title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Aragorn arrives at Helm's Deep, bringing word that Saruman's army is close and Théoden must prepare for battle despite being vastly outnumbered. The army of Elves from Lothlórien arrives, as does Saruman's army, and a battle ensues. The Uruk-hai breach the outer wall with explosives and during the ensuing charge kill the Elves' commander, Haldir. The defenders retreat into the keep, where Aragorn convinces Théoden to meet the Uruk-hai in one last charge. At dawn, as the defenders are overwhelmed, Gandalf and Éomer arrive with the Rohirrim, turning the tide of the battle. The surviving Uruk-hai flee into Fangorn Forest and are killed by the trees. Gandalf warns that Sauron will retaliate.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes to the Black Gate, but recommends they enter Mordor by another route. Frodo and Sam are captured by Rangers of Ithilien led by Faramir, younger brother of the late Boromir. Frodo helps Faramir catch Gollum to save him from being killed by the Rangers. Learning of the One Ring, Faramir takes his captives to Gondor to bring the ring to his father Denethor. Passing through the besieged city of Osgiliath, Frodo tries to explain to Faramir the true nature of the ring, and Sam explains that Boromir was driven mad by its power. A Nazgûl nearly captures Frodo, who falls under the ring's power, but Sam saves him and reminds him that they are fighting for the good still left in Middle-earth. Impressed by Frodo's resolve, Faramir releases them. Feeling betrayed, Gollum decides he will reclaim the Ring by leading Frodo to "Her" upon arriving at Cirith Ungol.<section end=Plot/>


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Like the other films in the series, "The Two Towers" has an ensemble cast, and the cast and their respective characters include:


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: In the Battle of Helm's Deep, Peter Jackson has a cameo appearance as one of the men on top of the gate, throwing a spear at the attacking Uruk-hai. His children and Elijah Wood's sister cameo as young refugees in the caves behind the Hornburg, and Alan Lee and Dan Hennah also cameo as soldiers preparing for the battle. The son of a producer's friend, Hamish Duncan, appears as a reluctant young Rohirrim warrior. Daniel Falconer has a cameo as an Elvish archer at the battle.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The screenwriters did not originally script "The Two Towers" as its own film: instead, parts of it were the conclusion to "The Fellowship of the Ring", the first of two planned films under Miramax. However, as the two films became a trilogy under New Line, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens shuffled their scripts. "The Two Towers" was the most difficult of the "Rings" films to make, having neither a clear beginning nor end to focus the script. Nonetheless, they had a clear decision with making the Battle of Helm's Deep the climax, a decision affecting the whole story's moods and style.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The most notable difference between the book and the film is the structure. Tolkien's "The Two Towers" is split into two parts; one follows the war in Rohan, while the other focuses on the journey of Frodo and Sam. The film omits the book's opening, Boromir's death, which was used as a linear climax at the end of "The Fellowship of the Ring". Also, the film climaxes with the Battle of Helm's Deep, while the book ends with the Fellowship going to Isengard and Frodo's confrontation with Shelob, scenes which were left for the film adaptation of "The Return of the King". This was done partly to fit more closely the timeline indicated by the book.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: One notable change in plotting is that in the film Théoden is possessed by Saruman, whereas in the book he is simply depressed and deluded by Wormtongue. Afterwards, in the film, Théoden is still unsure of what to do, and flees to Helm's Deep. In the book he rides out to war, only ending up besieged when he considers helping Erkenbrand. Erkenbrand does not exist in the films: his character is combined with Éomer as the Rohirrim general who arrives with Gandalf at the film's end. Éomer himself is present during the entire battle in the book.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: On the way to Helm's Deep, the refugees from Edoras are attacked by Wargs. The scene is possibly inspired by one in the book cut from "The Fellowship of the Ring" where it is the Fellowship who battle them. Here, a new subplot is created where Aragorn falls over a cliff, and is assumed to be dead; Jackson added it to create tension. This scene also resonates with a new subplot regarding Arwen, where she decides to leave Middle-earth after losing hope in the long-term possibilities of her love. In the book, Arwen's role is primarily recorded in the Appendices, and she is never depicted as considering such an act.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: A larger change was originally planned: Arwen and Elrond would visit Galadriel, and Arwen would accompany an army of Elves to Helm's Deep to fight alongside Aragorn. During shooting, the script changed, both from writers coming up with better ideas to portray the romance between Aragorn and Arwen, as well as poor fan reaction. The new scene of Arwen leaving for the West was created, and the conversation scene remains, edited to be a flashback to a conversation between them in Rivendell, on the evening before the Fellowship's departure. A conversation between Elrond and Galadriel in Lothlórien was edited to be a telepathic one. Nonetheless, one major change (already filmed) remained that could not be reversed: the Elven warriors fighting at Helm's Deep, although Jackson and Boyens found this romantic and stirring and a reference to how, in the Appendices of "The Return of the King", Galadriel and the Elves of Lothlórien, and Thranduil of Mirkwood were first attacked by an army out of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood, and then later counter-attacked and assaulted the fortress itself.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Another change is the fact Treebeard does not immediately decide to go to war. This adds to the tension, and Boyens describes it as making Merry and Pippin "more than luggage". Here, the Hobbits show Treebeard what Saruman has done to the forest, prompting his decision to act. Another structural change is that the Hobbits meet Gandalf the White early on, explaining why the Hobbits do not react to his return when they meet him again following Isengard's destruction. This was explained in the book by Gandalf arriving at Isengard in the middle of the night to talk to Treebeard.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The filmmakers' decision to leave Shelob for the third film meant that Faramir had to become an obstacle for Frodo and Sam. In the book, Faramir (like Aragorn) quickly recognises the Ring as a danger and a temptation, and does not hesitate long before letting Frodo and Sam go. In the film, Faramir first decides that the Ring shall go to Gondor and his father Denethor, as a way to prove his worth. In the film, Faramir takes Frodo, Sam and the Ring to the Battle of Osgiliath—they do not go there in the book. Jackson winks to readers with Sam's line, "By all rights we shouldn't even be here, but we are." After seeing how strongly the Ring affects Frodo during the Nazgûl attack, Faramir changes his mind and lets them go. These changes reshape the book's contrast between Faramir and Boromir, who in "The Fellowship of the Ring" attempted to take the Ring for himself. On the other hand, (which can be seen only in the film's extended version), it is actually their father who wants the Ring and urges Boromir to get it, while Faramir only wants to prove himself to his father. Boyens contends these plot changes were needed to keep the Ring menacing. Wenham commented on the DVD documentaries that he had not read the book prior to reading the script, so the film's version of Faramir was the Faramir he knew. When he later read the book and noticed the major difference, he approached the writers about it, and they explained to him that if he did say "I wouldn't pick that thing up even if it lay by the wayside", it would basically strip the One Ring of all corruptive power.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The meaning of the title itself, 'The Two Towers', was changed. While Tolkien considered several possible sets of towers he eventually created a final cover illustration and wrote a note included at the end of "The Fellowship of the Ring" which identified them as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. Jackson's film names them as Orthanc and Barad-dûr, symbolic of an evil alliance out to destroy Men that forms the film's plot point. The film depicted Saruman openly presenting himself outright as Sauron's servant, whereas this association was not explicitly stated in the novel (and indeed analysis by Gandalf and Aragorn in the chapter "The White Rider" stated that there was a rivalry instead, as Saruman was afraid of the prospect of being at war with Sauron, if Rohan and Gondor fell).


