. film industry at an International Film Festival to be held in India. A State Department friend of Capra asked him and explained why his trip would be important:


title: Frank Capra

text: After two weeks in India, Capra discovered that Bowles' fears were warranted, as many film sessions were used by Russian and Chinese representatives to give long political speeches. At a lunch with 15 Indian directors and producers, he stressed that "they must preserve freedom as artists, and that any government control would hinder that freedom. A totalitarian system—and they would become nothing but publicity men for the party in power." Capra had a difficult time communicating this, however, as he noted in his diary:


title: Frank Capra

text: When he returned to Washington to give his report, Secretary of State Dean Acheson gave Capra his commendation for "virtually single-handedly forestalling a possible Communist take-over of Indian films". Ambassador Bowles also conveyed gratitude to Capra for "one helluva job".


title: Frank Capra

text: Following "It's a Wonderful Life" and "State of the Union," which were done soon after the war ended, Capra's themes were becoming out of step with changes in the film industry and the public mood. Friedman finds that while Capra's ideas were popular with depression-era and prewar audiences, they became less relevant to a prospering post-war America. Capra had become "disconnected from an American culture that had changed" during the previous decade. Biographer Joseph McBride argues that Capra's disillusionment was more related to the negative effect that the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) had on the film industry in general. The HUAC interrogations in the early 1950s ended many Hollywood careers. Capra himself was not called to testify, although he was a prime target of the committee due to his past associations with many Hollywood blacklisted screenwriters.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra blamed his early retirement from films on the rising power of stars, which forced him to continually compromise his artistic vision. He also claimed that increasing budgetary and scheduling demands had constrained his creative abilities. Film historian Michael Medved agreed with Capra, noting that he walked away from the movie business because "he refused to adjust to the cynicism of the new order." In his autobiography, written in 1971, Capra expressed his feelings about the shifting film industry:


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra added that in his opinion, "practically all the Hollywood film-making of today is stooping to cheap salacious pornography in a crazy bastardization of a great art to compete for the 'patronage' of deviates and masturbators."


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra remained employable in Hollywood during and after the HUAC hearings but chose nonetheless to demonstrate his loyalty by attempting to re-enlist in the Army at the outbreak of the Korean War, in 1950. He was rejected due to his age. He was later invited to join the Defense Department's newly formed Think Tank project, VISTA, but was denied the necessary clearance. According to Friedman, "these two rejections were devastating to the man who had made a career of demonstrating American ideals in film", along with his directing award-winning documentary films for the Army.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra directed two films at Paramount Pictures starring Bing Crosby, "Riding High" (1950) and "Here Comes the Groom" (1951). By 1952, at the age of 55, Capra effectively retired from Hollywood filmmaking; he shifted to working with the California Institute of Technology, his alma mater, to produce educational films on science topics.


title: Frank Capra

text: From 1952 to 1956, Capra produced four science-related television specials in color for The Bell System Science Series: "Our Mr. Sun" (1956), "Hemo the Magnificent" (1957), "The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays" (1957), and "Meteora: The Unchained Goddess" (1958). These educational science documentaries were popular favorites for school science classrooms for around 30 years. It was eight years before he directed another theatrical film, "A Hole in the Head" (1959) with Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson, his first feature film in color. His final theatrical film was with Glenn Ford and Bette Davis, named "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961), a remake of his 1933 film "Lady for a Day". In the mid-1960s he worked on pre-production for an adaptation of Martin Caidin's novel "Marooned," but he felt he could not make the movie on the $3 million budget he was given, and abandoned the project. (A film adaptation was finally made in 1969, directed by John Sturges with an $8 million budget.)


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra's final film, "Rendezvous in Space" (1964), was an industrial film made for the Martin Marietta Company and shown at the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was exhibited at the New York Hall of Science after the Fair ended.


title: Frank Capra

text: Capra's directing style relied on improvisation to a great extent. He was noted for going on the set with no more than the master scenes written. He explained his reasoning:


title: Frank Capra

text: According to some experts, Capra used great, unobtrusive craftsmanship when directing, and felt it was bad directing to distract the audience with fancy technical gimmicks. Film historian and author William S. Pechter described Capra's style as one "of almost classical purity". He adds that his style relied on editing to help his films sustain a "sequence of rhythmic motion". Pechter describes its effect:


title: Frank Capra

text: Film critic John Raeburn discusses an early Capra film, "American Madness" (1932), as an example of how he had mastered the movie medium and expressed a unique style: