Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven, with a screenplay by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, and Gary Goldman. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, and Michael Ironside. Based on the 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, Total Recall tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), a construction worker who receives an implanted memory of a fantastical adventure on Mars. He subsequently finds his adventure occurring in reality as agents of a shadow organization try to prevent him from recovering memories of his past as a Martian secret agent aiming to stop the tyrannical regime of Martian dictator Vilos Cohaagen (Cox).

Shusett bought the rights to Dick's short story in 1974 and developed a script with O'Bannon. Although considered promising, the ambitious scope kept the project in development hell at multiple studios over sixteen years, seeing forty script drafts, seven different directors, and multiple actors cast as Quaid. Total Recall eventually entered the early stages of filming in 1987 under the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group shortly before its bankruptcy. Schwarzenegger, who had long held an interest in the project but had been dismissed as inappropriate for the lead role, convinced Carolco Pictures to purchase the rights and develop the film with him as the star. On an estimated $48–80million budget (making it one of the most expensive films made in its time), filming took place on expansive sets at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico over six months. Cast and crew experienced numerous injuries and illnesses during filming.

Total Recall was anticipated to be one of the year's most successful films. On its release, the film earned approximately $261.4million worldwide, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year. Its critical reception was mixed, with reviewers praising its themes of identity and questioning reality, but criticizing content perceived as vulgar and violent. The practical special effects were well received, earning the film an Academy Award, and the score by Jerry Goldsmith has been praised as one of his best works.

Since its release, Total Recall has been praised for its ambiguous ending positing whether Quaid's adventures are real or a fantasy, and it has also been analyzed for themes of authoritarianism and colonialism. Retrospective reviews have called it one of Schwarzenegger's best films and placed it among the best science fiction films ever made. Alongside comic books and video games, Total Recall has been adapted into the 1999 television series Total Recall 2070. An early attempt at a sequel, based on Dick's The Minority Report, became the 2002 standalone film Minority Report, and a 2012 remake, also titled Total Recall, failed to replicate the success of the original.

Plot
In 2084, Mars is a colonized world under the tyrannical regime of Vilos Cohaagen, who controls the mining of valuable turbinium ore. On Earth, construction worker Douglas Quaid experiences recurring dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman. Intrigued, he visits Rekall, a company that implants realistic false memories, and chooses one set on Mars (with a blue sky) where he is a Martian secret agent. However, before the implant is completed Quaid lashes out, already thinking he is a secret agent. Believing Cohaagen's "Agency" has suppressed Quaid's memories, the Rekall employees erase evidence of Quaid's visit and send him home.

En route, Quaid is attacked by men led by his colleague Harry because Quaid unknowingly revealed his past; Quaid's instincts take over and he kills his assailants. At home, he is assaulted by his wife Lori who claims she was assigned to monitor Quaid by the Agency and their marriage is a false memory implant. He flees but is pursued by armed men led by Richter, Cohaagen's operative and Lori's real husband. A man who claims to be Quaid's former acquaintance gifts him a suitcase containing supplies and a video recording in which Quaid identifies himself as Hauser, a Cohaagen ally who defected after falling in love. According to the recording, Cohaagen brainwashed Hauser to become Quaid and conceal his secrets before securing him on Earth. Hauser instructs Quaid to return to Mars and stop Cohaagen.

On Mars, Quaid evades Richter and, following a note from Hauser, travels to Venusville, a district populated by humans and those mutated by air pollution and radiation. He meets Melina, the woman from his dreams, who knows him as Hauser and believes he is still working for Cohaagen. In his hotel room, Quaid is confronted by Lori and Dr. Edgemar from Rekall, who explains that Quaid is still at Rekall on Earth, trapped in his fantasy memory. Quaid notices Edgemar is sweating and, believing he is real, kills him. Quaid is captured by Richter's men, but Melina rescues him and Quaid kills Lori. The pair escape with taxi driver Benny to Venusville.

The mutants lead them to a hidden rebel base, where Quaid meets their leader Kuato, a mutant growing out of the abdomen of his brother George. Kuato psychically reads Quaid's mind, learning that Cohaagen is hiding a 500,000-year-old alien reactor built into a mountain that, once activated, produces breathable air but could also destroy all turbinium, ending Cohaagen's monopoly over both resources. Benny shoots George, revealing himself to be in Cohaagen's employ, and Cohaagen's forces attack the base, killing the rebels. Kuato implores Quaid to start the reactor before Richter executes him. Cohaagen disables Venusville's air supply to slowly suffocate the remaining inhabitants.

Quaid and Melina are brought to Cohaagen, who explains that Hauser was his close friend who volunteered to become Quaid as an elaborate ruse to bypass the mutants' psychic abilities, infiltrate the rebellion, and destroy it. Quaid's Rekall visit had activated him earlier than planned and Cohaagen has been helping him to survive the oblivious Richter's pursuit. Cohaagen orders Hauser's memories to be restored in Quaid and Melina to be reprogrammed as his subservient lover, but they manage to escape to the mines below the reactor. Benny, Richter, and his men attack them, but the pair outwits and kills them all.

Cohaagen awaits them in the reactor control room, claiming that activating it will destroy the planet. He sets off an explosive but Quaid throws it down a tunnel, creating a breach to the Martian surface. The explosive decompression blows Cohaagen out to the surface where he suffocates and dies. Quaid activates the reactor before he and Melina are also blown out. The reactor melts the planet's ice core into gas that bursts to the surface, forming a breathable atmosphere and saving Quaid, Melina, and the rest of Mars's population. As everyone beholds the now-blue sky, Quaid momentarily wonders if everything was a dream, before he and Melina kiss.

Cast

 Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid / Carl Hauser: An Earth-based construction worker with a hidden past
 Rachel Ticotin as Melina: A Martian freedom fighter
 Sharon Stone as Lori: Quaid's wife revealed to be a secret agent
 Ronny Cox as Vilos Cohaagen: The governor of the Martian colony
 Michael Ironside as Richter: Cohaagen's ruthless enforcer
 Marshall Bell as George / Kuato (voice): The mutant leader of the Martian resistance
 Michael Champion as Helm: Richter's right-hand man
 Mel Johnson Jr. as Benny: A Martian taxi driver
 Roy Brocksmith as Dr. Edgemar: A Rekall employee
 Rosemary Dunsmore as Dr. Renata Lull: A Rekall programmer

The Earth-based cast features Ray Baker as Rekall salesman Bob McClane, Robert Costanzo as Harry, and Alexia Robinson as Tiffany. Robert Picardo provides the voice and visual likeness of Johnnycab, an automated taxi driver.

The Martian cast includes Lycia Naff as Mary, a mutant three-breasted prostitute, Marc Alaimo as Everett, Dean Norris as Tony, Debbie Lee Carrington as Thumbelina, Sasha Rionda as Mutant Child, Mickey Jones as Burly Miner, and Priscilla Allen as "fat lady".

Production

Early development
The development of Total Recall began in 1974, when producer Ronald Shusett purchased the adaptation rights to science fiction writer Philip K. Dick's 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" for $1,000. Shusett had read the 23-page story by the then-little-known pulp fiction writer in an April 1966 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Dick's story depicts a meek clerk on Earth named Quail who visits Rekal Incorporated to receive a memory implant of being a secret agent on Mars. However, the process uncovers his true identity as a secret agent who previously visited Mars and whose death will bring about an alien invasion.

Renaming it Total Recall, Shusett worked with Dan O'Bannon to write the script. O'Bannon exhausted the existing material quickly, and the short story's abrupt ending meant he could only write thirty pages, effectively only the first act, and an original second and third act were needed; he suggested sending Quaid to Mars. Shusett and O'Bannon disagreed over the third act, the former wanting something more dramatic. O'Bannon's ending revealed the handprint on the alien machine as Quaid's, who is a replica of the original, and placing his hand on it grants him total memory recall. O'Bannon described the filmed ending as "lame". Dick read the script prior to his death in 1982 and, according to O'Bannon, enjoyed it. Although studios deemed Shusett and O'Bannon's script an ambitious and brilliant idea, it was essentially considered unfilmable, in part because of the extensive special effects and high budget that would be required.

The pair moved on to collaborating on the script for the science fiction horror film Alien (1979), the success of which earned Shusett a development deal at Walt Disney Studios. He pursued the Total Recall project at the studio, initially budgeted at $20million, but the idea did not progress because issues with the third act could not be resolved. The project was sold to Dino De Laurentiis's De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) in 1982.

Development under De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

De Laurentiis considered Richard Rush, Lewis Teague, Russell Mulcahy, and Fred Schepisi to direct the film, before choosing David Cronenberg in 1984. Cronenberg was unfamiliar with Dick's work but was interested in the script. Even so, problems remained with the third act and Cronenberg spent the next year writing twelve separate drafts. In his finished script, Quaid's true identity is Chairman Mandrell, the dictator of Earth who, following a failed assassination attempt on his life, is convinced by Mars Administrator Cohaagen to confront the organization that suppressed his memory. Cohaagen later reveals that Quaid is an inconsequential government worker chosen to play the role of Mandrell to facilitate Cohaagen usurping control of the Earth. Quaid defeats Cohaagen and assumes the identity of Mandrell. Cronenberg was responsible for the mutant characters, including Kuato (originally called Quato), and further developed an idea by Shusett about mutant animals, known as Ganzibulls, in the Martian sewers; Cronenberg made them mutant camels.

Cronenberg found himself at odds with Shusett regarding the tone, as Shusett and De Laurentiis did not want it to be as serious as the science fiction film Blade Runner (1982)—an adaptation of Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968). Shusett described Cronenberg's work as bringing the film back to Dick's original short story, whereas they wanted an adventure closer to "Raiders of the Lost Ark go to Mars". Cronenberg did not want to make that film and chose to quit. He was also frustrated by his disagreements with Shusett and De Laurentiis, and the casting of Richard Dreyfuss in the lead role. Dreyfuss had requested further rewrites to have Quaid reflect the everyman persona he had established in his previous films, rather than the action-focus of the Shusett/O'Bannon story. Cronenberg had wanted to cast William Hurt as the lead instead and focus more on the concepts of memory and identity. Christopher Reeve and Jeff Bridges were also considered for Quaid. De Laurentiis threatened to sue Cronenberg for quitting but was placated by Cronenberg agreeing to work with him on a different film. A few years later, De Laurentiis offered Cronenberg the opportunity to make Total Recall as he had wanted, but Cronenberg was not interested and did not want to argue with Shusett again.

De Laurentiis sought to keep the budget low following the financial failure of Dune (1984), and wanted to reduce costs by eliminating Mars entirely, but Shusett and O'Bannon dissented. Problems with finalizing the script and the high budget continued to stall Total Recall for the next few years. In 1987, De Laurentiis again considered hiring Rush as director, but De Laurentiis disliked the finale featuring a breathable atmosphere on Mars while Rush supported the idea. De Laurentiis accepted he was wrong after hiring director Bruce Beresford, who also supported the ending. Around this time, writer Gary Goldman was offered an opportunity to refine the script, but he turned it down to focus on his own project, called Warrior, that he was working on alongside director Paul Verhoeven at Warner Bros. Pictures. Beresford began preparations for a version of Total Recall described by Shusett as less gritty and more "Spielbergian" in tone, and Patrick Swayze was cast as Quaid. Set construction was underway in Australia when DEG filed for bankruptcy in 1988. Approximately 80 crew were fired and the sets had to be destroyed. By this point, the project had already accrued $8million in pre-production costs, and $6million in turnaround costs—a process allowing other studios to purchase the idea.

Development under Carolco Pictures

Arnold Schwarzenegger became aware of Total Recall in the mid-1980s, either during filming of Commando (1985) or Raw Deal (1986). He liked the script and agreed to pursue it alongside producer Joel Silver while filming Predator (1987), but the project remained unrealized due to its prohibitive budget and because De Laurentiis did not think Schwarzenegger was right for the lead role. Following DEG's bankruptcy, Schwarzenegger convinced Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar, co-owners of the independent film studio Carolco Pictures, with whom he had made Red Heat (1988), to purchase the rights for $3million, including pre-production costs. Schwarzenegger wanted to star in the film, pending rewrites to his satisfaction, and his fame and international appeal justified the studio investing the necessary budget. Carolco completed its acquisition of the majority of DEG's business and assets in April 1989. Schwarzenegger was given substantial influence over the project: he retained Shusett as a screenwriter and co-producer alongside producer Buzz Feitshans, and oversaw script revisions, casting decisions, and set construction. He described himself as effectively an executive producer without the responsibility, but he involved himself heavily because he wanted the project to work. He received a $10–$11million salary, plus 15% of the film's profits.

Schwarzenegger hired Verhoeven as the director after being impressed by his science fiction film RoboCop (1987), for which Schwarzenegger had been considered in the lead role. Verhoeven had previously been courted by Shusett to direct the film based on his work on Soldier of Orange (1977), but declined then because he did not like science fiction. Even so, Verhoeven accepted Schwarzenegger's offer after reading the Mars hotel scene where Dr. Edgemar attempts to convince Quaid he is still on Earth. Verhoeven had wanted to avoid special effects-heavy films after RoboCop and said that he did not realize how much effects work would be involved. He requested Goldman be brought in to help with rewrites, as well as some core personnel from RoboCop, including cinematographer Jost Vacano, production designer William Sandell, and special effects artist Rob Bottin. By this point, approximately thirty drafts had been completed, credited to a combination of Shusett and either O'Bannon, Jon Povill, or Steven Pressfield, among others. Verhoeven read each one and highlighted those he wanted Goldman to reference.

Writing
Goldman had little knowledge of Dick's work but tried to respect the source material and work of previous screenwriters. He considered the second half of the film a concession to traditional Hollywood narratives and so retained most of the structure from Beresford's shooting script. Because the creative team wanted to commence soon, Goldman believed he did not have the freedom to make substantial changes to the script and focused on refining the existing content and making the scientific aspects more realistic. Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger agreed that everything after Dr. Edgemar's visit to Quaid on Mars was not working. Verhoeven wanted a significant change, to indicate that Edgemar could be telling the truth and Quaid is actually having a mental breakdown on Earth. Goldman rewrote the script to make it possible for the film to be viewed as both reality and fantasy. He also made Hauser an ally to Cohaagen, clearly defining Quaid and Hauser as separate identities. Goldman believed that making Hauser evil would better justify Quaid not returning to his original personality. It would also explain why Hauser becomes Quaid: to conceal his intentions from the psychic mutants. Goldman made the Benny character a villain, because he believed African Americans were typically typecast as good characters and the reveal would be surprising.

The script also had to be revised to match Schwarzenegger's action-hero public image, although Goldman tried to make it less comical than some of the actor's previous films. The meek clerk Quail was renamed Quaid, to avoid referencing then-vice president Dan Quayle, and became a muscle-bound construction worker, while fight scenes were rewritten to include more feats of strength and less martial arts or running. Second unit director and stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong, among other stunt people who had worked with Schwarzenegger on Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Red Sonja (1985), said that they knew what he could physically do without looking silly. Schwarzenegger also wanted more creative methods to dispatch Quaid's foes because he had been criticized for an over-reliance on guns to kill people in films like Commando. After Goldman's first rewrite, he discussed it with Verhoeven, Schwarzenegger, Shusett, Vajna, and Kassar. Schwarzenegger and Shusett believed the climax lacked emotion, which was an intentional choice by Verhoeven, who did not take the Martian rebel plot very seriously and prioritized the intellectual aspects of the narrative. To appease Schwarzenegger, Goldman conceived of Cohaagen shutting off the oxygen to the mutants in Venusville. After nearly sixteen years in development, seven directors, four co-writers, and forty script drafts, Total Recall went into production.

Cast and characters

Verhoeven chose Michael Ironside to portray Cohaagen's henchman Richter. Ironside had previously auditioned for the lead in RoboCop and Verhoeven had also offered him the role of antagonist Clarence Boddicker, which he turned down because he did not want to portray another "psychopath" character following his role in Extreme Prejudice (1987). Ironside said he considered Richter more of a "sociopath", who had personal ambitions and covets Cohaagen's position. Turning down a role on RoboCop and a separate film had created the impression that Ironside was difficult to work with, so he had to complete an audition before being offered the role. In it, he portrayed someone having an emotional breakdown leading to him lying on the floor crying as Verhoeven moved in for a closeup shot. Schwarzenegger believed Ironside's physical presence made him a credible threat to his portrayal of Quaid.

The female leads, Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone, were chosen in part for their athleticism, which was needed for the physically demanding roles. Stone said that her physically formidable character resulted in the cast and crew treating her like she was "one of the guys", and that Ironside "was the one guy who never forgot I was a woman. When I was thrown down, he would help me up." Verhoeven's daughters were responsible for casting Benny, picking Mel Johnson Jr.'s screen test for the available options. He recounted having just finished filming a "horrible" black exploitation film when he read the Total Recall script and, after seeing Benny described as a "black jivester", he threw the script across the room. Nonetheless, he eventually read it through and decided to audition because he believed the character was more fully realized, saying "this guy is cold and calculating and the story was intriguing."

Cox had previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop and traded on the actor's history of playing good-natured characters to make his villainous turn more impactful. Describing his portrayal, Cox said that he did not employ method acting but did try to understand how the character would feel and think and how he would react to situations and that would determine his performance. The character's hairstyle came about after Cox's hair was slicked-back in order to make a face mold for special effects purposes. Cox knew it was the right look and convinced Verhoeven to reshoot two days of Cox's scenes with the new style. When Marshall Bell auditioned for the role, the script did not explain the relationship between George and Kuato, and he was confused as to why George had so few lines. Although voice actors were considered for Kuato, Verhoeven decided to use Bell. Verhoeven based the appearance and physicality of Brocksmith's Dr. Edgemar on the central scientist character portrayed by Paul Newman in Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 thriller Torn Curtain. He wanted an actor who looked "naive and strange and a bit weird."

Filming and post-production

Principal photography for Total Recall began filming between April-May 1989. Filmed almost entirely in sequence—a rare feat—the production took place over 20 weeks. The initial budget was reported as $30million, but the final budget was reported as being between $48million and $80million. Total Recall was filmed almost entirely on sets at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City, Mexico, where 43 cast and up to 500 crew members worked across forty-five sets on ten soundstages. The Earth train station was filmed in the Mexico City Metro and many exterior Mars scenes took place at the Valley of Fire State Park in Overton, Nevada.

Shusett and Goldman were present on set, providing additional rewrites where necessary; Goldman estimated the script was changed "less than one percent". Verhoeven sometimes required up to twenty takes of scenes, but remained faithful to the script and discouraged improvisation. Even so, some scenes, such as Benny's death, lacked sufficient detail and in these cases dialogue was mostly improvised. Although Verhoeven had been adamant that he did not want a second unit director—having fired three of them on RoboCop—Armstrong ended up filming 1,200 different setups and all of the fight scenes; Verhoeven was happy with his work. Armstrong's first scene was filming Schwarzenegger drilling cement.

Filming was beset by injuries and illness. Almost everyone involved suffered from dust inhalation on set. Food poisoning and gastroenteritis from the local Mexican cuisine was also a problem, except for Shusett and Schwarzenegger, who had his food brought from the United States after a negative experience while filming Predator in Mexico. The illness compounded the difficulties Lycia Naff had filming her scenes as the three-breasted prostitute. She said she felt like crying because even though the breasts were artificial, she felt exposed in front of the cast and crew. Schwarzenegger cut his wrist while smashing a train window after an explosive designed to pre-detonate the glass failed. His injuries were patched up and concealed by his jacket. He also incurred other minor cuts and broken fingers.

Ironside cracked his sternum and separated two ribs after running into Michael Champion, who was holding an Uzi during their pursuit of Quaid and Melina in a Martian hotel. Filming had to be paused while he recovered, as Richter was involved in most of the remaining scenes. After three weeks, a producer asked that he return to filming but they could not obtain insurance unless Ironside performed fifty push-ups. Despite the doctor's advice, he attempted the feat and reinjured himself; after thirty push-ups, the doctor said it was sufficient. Ironside's first scene upon his return involved him fighting Schwarzenegger on an elevator, but he struggled to lift his arm. The doctor had Oakland Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett drop off a brace built for his own injury, which held Ironside's chest in a stable position, although it made breathing difficult. Ironside filmed his scene over the remainder of the day, only being hit once accidentally by Schwarzenegger, who was cautious due to his condition. A separate fight between Stone and Ticotin was arranged to feature one of the actresses and one stunt person because padding could not be concealed under their outfits. Verhoeven wanted the actresses to perform the fight stunts themselves, but Armstrong insisted on using a stunt person.

Schwarzenegger was known for his pranks on the set, such as arranging styrofoam snowball fights and water pistol battles during dinners as well as booking parties to reward the crew for the six-day working weeks and practical stunts. Even so, Ironside recounted how Schwarzenegger helped him stay in regular contact with his ill sister using the personal phone in his trailer, at a time before widespread use of mobile phones or internet access. Ironside later learned Schwarzenegger was also regularly calling his sister to check on her.

Initially scheduled for release on June 15, Total Recalls post-production schedule was rushed to move the date forward two weeks to avoid competition from other films, particularly Dick Tracy with its cast of popular stars. Editor Frank J. Urioste worked overtime to complete Total Recalls 113-minute cut early. This meant there was no time to test screen the film, which Verhoeven and Goldman believed worked against the finished product, including its third act. The film also had to be trimmed to remove violent content and gore, including a longer version of Benny's death, to avoid an X rating, which would have restricted attendance to audience members over the age of 17. Total Recall ultimately received an R rating, allowing younger people to see it when accompanied by an adult.

Special effects and design

The development of the film's special effects was led by Dream Quest Images, with Eric Brevig serving as visual effects supervisor, Alex Funke as special effects photographer, Thomas L. Fisher as special effects supervisor, William Sandell as production designer, and Mary Siceloff as effects producer. Rob Bottin, who previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop, provided the character visual effects. Concept artist Ron Cobb and illustrator Ron Miller contributed to designs for technology, vehicles, and locations. Additional effects were provided by Metrolight Studios, and Industrial Light & Magic.

Total Recall features over 100 visual effects, including miniatures and bluescreen effects. The film was made at the onset of computer-generated imagery (CGI), which was not a suitable option for photorealistic or textured imagery, and was used mainly in the X-ray machine sequence. Most other effects were practical, employing sophisticated prosthetics and animatronics to realize automated taxi drivers, "fat lady" disguises, mutants, and scenes of explosive decompression. Total Recall features thirty-five sets across eight of Estudios Churubusco's soundstages. The sets were expansive and connected by tunnels so long that they continued outside of the stage, making it possible to drive between them on film.

Expansive locations, including Martian exteriors, were created using miniature sets produced by Stetson Visual Services in Los Angeles, and supervised by Mark Stetson and Robert Spurlock. The sets were large, with the alien reactor being among the largest and most complex sets ever constructed in cinema, and the largest set built for the film. It had to be built vertically to fit on Dream Quest's stage. Even so, it was limited by the  high ceilings. The Martian mountain set was also substantial, measuring  tall and  in diameter, with only the frontside constructed, allowing special effects to be operated from behind.

Music

The score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The producers intended to have him record the score in Munich because the pay for musicians there was lower, but the players were unfamiliar with Goldsmith's style and the resulting score was disappointing. Instead, Goldsmith was given the funding necessary to record the score in London with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, who were more fitting to Goldsmith's musical intentions with brass and string instruments combined with electronics sounds. The recording was put on hiatus for three months so Verhoeven could have time to edit the special effects, during which Goldsmith recorded the score for Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), before returning to finish his work on Total Recall. Goldsmith also performed the commercial jingles and elevator music heard in the film, and composer Bruno Louchouarn provided additional pieces heard on Mars.

Release

Context

Following the previous year's record $5billion box office, more films than ever were expected to surpass $100million at box office as fifty films were scheduled for release during the summer theater season of 1990 (May 18 – September 3). Dick Tracy was predicted to dominate the box office, and films such as Another 48 Hrs., Back to the Future Part III, Days of Thunder, Die Hard 2, RoboCop 2, and Total Recall, were expected to perform well based on their brand recognition and star appeal. These films were all scheduled for release by the end of June to ensure a long theatrical run during the peak time of the year, and other releases were scheduled to avoid opening against them. The importance of domestic box office grosses was also decreasing as studios increasingly earned profits from home media releases, television rights, and markets outside of the United States and Canada. These growing markets were, in turn, increasing film production costs as stars commanded higher salaries to compensate for their international appeal, with Total Recall, Die Hard 2, and Days of Thunder among the most expensive films being released. Average salaries for male leads had also increased to between $7–$11million.

Marketing

The teaser for Total Recall, made by distributor Tri-Star Pictures, disappointed Schwarzenegger and tested poorly with audiences. It lacked the action scenes and special effects, and presented the film in vague, dramatic way. Schwarzenegger believed it "cheapened" the film, saying "it looks like a $20million movie in this trailer... it's like a $50million movie." He contacted Peter Guber, the head of Tri-Star's owner Sony Pictures Studios, who contracted a different company, Cimmaron/Bacon/O'Brien, to produce a new trailer focusing on the action and special effects; it fared much better with audiences and attracted praise from industry professionals, such as Joel Silver.

Box office
In the U.S. and Canada, Total Recall was released on June1, 1990, in 2,060 theaters. It grossed $25.5million—an average of $12,395 per theater—and finished as the number one film of the weekend, ahead of Back to the Future Part III ($10.3million), which was in its second weekend of release, and Bird on a Wire ($6.3million), in its third. This figure gave it the highest opening weekend gross of the year to date, narrowly beating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles $25.4million. This was also the highest opening for an R-rated film, and one of the ten highest-grossing three-day opening weekends ever. The film fell to number two in its second weekend, with an additional gross of $15million (a decline of forty-one percent), behind the debut of Another 48 Hrs. ($19.5million), and to the number three position in its third week with an additional gross of $10.2million, behind Another 48 Hrs. ($10.7million) and the debut of Dick Tracy ($22.5million).

By mid-July, the film had earned over $100million and was classified as a success. During the remainder of its sixteen-weekend theatrical run, Total Recall never regained the number one position, leaving the top-ten highest-grossing films by the end of July. Total Recall earned an approximate total box office gross of $119.4million. This figure made it the second-highest-grossing film of the summer, behind the surprise success of Ghost, and the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year behind The Hunt for Red October ($120.1million), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($135.3million), Pretty Woman ($178.4million), Dances with Wolves ($184.2million), Ghost ($217.6million), and Home Alone ($285.8million).

Figures are unavailable for all theatrical releases outside of the U.S. and Canada, but the film is estimated to have earned a further $142million, giving it a cumulative worldwide gross of $261.4million, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year, behind Dances with Wolves ($424.2million), Pretty Woman ($432.6million), Home Alone ($476.7million), and Ghost ($517.6million). Taking into account production fees, interest, residual payments, and other costs, Total Recall is estimated to have returned $36million in profit to the studio.

Reception

Critical response

On its release, Total Recall received mixed reviews from critics, who generally praised the production values and Schwarzenegger's performance, but criticized the violent content. Audience polls by CinemaScore reported moviegoers gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an  scale.

The narrative polarized reviewers; some praised it as an above-average, complex, and visually interesting science fiction film that successfully blends humor with satirization of the genre's tropes, while others found it lacked humor, romance, or a strong narrative structure. Gene Siskel and Peter Travers believed the latter half of the film, after Quaid reaches Mars, to be where Total Recall became "mechanical", abandoning logic and artistic ambition for excessive action and violence. Travers described it as a transitory blockbuster in contrast to The Terminator (1984) (also starring Schwarzenegger), which he said would "haunt our dreams". Several reviewers agreed that the hotel confrontation between Quaid and Rekall's Dr. Edgemar on Mars, in which the former learns everything he has experienced is potentially a dream, was the best scene, and found the concept of overwriting memories and identity to be a genuinely horrifying concept. Jonathan Rosenbaum called it a "worthy entry in the dystopian" genre initiated by Blade Runner that avoided being derivative of its predecessors.

The film was often compared to Verhoeven's previous work on RoboCop, with some reviews remarking that Total Recall lacked the same "impudence and incandescence" or satirization of 1980s action films as the earlier film. Some said the film was only fun when Verhoeven inserted moments of RoboCops camp style. The Washington Posts review compared it unfavorably with the Sylvester Stallone action film Cobra (1986), saying it was disappointing in its overuse of violence and abandonment of cynicism and creativity for machoism and misogyny. Several reviews focused on the excessive violence, with Vincent Canby describing it as part of an influx of action-adventure films featuring numerous deaths, counting seventy-four kills in the film and over two hundred in Die Hard 2. Some were concerned by the dismissive and sometimes comical depiction of the deaths, and the general reliance on violence as a solution to all problems posed. Even so, the Los Angeles Timess review said the violence never seemed to be deliberately sadistic or callous. Despite this criticism, Bottin's practical effects were roundly praised, particularly the three-breasted prostitute and mutants that provided many of the film's standout visuals, despite their sometimes perverse or macabre nature.

Reviews praised Schwarzenegger for playing against his public action hero image by portraying a confused, vulnerable, and sympathetic character, with Roger Ebert considering him vital to the film's success. Desson Howe and Travers described it as Schwarzenegger's finest and most interesting work since The Terminator. Even so, others believed the actor's "superman presence" and comic one-liners were out of place and undermined attempts to make the audience emotionally connect with Quaid's genuine fears about his identity. Janet Maslin wrote that this was further harmed by the narrative failing to emphasize his dual identities. Some reviews considered the role to be beyond Schwarzenegger's acting abilities, describing him as "unusually oafish... a cross between Frankenstein's monster, a hockey puck, and Colonel Klink", incapable of generating a romantic connection with Stone's or Ticotin's characters. Some female reviewers were critical of the film's treatment of women, who they perceived as "hybrid hooker-commandos" and "basically whores", writing that the three-breasted prostitute is the film's idea of a "witty mutation" while Ticotin "registers less strongly than Stone's ambiguous, blonde slut-wife".

Accolades
At the 63rd Academy Awards in 1991, Total Recall won the award for Best Visual Effects (Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke). The film received a further two nominations: Best Sound (Nelson Stoll, Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, and Aaron Rochin) and Best Sound Effects Editing (Stephen Hunter Flick). At the 44th British Academy Film Awards, the film received one nomination, for Best Special Visual Effects (losing to the comedy film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)). At the 17th Saturn Awards, Total Recall was named Best Science Fiction Film. It was also nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (losing to fantasy romance film Edward Scissorhands).

Post-release

Aftermath
Following Total Recall, Schwarzenegger's popularity continued to grow as he went on to star in Kindergarten Cop (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and True Lies (1994), earning over $1billion combined at the box office and solidifying his status as the most popular international film celebrity, based on surveys of studio executives and talent agents. Verhoeven worked with Stone again when he directed the box office success Basic Instinct (1992) for Carolco. Despite their desire to collaborate on another project, Schwarzenegger and Verhoeven did not work together again. Their last attempt to do so, the big-budget historical drama Crusade, was abandoned by Carolco in the mid-1990s in favor of Cutthroat Island (1995), a box office flop that contributed to Carolco entering bankruptcy the same year.

Shusett and Goldman did not like aspects of Total Recall, believing it was overly long and failed to make the audience care about the mutants, as well as disliking the excessive swearing, violence, and deaths. They also thought the special effect of Schwarzenegger's and Ticotin's swelling heads went on too long and, alongside Verhoeven, they regretted the rushed post-production and lack of test screenings to solicit feedback that could have led to a "tighter" re-edit on the third act. Total Recall also failed to impress Cronenberg, who believed Schwarzenegger was not the right actor for the lead role. Two lawsuits followed the film's release. John J. Goncz, a prop maker, sued for $3million alleging that his credit was removed from Total Recall after he refused permission for Carolco to merchandise a survival knife he made for it. A separate suit, also for $3million, was brought by the Southern California Consortium, who said Total Recall used animated sequences they had created for scientific videos about planets orbiting the Sun. The outcomes of these lawsuits are unknown.

Home media
Total Recall was released on VHS and LaserDisc on November 1, 1990; it was rushed out to take advantage of the Christmas season. It was priced at $24.99, a relatively low figure compared to standard prices closer to $90, because audience research had shown a willingness to purchase the film due to its rewatchability. Although retailers normally avoided selling films with violent or sexual content, they were willing to stock Total Recall. It was predicted to perform well as a purchase and rental. It became one of the bestselling home entertainment products of the year, in which purchases outperformed rentals for the first time. It was also one of the top rentals in December, trading the number one position back and forth with Pretty Woman.

The film was first released on DVD in 2000, and received criticism from IGN for what was perceived as poor image quality. It was followed by a special edition version in 2001 that included a commentary track with Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger and a documentary about the film's production, including its release and subsequent reaction. A special Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition Blu-ray was released in 2012, featuring a high-definition restoration from the original negative. This version included a new interview with Verhoeven and a comparison of the restored footage against the original. For its 30th anniversary in 2021, the film was remastered as a 4K resolution Ultra HD Blu-ray (including a digital copy) based on a digital scan from the original 35mm film negatives under Verhoeven's supervision. As well as content from the 2012 Blu-ray, this release introduced a 60-minute documentary about the success and failure of Carolco Pictures, and retrospectives on the film score, special effects, and production. A separate 5-disc collectors edition was released with a double-sided poster, art cards, essays about the film and the score on compact disc (CD).

Goldsmith's score was first released on CD in 1990 with 10 tracks. A deluxe edition was released in 2000 with 27 tracks. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary, Quartet Records released the remastered soundtrack on a 2-CD and limited edition 3-Vinyl record set. The anniversary edition included the score plus alternates and source music, restored by Goldsmith's long-time sound mixer Bruce Botnick.

Other media
A novelization of the film, written by Piers Anthony and based on the script and Dick's original novel, was released in 1990; it retains the original character name of Douglas Quail. That same year, an action-platformer video game, Total Recall, was released for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and Nintendo Entertainment System, and Amiga, and Atari ST computers. A ZX Spectrum version was planned but cancelled because it would not be ready for the Christmas 1990 release date. A comic book adaptation of the film was also released in 1990 by DC Comics. A 2011 four-issue miniseries comic book was released by Dynamite Entertainment. Written by Vince Moore with art by Cezar Rezak, the series' narrative continues on from the end of the film, depicting Quaid dealing with a Mars still in chaos following Cohaagen's death.

Themes and analysis

Themes
The main theme of Total Recall is the question of whether or not Quaid's experiences are real or a dream induced by his failed Rekall memory implantation. Despite the film's deviations from Dick's original story, both focus on this theme. Verhoeven explicitly wanted both possibilities to be viable, although his personal preference is that Quaid's experiences are a dream. He explained "it's a dream, which is disturbing to the audience because they don't want that, of course. They want an adventure story, they don't want a fake adventure story. So they are on [Quaid's] side trying to believe that it's all true, while [Dr. Edgemar] is trying to tell him that it's not true." Quaid chooses to believe in his reality and kills Dr. Edgemar. Lori confirming that the Quaid persona is effectively a dream breaks down the barrier between reality and fantasy, leaving Quaid and the audience unable to definitively determine the reality of what they are experiencing.

It is left up to the audience to determine what is real, and because of Schwarzenegger's public image as a superhuman action hero, the possibility remains that Quaid's adventures on Mars are real. Verhoeven said that re-watching the film can induce more doubt in the audience, particularly when the Rekall manager, Bob McClane, effectively outlines everything that will happen to Quaid after the memory implantation. During the same scene, Melina is shown on the Rekall screen before Quaid has met her. At the film's end, Quaid still questions if everything is a dream, and Melina suggests that he kiss her before he wakes up. English professor Jason P. Vest said that by not including herself in Quaid's possible delusion, Melina both suggests and denies she is a creation of Quaid's fantasy. Ironside stated that he believed the film is an analog for manipulating reality for the common people through news and the media at the behest of those in power. Writer Bek Aliev believed that this theme remains relevant in the age of social media, where the line between a person's average life and more curated online life becomes blurred.

Another theme of Total Recall is the meaning of identity in a world where memories are commodities that can be erased or fabricated completely. Vest contrasted this with Blade Runner, in which memory is presented as a precious and vital component of the human experience, while in Total Recall, memories can be easily removed, replaced, or revised and these changes are generally embraced. When Quaid learns that he is really Hauser, he affirms to himself "I am Quaid" and rejects the Hauser personality.

Author David Hughes wrote that Quaid is not an altered version of Hauser but a completely separate personality with his own memories and morality. He contrasted Quaid with Blade Runners replicants—artificial humans—except that it is Quaid's mind that is artificial. Quaid is forced to choose between returning to his original but antagonistic persona or remaining as the artificial but benevolent construct of Quaid. Hughes considered this an interesting moral choice and true to Dick's work. Quaid is offered a chance at a better life by being restored to Hauser's higher social status, but will lose himself in the process. Goldman believed Quaid's refusal to be the authentic choice because he did not believe someone would willingly and permanently give up their identity. SyFy writer Noah Berlatsky said that as an everyday worker who desires grand adventures, Quaid is an audience stand-in, and suggested the hologram projector that creates a duplicate image of Quaid to be akin to the audience viewing themselves through the phantom personality that is Quaid.

The film presents a politically, morally, and visually unattractive future in which the Earth's locations are covered in brutalist, concrete architecture. Verhoeven specifically chose to use this style because he believed it suggested a cruel society indifferent to the suffering of the Martian colonists as long as turbinium ore mining continues. Mars is represented ubiquitously with various red hues, invoking associations with blood, danger, and a hellish domain. The in-film Propaganda networks show reality being altered in real-time, as they brand the resistance as terrorists and describe the indiscriminate slaughter of them as restoring order with minimal use of force.

Analysis
According to Vest and English professor Frank Grady, most political assessments of the film considered it left-wing for its anti-corporation and revolutionary message but Vest perceived a more conservative subtext in which the "white protagonist saves a society of the less well-off who cannot save themselves". They identified Total Recall as one of many films produced throughout the 1980s—such as Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Predator—that were "fronted by white male characters who employ violence to preserve American righteousness, liberty, autonomy, and reinforce an idealistic American image of combating unnecessary bureaucracy, fascists, communists, and foreign and domestic threats". Schwarzenegger identified himself as a conservative and supporter of U.S. president Ronald Reagan, which Vest opined made him "an unusual choice to portray the protagonist who liberates Mars from Cohaagen's dictatorship". Quaid's rejection of the Hauser persona can be seen as an example of self-determination and American exceptionalism, but in doing so he also avoids responsibility or punishment for Hauser's acts, which Grady considered an act of moral cynicism. Historian Stephen Prince described Quaid's choice not as the loss of self, but conscious rejection of it. Remarking on the similarities between Total Recall and the science fiction film The Matrix (1999), educator Neal King found that both protagonists begin as discontented workers who learn their life is a fabrication, become instrumental to those rebelling against overwhelming authority, and eventually learn they were deliberately created to quash the rebellion. Any good deeds they perform are a result of who they were programmed to be, meaning their free will is an illusion.

Grady and SyFy writer Stephanie Williams described the privatization of air in Total Recall as the extreme of unchecked corporate power, comparing it to the real world privatization of water sources by companies whose core incentive is to increase profits, such as in the Flint water crisis. The mutants on Mars are the result of early colonists exposed to a toxic atmosphere because of cheap domes, and their offspring still serve Cohaagen, meaning the authorities have escaped any responsibility for their involvement. In the end, Cohaagen suffocates in a toxic atmosphere that he could have changed at any time. The film also contains a number of product placements for brands such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Jack in the Box, promoting corporate interests while portraying an anti-corporate stance.

Linda Mizejewski, a professor of women's studies at the Ohio State University, suggests that the name "Cohaagen" is supposed to sound Afrikaans and this, along with the character's links to the mining industry, is part of an analogy between Apartheid-era South Africa, in which there was a highly prosperous mining industry, and sharply defined class divisions, akin to those in the film between the mining executives and the ordinary, oppressed Martians. Likewise, Aliev considered the relationship between the lower classes on Mars and the government to be analogous to real-world colonial and post-colonial social structures, such as Apartheid. The technology that undermines the existing power structure is a metaphor for decolonization and championing the voices of the oppressed. Vest believed Total Recall did not offer a positive representation of minorities, as Benny, the only important African American character, collaborates with Cohaagen and helps assassinate the Martian freedom fighter Kuato. Vest believed that his repeated references to having multiple children "reinforced stereotypes of African American men as irresponsible and promiscuous", and that "his alliance with Cohaagen presents the character as untrustworthy, selfish, and corrupt".

Vest identified certain elements in the film as sexist and misogynistic. Many female characters are presented as prostitutes or mutants, which he believed suggested that "femininity is a source of moral or physical deformity". Many female characters are violently killed throughout, such as Lori, who is dispatched while Schwarzenegger quips that she should "consider that a divorce". However, while Melina is sometimes reliant on Quaid to save her, both she and Lori are portrayed as effective fighters and Melina is essential to saving Quaid's life at the end. Union College film studies co-director Michelle Chilcoat wrote that Total Recall began a decade of cyberpunk films that focused on a separation and transformation of the mind away from a traditional human body, such as The Lawnmower Man (1992), Strange Days (1995), and The Matrix. Even so, Chilcoat argues that given the option to become anything via Rekall, Total Recall repeatedly asserts Quaid's heterosexuality.

Legacy

Modern reception

Since its release, several publications have named Total Recall as one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. Rotten Tomatoes named it one of the 300 essential films to watch, and it is also listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a  approval rating from the aggregated reviews of  critics, with an average score of . The consensus reads, "Under Paul Verhoeven's frenetic direction, Total Recall is a fast-paced rush of violence, gore, and humor that never slacks." The film has a score of 57 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

In a 2012 retrospective, Vulture wrote that despite its anachronistic aspects, such as outdated technology, Total Recall remained relevant, particularly in its themes of the oppressed fighting back against their oppressors, which was compared to the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement. Discussing the film in 2016, The A.V. Club described it as one of the best 1980s-style action films. Other publications have called it one of Schwarzenegger's most entertaining films and one of his best roles. The film's score, by Jerry Goldsmith, is considered among his finest work and, in his own words, one of his "greatest scores".

A 2020 Inverse retrospective argued that Total Recall, not Blade Runner, was the best adaptation of Dick's work, despite its deviations from the source material. He argued that Blade Runner presented a stylish and cool future, whereas Total Recall presents an "ugly, banal, and grimy" future. Similarly, he believed Quaid's upbeat, amoral antihero protagonist was closer to Dick's traditional protagonists. Even so, Comic Book Resources wrote that "its weirdness and appreciation of dumb-fun" meant that it would probably never be as highly considered as Blade Runner or films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). To mark Schwarzenegger's 75th birthday in 2022, Variety listed Total Recall as the fourth-best film in his 46-year career.

Cultural influence
Total Recall became one of the most expensive films ever made in its time, and one of the last big-budget films to use almost entirely practical special effects. It is also seen as among the films responsible for a significant rise in the costs of film production because of the high salaries studios like Carolco paid to stars with international appeal such as Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Mel Gibson, recouping their investment by selling their films to the rapidly growing film markets outside of the U.S. and Canada. Alongside the boost to Schwarzenegger's career, Total Recall also redefined Stone from a model to a legitimate film star.

A 2020 SyFy article credited Total Recall as one of three action films, along with Terminator 2 and True Lies (1994), that revived Schwarzenegger's career after a series of less successful action films such as The Running Man (1987), and Red Heat. Schwarzenegger recounted coming across the film on television that year, and believing it still held up, saying: "that is really great filmmaking... when you can, after 30 years, watch a movie and it still feels the same." Schwarzenegger also named his 2012 memoir Total Recall.

In 2020, The Guardian wrote that, with hindsight, Total Recall formed the middle of Verhoeven's unofficial science fiction action film trilogy about authoritarian governance, following RoboCop and preceding Starship Troopers (1997). Quaid's line, "consider that a divorce", after killing Lori, is considered one of Schwarzenegger's most iconic one-line quips from his filmography, and the three-breasted prostitute, portrayed by Lycia Naff, is regarded as an iconic character in cinematic history. Although she eventually came to terms with the role, Naff was initially embarrassed by her appearance in Total Recall and avoided interviews or fan interactions, saying "I decided not to answer every letter from every prisoner in the world who was writing to me..."

Total Recall influenced films such as The Matrix, The 6th Day (2000), also starring Schwarzenegger, as well as other media such as Rick and Morty, South Park, and The Expanse. It has been referenced in politics when, during his 2020 address to the Austrian World Summit climate conference about the urgency of their 2050 climate neutrality goal, Dutch politician and European Commissioner for Climate Action, Frans Timmermans, said, "it's been 30 years since Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop — I mean these things go so fast... we have to act now and we can."

Sequel and adaptations

Total Recalls success led to development of a sequel. Goldman had optioned another of Dick's works, the 1956 novella The Minority Report, intending to direct it himself. Unable to make progress on that project, he and Shusett worked together on adapting The Minority Report into a Total Recall sequel in 1993, depicting Quaid as the head of an organization that uses mutants with precognition abilities to predict and stop crimes before they happen. Carolco struggled to secure either funding or Schwarzenegger's interest to progress the project before its bankruptcy. The television rights to Total Recall were bought by DFL Entertainment for $1.2million to develop the television series Total Recall 2070 (1999). The show, set entirely on Earth, was not based on the film and was described by author David Hughes as closer to a Blade Runner adaptation. In the interim, Shusett and Goldman had removed the Total Recall elements from their script to develop it as a standalone film, Minority Report (2002).

The film rights to Total Recall were bought by Dimension Films for $3.15million at Carolco's bankruptcy auction. The studio began development of a sequel, intending to bring back the principal cast, but not Verhoeven. Matt Cirulnick developed a script, but Shusett's original contract guaranteed him first draft rights to a sequel and he, based on an earlier agreement, was obliged to work with Goldman. The pair's story continued from the end of Total Recall with Mars now an independent planet. The rebels explore Quaid's mind for Hauser's memories of a mind-control project. It featured several twists, including Quaid waking up at Rekall on Earth, and other hints that he is living within a dream. Schwarzenegger became actively involved by 1998, but believed their idea was overly complicated. Cirulnick wrote another draft, revealing that Hauser and Quaid are both fabricated personalities, and depicting the destruction of Mars to save Earth from a bomb placed in the Sun. This draft was well received by Dimension, but he was asked to rewrite it to lower the budget. Development eventually ceased as a series of failed films had harmed Dimension financially, and the studio was unable to agree a deal with Schwarzenegger.

The rights to Total Recall were eventually purchased by Columbia Pictures and a remake was announced in 2009. Released in 2012, the film, also called Total Recall, starred Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, and Jessica Biel. Its plot follows elements of the 1990 film but omits Mars entirely, taking place on a mostly uninhabitable Earth. The film failed to replicate the financial or critical success of the original.

References

Notes

Sources

Works cited
Books

Journals

Magazines

External links

 A 1990 documentary about the production of Total Recall at Wayback Machine

1990 films
1990s chase films
1990s science fiction action films
1990s dystopian films
American chase films
American science fiction action films
American space adventure films
1990s English-language films
American dystopian films
Fiction with unreliable narrators
Films directed by Paul Verhoeven
Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith
Films about dreams
Films about altered memories
Films about telepresence
Films adapted into comics
Films based on American short stories
Films based on science fiction short stories
Films based on works by Philip K. Dick
Films shot in Mexico City
Films shot in Nevada
Films shot in the Mojave Desert
Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award
Mars in film
Holography in films
TriStar Pictures films
Carolco Pictures films
Fiction about supernovae
Uxoricide in fiction
Parasitic twinning in culture
Films set in 2084
American action thriller films
Films produced by Buzz Feitshans
Films produced by Ronald Shusett
Films with screenplays by Ronald Shusett
Films with screenplays by Dan O'Bannon
Films with screenplays by Gary Goldman (screenwriter)
Films with screenplays by Jon Povill
American splatter films
1990s American films
Cyberpunk films
Films about disability

Total Recall (1990 film)


Nosferatu the Vampyre () is a 1979 horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conceived as a stylistic remake of F. W. Murnau's 1922 German Dracula adaptation Nosferatu. The picture stars Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, and French artist-writer Roland Topor as Renfield. There are two different versions of the film, one in which the actors speak English, and one in which they speak German.

Herzog's production of Nosferatu was very well received by critics and enjoyed a comfortable degree of commercial success. The film also marks the second of five collaborations between director Herzog and actor Kinski, immediately followed by 1979's Woyzeck. The film had 1,000,000 admissions in West Germany and grossed ITL 53,870,000 in Italy. It was also a modest success in Adjani's home country, taking in 933,533 admissions in France.

A novelization of the screenplay was written by Paul Monette and published by both Avon Publishing () and Picador () in 1979. The 1988 Italian horror film Nosferatu in Venice is a "sequel-in-name-only", again featuring Kinski in the title role.

Plot
In 1850, Jonathan Harker is an estate agent in Wismar, Germany. His employer, Renfield, informs him that nobleman Count Dracula wishes to buy a property in Wismar. Harker is assigned to visit the Count and complete the deal. Leaving his wife Lucy behind, Harker travels to Dracula's castle in Transylvania, in a journey that lasts four weeks, carrying with him the documents needed to sell the house. En route, Harker stops at an inn, where the locals beg for him to stay away from the accursed castle, providing him with details of Dracula's vampirism. Ignoring the villagers' pleas as superstition, Harker continues his journey, ascending the Borgo Pass on foot and arriving at the castle, where he meets Dracula, a man with large ears, pale skin, sharp teeth and long fingernails.

The Count is enchanted by a small portrait of Lucy and agrees to purchase the Wismar property, especially with the knowledge that she would become his neighbor. As Jonathan's visit progresses, he is haunted at night by several encounters with Dracula. In Wismar, Lucy is tormented by nightmares, plagued by images of impending doom. Meanwhile, Renfield is committed to an asylum after biting a cow, apparently having gone insane. To Harker's horror, he finds the Count asleep in a coffin, confirming for him that Dracula is indeed a vampire. That night, Dracula leaves for Wismar, taking coffins filled with the cursed earth that he needs for his vampiric rest. Harker finds himself imprisoned in the castle and attempts to escape through a window via a makeshift rope fashioned from bedsheets. The rope is not long enough, and Jonathan falls, severely injuring himself.

The next morning, he awakes on the ground, stirred by the sound of a young Romani boy playing the violin. Eventually sent to a hospital, Jonathan raves about 'black coffins' to doctors, who assume that the illness affects his mind.

Dracula and his coffins travel to Wismar by ship via the Black Sea port of Varna, thence through the Bosphorus and the Strait of Gibraltar and around the west European Atlantic coast to the Baltic Sea. He kills the ship's crew, making it appear as if they were afflicted with the plague.

The ghost ship arrives at Wismar, where doctors – including Abraham Van Helsing – investigate the fate of the vessel. They discover a ship's log that mentions their perceived affliction with the plague. Wismar is then flooded with rats from the ship. When Dracula arrives with his coffins, death spreads throughout the town. The ill Jonathan is transported home but does not appear to recognize Lucy when he finally arrives. She later encounters Dracula. Weary and unable to die, he demands some of the love that she gives to Jonathan, to no avail.

Now aware that something other than plague is responsible for the death that has beset Wismar, Lucy tries to convince the townspeople, who are skeptical and uninterested, engaging in a danse macabre and having a last supper. From a book given to Jonathan by the Transylvanians, Lucy discovers she can defeat Dracula by distracting him until dawn, at which time the rays of the sun will destroy him, but only at the cost of her own life. That night, she lures him to her bedroom, where he drinks her blood.

Lucy distracts Dracula from the call of the rooster, and at the first light of day, he dies. Van Helsing arrives to discover Lucy dead but victorious. He then drives a stake through the heart of Dracula to make sure that Lucy's sacrifice was not in vain. Jonathan then awakens from his sickness, now a vampire, and has Van Helsing arrested for Dracula's murder. Jonathan then states that he has much to do and rides away on horseback, garbed in the same fluttering black as Dracula.

Cast

Production

Background
While the basic story is derived from Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, director Herzog made the 1979 film primarily as an homage remake of F. W. Murnau's  silent film Nosferatu (1922), which differs somewhat from Stoker's original work. The makers of the earlier film changed several minor details and character names. They also did not have permission to use the intellectual property of the novel, which was owned (at the time) by Stoker's widow Florence. A lawsuit was filed, resulting in an order for the destruction of all prints of the film. Some prints survived and were restored after Florence Stoker had died and the copyright had expired. By the 1960s and early 1970s the original silent returned to circulation, and was enjoyed by a new generation of moviegoers.

Herzog considered Murnau's Nosferatu to be the greatest film ever to come out of Germany, and was eager to make his own version of the film, with Klaus Kinski in the leading role. In 1979, by the very day the copyright for Dracula had entered the public domain, Herzog proceeded with his updated version of the classic German film, which could now include the original character names.

Herzog saw his film as a parable about the fragility of order in a staid, bourgeois town. "It is more than a horror film," he says. "Nosferatu is not a monster, but an ambivalent, masterful force of change. When the plague threatens, people throw their property into the streets; they discard their bourgeois trappings. A re‐evaluation of life and its meaning takes place." Adjani said about her heroine: "There's a sexual element. She is gradually attracted towards Nosferatu. She feels a fascination — as we all would think. First, she hopes to save the people of the town by sacrificing herself. But then, there is a moment of transition. There is a scene when he is sucking her blood — sucking and sucking like an animal—and suddenly, her face takes on a new expression, a sexual one, and she will not let him go away anymore. There is a desire that has been born. A moment like this has never been seen in a vampire picture". According to Kinski: "We see Dracula sympathetically [in this film]. He is a man without free will. He cannot choose, and he cannot cease to be. He is a kind of incarnation of evil, but he is also a man who is suffering, suffering for love. This makes it so much more dramatic, more double‐edged."

Filming

Nosferatu the Vampyre was co-produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, French film company Gaumont, and West German public-service television station ZDF. As was common for West German films during the 1970s, Nosferatu the Vampyre was filmed on a minimal budget and with a crew of just 16 people. Herzog could not film in Wismar, where the original Murnau film was shot, so he relocated production to Delft, Netherlands. Parts of the film were shot in nearby Schiedam, after the Delft authorities refused to allow Herzog to release 11,000 rats for a scene in the film. Dracula's home is represented by locations in Czechoslovakia. Herzog originally intended to film in Transylvania, but Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime would not allow it due to the relation between the character of count Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. Pernštejn Castle stands in for castle Dracula in the film, both interiors and exteriors.

At the request of distributor 20th Century Fox, Herzog produced two versions of the film simultaneously to appeal to English-speaking audiences. Most of the scenes with dialogue were filmed twice, once in German and again in English, although a few scenes were shot once with dubbing used as needed. In 2014, Herzog called the German version the "more authentic" version of the two.

Herzog himself filmed the opening sequence at the Mummies of Guanajuato museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, where a large number of naturally mummified bodies of the victims of an 1833 cholera epidemic are on public display. Herzog had first seen the Guanajuato mummies while visiting in the 1960s. On his return in the 1970s, he took the corpses out of the glass cases they normally store. He propped them against a wall to film them, arranging them in a sequence running roughly from childhood to old age.

Kinski's Dracula make-up, with black costume, bald head, rat-like teeth, and long fingernails, is an imitation of Max Schreck's makeup in the 1922 original. The makeup artist who worked on Kinski was the Japanese artist Reiko Kruk. Although he fought with Herzog and others during the making of other films, Kinski got along with Kruk, and the four-hour makeup sessions went on with no outbursts from Kinski himself. Several shots in the movie are faithful recreations of iconic images from Murnau's original film, some almost perfectly identical to their counterparts, intended as homages to Murnau.

Music

The film score to Nosferatu the Vampyre was composed by the West German group Popol Vuh, who have collaborated with Herzog on numerous projects. Music for the film comprises material from the group's album Brüder des Schattens – Söhne des Lichts. Additionally, the film features Richard Wagner's prelude to Das Rheingold, Charles Gounod's "Sanctus" from Messe solennelle à Sainte Cécile and traditional Georgian folk song "Tsintskaro", sung by Vocal Ensemble Gordela.

Animal cruelty
Dutch behavioral biologist Maarten 't Hart, hired by Herzog for his expertise with laboratory rats, revealed that, after witnessing the inhumane way in which the rats were treated, he no longer wished to cooperate. Apart from traveling conditions that were so poor that the rats, imported from Hungary, had started to eat each other upon arrival in the Netherlands, Herzog insisted the plain white rats be dyed gray. To do so, according to 't Hart, the cages containing the rats needed to be submerged in boiling water for several seconds, causing another half of them to die. The surviving rats proceeded to lick themselves clean of the dye immediately, as 't Hart had predicted they would. 't Hart also implied sheep and horses that appear in the movie were treated very poorly but did not specify this any further.

Release
Released as Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht in German and Nosferatu the Vampyre in English, the film was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival, where production designer Henning von Gierke won the Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement.

Critical response

Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 95% approval critic response based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Stunning visuals from Werner Herzog and an intense portrayal of the famed bloodsucker from Klaus Kinski make this remake of Nosferatu a horror classic in its own right."

In contemporary reviews, the film is noted for maintaining an element of horror, with numerous deaths and a grim atmosphere. Still, it features a more expanded plot than many Dracula productions, with a greater emphasis on the vampire's tragic loneliness. Dracula is still a ghastly figure, but with a greater sense of pathos; weary, unloved, and doomed to immortality. Reviewer John J. Puccio of MovieMet considers it a faithful homage to Murnau's original film, significantly updating the original material and avoiding the danger of being overly derivative.

Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed the film upon its 1979 release, giving it four stars out of a possible four, writing: "There is nothing pleasant about Herzog's vampire", which was "played totally without ego by Klaus Kinski". Ebert added, "This movie isn't even scary. It's so slow it's meditative at times, but it is the most evocative series of images centered around the idea of the vampire that I have ever seen since F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, which was made in 1922." In 2011 Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies Collection." Concluding his review, Ebert said:
One striking quality of the film is its beauty. Herzog's pictorial eye is not often enough credited. His films always upstage it with their themes. We are focused on what happens, and there are few 'beauty shots.' Look here at his control of the color palette, his off-center compositions, of the dramatic counterpoint of light and dark. Here is a film that does honor to the seriousness of vampires. No, I don't believe in them. But if they were real, here is how they must look.

See also
 Gothic film
 Vampire films

References

External links

Works based on Nosferatu
1979 films
1979 horror films
Dracula films
1970s English-language films
Films based on adaptations
Films directed by Werner Herzog
Films set in Germany
Films set in the 1850s
Films set in the 19th century
Films scored by Popol Vuh (band)
Films shot in Mexico
Films shot in Slovakia
Films shot in the Czech Republic
Delft
Films set in Transylvania
French horror films
Films set in castles
Remakes of German films
German horror films
1970s German-language films
German vampire films
Gaumont Film Company films
Horror film remakes
Period horror films
Roland Topor
1970s Romanian-language films
Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution
Sound film remakes of silent films
West German films
1979 multilingual films
German multilingual films
1970s French films
1970s German films
Nosferatu films

Nosferatu the Vampyre


The  Manipuri Dance, also referred to as the  Manipuri Raas Leela (), is a jagoi and is one of the eight major Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur.  The dance form is imbued with the devotional themes of Madhura Raas of Radha-Krishna and characterised by gentle eyes and soft peaceful body movements. The facial expressions are peaceful mostly expressing Bhakti Rasa or the emotion of devotion, no matter if a dancer is Hindu or not. The dance form is based on Hindu scriptures of Vaishnavism and is exclusively attached to the worship of Radha and Krishna. It is a portrayal of the dance of divine love of Lord Krishna with goddess Radha and the cowherd damsels of Vrindavan, famously known as the Raas Leela.

The roots of the Manipuri Raas Leela dance, as with all classical Indian dances, is the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text Natya Shastra, with influences and the culture fusion between various local folk dance forms. With evidence of Vishnu temples in the medieval era, this dance form has been passed down verbally from generation to generation as an oral tradition. At a time when other Indian classical dances were struggling to shake off the stigma of decadent crudity and disrepute, the Manipuri classical dance was a top favorite with girls of 'respectable' families.

This Manipuri dance drama is, for most part is entirely religious and is considered to be a purely spiritual experience. It is accompanied with devotional music created with many instruments, with the beat set by cymbals (kartal or manjira) and double-headed drum (pung or Manipuri mrdanga) of sankirtan. The dance drama choreography shares the plays and stories of Vaishnavite Padavalis, that also inspired the major Gaudiya Vaishnava-related performance arts found in Assam and West Bengal.

Though the term  Manipuri Dance is associated with the Raas Leela, Manipuri dance consists of jagoi, cholom and huyen langlon. Due to the latter, it is one of the only two Indian classical dance forms to feature violence as a motif (the other is Chhau).

History
The first reliably dated written texts describing the art of Manipuri dance are from the early 18th-century.

Medieval period
Historical texts of Manipur have not survived into the modern era, and reliable records trace to early 18th century. Theories about the antiquity of Manipuri Raas Leela dance rely on the oral tradition, archaeological discoveries and references about Manipur in Asian manuscripts whose date can be better established.

The Meitei language text Bamon Khunthok, which literally means "Brahmin migration", states that Vaishnavism practices were adopted by the king of Manipur in the 15th century CE, arriving from Shan Kingdom of Pong. Further waves of Buddhists and Hindus arrived from Assam and Bengal, after mid 16th-century during Hindu-Muslim wars of Bengal Sultanate, and were welcomed in Manipur. In 1704, the Meitei King Pitambar Charairongba () adopted Vaishnavism, and declared it to be the state religion. In 1717, the Meitei King Gareeb Niwaz () converted to Chaitanya style devotional Vaishnavism, which emphasized singing, dancing and religious performance arts centered around Hindu god Krishna. In 1734, devotional dance drama centered around Hindu god Rama expanded Manipuri dance tradition.

Meitei King Rajarshi Bhagyachandra () (r. 1759–1798 CE) of Manipur State adopted Gaudiya Vaishnavism (Krishna oriented), documented and codified the Manipuri dance style, launching the golden era of its development and refinement. He composed three of the five types of Raas Leelas, the Maha Raas, the Basanta Raas and the Kunja Raas, performed at the Sri Sri Govindaji temple in Imphal during his reign and also the Achouba Bhangi Pareng dance. He designed an elaborate costume known as Kumil (the cylindrical long mini-mirror-embellished stiff skirt costume, that makes the dancer appear to be floating). The Govinda Sangeet Lila Vilasa, an important text detailing the fundamentals of the dance, is also attributed to him. Meitei King Rajarshi Bhagyachandra () is also credited with starting public performances of Raas Leela and Manipuri dances in Hindu temples.

Meitei King Gambhir Singh () (r. 1825–1834 CE) composed two  of the tandava type, the Goshtha Bhangi Pareng and the Goshtha Vrindaban Pareng. King Chandrakirti Singh (r. 1849–1886 CE), a gifted drummer, composed at least 64 Pung choloms (drum dances) and two  of the Lasya type, the Vrindaban Bhangi Pareng and Khrumba Bhangi Pareng. The composition of the Nitya Raas is also attributed to these kings.

British ruling period
In 1891, the British colonial government annexed Manipur into its Empire, marking an end to its golden era of creative systematization and expansion of Manipuri dance. The Manipuri Raas Leela dance was thereafter ridiculed as immoral, ignorant and old-fashioned, like all other classical Hindu performance arts. The dance and artists survived only in temples, such as in Imphal's Shree Govindajee Temple. The cultural discrimination was resisted and the dance revived by Indian independence movement activists and scholars.

Modern era
The classical Manipuri Raas Leela dance genre got a second life through the efforts of the Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. In 1919, he was impressed after seeing a dance composition of Goshtha Lila in Sylhet (in present-day Bangladesh). He invited Guru Budhimantra Singh who had trained in Manipuri Raas Leela dance, as faculty to the Indian culture and studies center named Shantiniketan. In 1926, Guru Naba Kumar joined the faculty to teach the Raas Leela. Other celebrated Gurus, Senarik Singh Rajkumar, Nileshwar Mukherji and Atomba Singh were also invited to teach there and assisted Tagore with the choreography of several of his dance-dramas.

Repertoire

Chali or Chari is the basic dance movement in Manipuri Raas dances. The repertoire and underlying play depends on the season. The dances are celebrated on full moon nights, three times in autumn (August through November) and once again in spring (March or April). The Basanta Raas is timed with the Hindu festival of colors called Holi, while others are timed with post-harvest festivals of Diwali and others. The plays and songs recited during the dance performance center around the love and frolics between Radha and Krishna, in the presence of Gopis named Lalita, Vishakha, Chitra, Champaklata, Tungavidya, Indurekha, Rangadevi and Sudevi. There is a composition and dance sequence for each Gopi, and the words have two layers of meanings, one literal and other spiritual. The longest piece of the play focusses on Radha and Krishna. The dancer playing Krishna expresses emotions, while the body language and hand gestures of the Gopi display their feelings such as longing, dejection or cheer.

The rhythmic depiction form of abhinaya[acting] is to show the ashtanayika [eight shades of a heroine] in every nayika, which are colored by the scenes of the season in which the "abhisarika" expresses her love for Krishna; so that a kuaasha abhisarika who dances in the foggy winter is very different to the varsha abhisarika who faces the thunderous downpouring rain.

In other plays, the Manipuri dancers are more forceful, acrobatic and their costumes adjust to the need of the dance. Dozens of boys synchronously dance the Gopa Ras, where they enact the chores of daily life such as feeding the cows. In Uddhata Akanba, states Ragini Devi, the dance is full of vigor (jumps, squats, spins), energy and elegance.

Costumes

The classical Manipuri dance features unique costumes. The women characters are dressed, in doll-like Potloi costumes. The brilliant design of the Potloi was conceived in a dream by Vaishnavite Meitei King Rajarshi Bhagyachandra () of Manipur, in which he saw his daughter dancing in a Potloi. The Potloi costumes for women are tailored such that it is avoids arousal of any unhealthy stimulus in the audience.

Female upper garment
 Choli- A velvet blouse adorns the upper part of the body. The choli is embellished with zari, silk or gota embroidery. Gopis are dressed in red blouses while Radha stands out in green.

Female lower garment
 Kumin is an elaborately decorated barrel shaped long skirt stiffened at the bottom and close to the top. The decorations on the barrel include gold and silver embroidery, small pieces of mirrors, and border prints of lotus, Kwaklei orchid, and other items in nature.
 Pasuan- The top border of the Kumin is adorned with a wavy and translucent fine muslin skirt tied in three places around the waist in Trikasta (with spiritual symbolism of the ancient Hindu Shastras) and opens up like a flower.
 Khangoi- Small rectangular belt over the Pasuan.
 Khaon- Rectangular embroidered piece with belt.
 Thabret- A girdle around the waist.
The dancers do not wear bells on ankles but do wear anklets and foot ornaments. Manipuri dance artists wear kolu necklaces on the neck and adorn the face, back, waist, hands and legs with round jewellery ornaments or flower garlands that flow with the dress symmetry. The face is decorated with the sacred Gaudiya Vaishnava Tilak on the forehead and Gopi dots made of sandalwood above the eyebrows. The symmetrical translucent dress, states Reginald Massey, makes "the dancers appear to float on the stage, as if from another world".

Head accessories
 Females- Koknam (gauze oveerhead, embossed with silver zari), Koktombi (cap covering the head) and Meikhumbi (a transparent thin veil) thrown over the head to symbolically mark elusiveness.
 Males - Leittreng (Kajenglei) (golden headdress around the head) and Chura (made of peacock feathers, wired on top of the head).

Male upper & lower garment
The male characters dress in a dhoti (also called  or dhora) – a brilliantly colored broadcloth pleated, wrapped and tied at waist and allowing complete freedom of movement for the legs. Dancers wear a bright yellow-orange dhoti while playing Lord Krishna and a green/blue dhoti while playing Balaram. A crown decorated with peacock feather adorns the dancer's head, who portrays Lord Krishna.

The Pung Cholom dancers wear white dhoti that covers the lower part of body from waist and a snow-white turban on the head. A shawl neatly folded adorns their left shoulders while the drum strap falls on their right shoulders.

The costume tradition of the Manipuri dance celebrates its more ancient artistic local traditions, fused with the spiritual themes of prema bhava of Radha-Krishna found in the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana.

The Huyen langlon dancers, however, typically wear costumes of Manipuri warriors. The costume varies depending on their gender.

Music and instruments
The musical accompaniment for Manipuri dance comes from a percussion instrument called the Pung (a barrel drum), a singer, small  (cymbals), sembong, harmonium, and wind instrument such as a flute.

The drummers are male artistes and, after learning to play the pung, students train to dance with it while drumming. This dance is celebrated, states Massey, with the dancer wearing white turbans, white dhotis (for Hindu dummers) or kurtas (for Muslim dummers), a folded shawl over the left shoulder, and the drum strap worn over the right shoulder. It is known as Pung cholom, and the dancer plays the drum and performs the dance jumps and other movements.

Another dance called Kartal cholom, is similar to Pung cholom, but the dancers carry and dance to the rhythm created with cymbals. This is a group dance, where dancers form a circle, move in the same direction while making music and dancing to the rhythm. Women dance too as groups, such as in the Manipuri dance called Mandilla cholom, and these usually go with devotional songs and playing colorful tassels-string tied cymbals where one side represents Krishna and the other Radha. Shaiva (tandava) dances are choreographed as Duff cholom and Dhol cholom.

The songs in Huyen langlon can be played with any Meitei instruments such as the pena and are usually aggressive sounding but they contain no lyrics.

Styles and categories

The traditional Manipuri Raas Lila is performed in three styles – Tal Rasak, Danda Rasak and Mandal Rasak. A Tal Rasak is accompanied with clapping, while Danda Rasak is performed by synchronous beat of two sticks but the dancers position it differently to create geometric patterns. The Gopis dance in a circle around the Krishna character in the center.

The Manipuri dance comes in two categories -  tandav (vigorous dance for the dancer who plays Krishna) and lasya (delicate  dance for the dancers who play Radha and Gopis).

The Manipuri Raas Leela dance style embodies dreamy wavelike movements  where one movement dissolves into another like the waves of an ocean. The dance features rounded soft movements of women, and occasional fast movements by male characters. Unlike the other classical dance forms of India, the Manipuri dance artists do not wear anklet bells and the footwork is subdued and gentle in the Manipuri style. The stage movements is part of a composite movement of the whole body.

There are five types of accepted Ras Leela, they are Maharas, Basantaras, Kunjaras, Nityaras and Dibaras.

The Maharas Leela is the most prominent. This dance is performed in the month of Kartik (around November) on a full moon night. It is a story of the Gopis sorrow after the disappearance of Krishna. After seeing the Gopis disheartened, Krishna then reappears and multiplies himself so that he is dancing with each Gopi.

The Basantaras is celebrated on Chaitra (around April) on a full moon night welcoming the spring season. During this time Holi is also celebrated where participants throw colored water or powder at each other. The story of Basantaras is based on Jaidev's Gita Govinda and the Brahma Vavairta Purana.

Kunjaras is celebrated on Ashwin (October) in Autumn on a full moon night.

Nityaras is celebrated any night of the year except for the previous three raas (Maharas, Basantaras and Kunjaras). The story is of the divine union of Radha and Krishna after Radha surrenders herself to Lord Krishna.

Dibaras is celebrated any time of the year during the day besides the periods of Maharas, Basantaras and Kunjaras. The performance comes from the chapters in the Shri Krishnaras- Sangeet Samgraha, Govinda Leelamritya, Shrimad Bhagavata and Sangitamahava.

See also
Art and culture of Manipur
Rajkumar Singhajit Singh
Darshana Jhaveri
Manipuri Sankirtana
Meitei classical language movement

References

Bibliography

Manipuri by R K Singhajit Singh, Dances of India series, Wisdom Tree, .

, Table of Contents

External links

 Official list of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award recipients in Manipuri

Manipuri dance
Classical dance genres of India
Hindu dance traditions
Krishna in art
Krishna in popular culture
Meitei culture
Meitei folklore in popular culture
Dances of Manipur

Manipuri Raas Leela


Rupesh Shah (born 5 August 1973) is an Indian player of English billiards. He was world professional champion (short format) in 2012.

Biography
Shah was born on 5 August 1973 in Ahmedabad, India.

He was introduced to English billiards by his brother, and won a club level tournament aged 17. In 1993 he qualified as a representative of Gujarat at the Indian national billiards championship, won both the junior and senior billiards tournaments at the age of 19. The following year, he won the national titles at both billiards and snooker. He won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games as part of the India men's snooker team.

At the 2007 IBSF World Billiards Championship, Shah won through a tough quarter-final against Paprut Chaithanasakul and a semi-final against Kyaw Oo to reach the final. Shah took a 4–1 lead against Ashok Shandilya, but saw his lead reduced to one game, at 5–4, before winning the last game to take the match 6–4. At the 2008 IBSF championship, Shah failed to retain the title, losing 3–5 to Pankaj Advani in the semi-final.

Having turned professional, Shah entered the 2008 World Professional Billiards Championship, but failed to progress from his qualifying group. He lost at the semi-final stage the 2009 World Professional Billiards Championship (long format), having led Mike Russell by 198 before losing by 486.

Russell beat Shah again at the 2010 World Professional Billiards Championship, 995–496 in the quarter-finals, with Russell making a  of 589. At the 2011 World Billiards Championship, Shah was again a losing quarter-finalist, this time 455–1,000 to David Causier.

In the 2012 World Professional Billiards Championship (150-up), Shah recorded wins over Mike Russell, 4–2 in the last 16, and Peter Gilchrist, 5–2 in the semi-final, and beat Matthew Bolton 6–2 in the final to win the title. The following year, he lost in the quarter-finals, 3–4 to Robert Hall.

He was part of the winning team at the first World Billiards Team Championship in 2014. At the World Championship (100 up) in 2016, he was a losing semi-finalist. and at the 2017 World Championships for both short format and long format.

Career highlights
2007 IBSF World Billiards Champion
2012 World Billiards Champion

References

Indian players of English billiards
World champions in English billiards
1973 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Gujarat
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
Asian Games medalists in cue sports
Asian Games bronze medalists for India
Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
Cue sports players at the 2006 Asian Games

Rupesh Shah


The French Military Mission to Poland was an effort by France to aid the nascent Second Polish Republic after it achieved its independence in November 1918, at the end of the First World War. The aim was to provide aid during the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1921), and to create a strong Polish military to serve as a useful ally against Germany. It was an advisory body consisting of about 400 French officers attached to staffs of Polish units at various levels. Although the French mission was small numerically, its effect was substantial in improving the organisation and logistics of the Polish army. It worked in parallel with the smaller British Military Mission to Poland. It existed from 1918 to 1939.

Its first commander was French General Paul Prosper Henrys, previously the commander of French forces in the Balkans. The French mission, composed of 400 officer-instructors, met with much respect. The instructors, many of them centered on the Polish General Staff, were crucial in training the emerging Polish officer corps. The French effort was vital in improving the organisation of the newly formed Polish army, which up till 1919 used various manuals, organisation structures and equipment, mostly from the former partitioners armies. Among the French officers was the future President of France, Charles de Gaulle.

This mission should not be confused with the Interallied Mission to Poland, an improvised effort launched by David Lloyd George on 21 July 1920, at the height of the crisis before the Battle of Warsaw. The purpose of that mission was to send a number of high level personages from Britain and France to Poland in an attempt to influence Polish policy, possibly through effecting a change in government. They included French diplomat, Jean Jules Jusserand, Maxime Weygand, chief of staff to Marshal Ferdinand Foch (the Supreme Commander of the victorious Entente), and the British diplomat, Lord Edgar Vincent D'Abernon. The crucial Battle of Warsaw was won in the early days of August, before the mission could achieve anything of importance. The only tangible result was the installation of Weygand as an advisor to the Polish General Staff, where his role was negligible. Nevertheless, soon after the battle and for various political reasons, a myth arose that Weygand was the author of the Polish victory at Warsaw.

References

See also
 Blue Army
 Western betrayal

Polish–Soviet War
Military history of France
Second Polish Republic
France–Poland military relations
France–Soviet Union relations

French Military Mission to Poland


Surf-N-Burn is a 1997 surf-rock album by the  Blue Stingrays. Its tracks express a variety of moods, from the secret agent intrigue of "Russian Roulette" and "Goldfinger" (a cover of the theme from the James Bond film of the same name), to the soft surfing themes "Surfer's Life" and "Green Sea", to the beach-shack rave-ups (complete with audience noise) "Monsoon" and "Super Hero", all in the styles of the early surf-rockers.

This disc's liner notes tell a fictitious story of origins of the Blue Stingrays—claiming they formed in 1959 and were among both the earliest and most influential surf-rockers; who, after tiring of the exploitation of surf culture, moved to a small South Pacific island. Completing the retro feel, this album was also released as an LP (by Epitone/Epitaph). In reality, the Blue Stingrays was a side project for members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

A blue guitar pick stamped with the Stingrays' logo was included with the CD.

Track listing
The ASCAP database lists Mike Campbell as the sole author of all tracks, except as noted.

"Monsoon"  – 3:03
"Echo Park"  – 2:52
"Goldfinger"  – 3:22 (John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley)
"Brave New World"  – 4:30
"Russian Roulette"  – 3:27
"Moon over Catalina"  – 2:37
"Malibu Babylon"  – 3:48
"Blue Venus"  – 2:52
"Land of the Unknown"  – 3:30
"Surfer's Life"  – 4:12
"Stingray Stomp"  – 2:32
"Zuma Sunset"  – 2:41
"Ju Ju Beads"  – 2:29
"Green Sea"  – 2:19
"Super Hero"  – 3:26

References

External links
allmusic.com, Blue Stingrays Surf-N-Burn, (LP - Epitaph #60011) Review by Adam Bregman
BLUE STINGRAYS Surf-N-Burn (1997) – Featuring Members Of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers

1997 debut albums
Blue Stingrays albums
Instrumental rock albums
Epitaph Records albums

Surf-n-Burn


George Chaump (April 28, 1936 – May 19, 2019) was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1982–1985), Marshall University (1986–1989), and the United States Naval Academy (1990–1994), compiling a career college football record of 71–73–2. In 1987, Chaump led his Marshall Thundering Herd squad to the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game.

Coaching career
Chaump's football head coaching career began in 1961 at Shamokin High School in Pennsylvania, followed by six seasons at John Harris High School, where his teams went 58–4 in those six seasons.

In 1968, he joined the staff as an assistant coach with Ohio State under Woody Hayes, for whom he coached 11 seasons from 1968 to 1978. This stretch was followed by three years (1979–1981) as an assistant coach in the National Football League with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under coach John McKay, with the team compiling an overall record of 24–23–1. He left the NFL and served for four seasons as head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1982 to 1985, compiling a record of 24-16-1.

From 1986 to 1989, Chaump coached at Marshall, where he compiled a 33–16–1 record. This record includes back-to-back 10-win seasons in 1987 and 1988. From 1990 to 1994, he coached at Navy, where he compiled a 14–41 record.

After leaving Navy, Chaump returned to coaching at Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1997. He coached the school to a 57–14 record through the 2002 season before taking over the head coaching duties at Harrisburg High School prior to the 2003 season. Chaump's tenure at Harrisburg ended in 2010. For two seasons (2011 and 2012), Chaump then served as head coach of the Central Dauphin East High School football team, posting an 8–13 record. In 23 years as a high school coach, Chaump's record was 190–66.

Death
Chaump died on May 19, 2019.

Head coaching record

College

References

1936 births
2019 deaths
Bloomsburg Huskies football players
IUP Crimson Hawks football coaches
Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches
Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches
Navy Midshipmen football coaches
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches
High school football coaches in Pennsylvania
Players of American football from Scranton, Pennsylvania
Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania

George Chaump