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: When Alan Lee joined the project in late 1997, Helm's Deep was the first structure he was tasked to design. At 1:35 scale, it was one of the first miniatures built for the film, and was part of the 45-minute video that sold the project to New Line. It was primarily drawn from an illustration Lee had once done for the book, though the curved wall featured in the film was proposed by fellow illustrator and designer John Howe. Used in the film for wide shots, Jackson also used this miniature to plan the battle, using 40,000 toy soldiers.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Helm's Deep, a pivotal part of the film's narrative, was built at Dry Creek Quarry with its gate, a ramp, and a wall, which included a removable section as well as the tower on a second level. A 1:4-scale miniature of Helm's Deep that ran wide was used for forced perspective shots, as well as the major explosion sequence.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The film explores the armies of Middle-earth. John Howe was the basic designer of the evil forces of Middle Earth, with the Uruk-hai being the first army approved by Jackson. Howe also designed a special crossbow for the Uruk-Hai characters, which was significant because it did not require external tools to rearm. This design was the realization of a 16th-century manuscript. Also created were 100 Elven suits of armour, for which emphasis was placed on Autumnal colours due to the theme of Elves leaving Middle-earth. Two hundred and fifty suits were also made for the Rohirrim. The designs for Rohan were based on Germanic and Anglo-Saxon patterns, with most of the weapons designed by John Howe and forged by Peter Lyon. Each sword took 3 to 6 days to make.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The exterior of the Rohirrim's capital of Edoras, including its thatched roofs, took six months to build on Mount Sunday. The interior of the buildings doubled as offices and lunch halls. The interior of the Hall of Edoras was filmed at Stone Street Studios with tapestries designed by Lee, and Théoden's wooden throne was partly created by his daughter. Hill endured heavy make-up for the possession scene where his skin was pulled back and released for increased wrinkles. Dourif shaved off his eyebrows and put potato flakes as dandruff in his hair for unnerving effect.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Through Frodo and Sam's story, the film also provides a look at Mordor and Gondor. Barad-dûr is fully seen in a tracking shot, a design which Howe called a mockery of Gothic Cathedrals. He and Lee created the Black Gate (though a typo in the script made the miniature into two) and Osgiliath, a ruined city reflecting London during the Blitz or Berlin in 1945. The set on a backlot was based around a bridge and reused some of Moria.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: "The Two Towers" shared principal photography with "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Return of the King". The trilogy was filmed between 11 October 1999 and 22 December 2000. The scenes which take place in Rohan were shot earlier in the production, during which time Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies' stunt double Brett Beattie sustained many injuries. Mortensen broke two toes when he kicked an Orc helmet while filming the scene in which he, Legolas, and Gimli find the remains of the Uruk-hai and believing Merry and Pippin to be dead (a shot which is included in the film). Furthermore, during filming Bloom fell off his horse and cracked three ribs, and Beattie dislocated his knee. These injuries led to the actors suffering two days of pain during the running sequence in the first act of the film, leading Jackson to jokingly refer to them as "The Walking Wounded."


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The filming of the Battle of Helm's Deep took approximately three months, with most of the nighttime shots handled by John Mahaffie. Some injuries were sustained during the filming of the sequence, including Mortensen chipping his tooth, and Bernard Hill's ear getting slashed. The sequence also features 500 extras, who insulted each other in Māori, and improvised scenes such as the Uruk-hai stamping their spears before the beginning of the battle. However, there was alleged annoyance among the film's crew for the strength of the gates, which were claimed to be "too" reinforced during the Battering Ram scene. Mortensen greatly respected the stunt team, and head butted them often as a sign of that respect.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: As with "", Jim Rygiel served as the visual effects supervisor for "The Two Towers", while newcomer Joe Letteri joined the visual effects team to supervise Andy Serkis's motion capture performance in the creation of the character Gollum. During the production of "The Two Towers" Weta Digital doubled their staff of 260. In total, they would produce 73 minutes of digital effects with 799 shots. The film would feature their first challenge in creating a battle scene, as well as creating two digital characters who needed to act rather than be a set piece, unlike 's Cave Troll and Balrog.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Weta began animating Gollum in late 1998 to convince New Line they could achieve the effect. Andy Serkis "played" Gollum by providing his voice and movements on set, as well as performing within the motion capture suit later on. His scenes were filmed twice, with and without him. Originally, Gollum was set to solely be a CGI character, but Jackson was so impressed by Serkis' audition tape that they used him on set as well.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Gollum's CGI model was also redesigned during 2001 when Serkis was cast as Sméagol, Gollum's former self, so as to give the impression Andy Serkis as Sméagol transforms into the CGI Gollum. The original model can still be glimpsed briefly in the first film. Over Christmas 2001, the crew proceeded to reanimate all the previous shots accordingly within two months. Another problem was that the crew realized that the cast performed better in the takes which physically included Serkis. In the end, the CGI Gollum was rotoscoped and animated on top of these scenes.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Serkis' motion capture was generally used to animate Gollum's body, except for some difficult shots such as him crawling upside down. Gollum's face was animated manually, often using recordings of Serkis as a guide. Gino Acevedo supervised realistic skin tones, which took four hours per frame to render.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: While the novel alludes to a division within his mind, the film depicts him as having a split personality. The two personas—the childlike Sméagol and the evil Gollum—are established during a scene in which they argue over remaining loyal to Frodo. The two personalities talk to each other, as established by contrasting camera angles and by Serkis altering his voice and physicality for each persona.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Treebeard took between 28 and 48 hours per frame to render. For scenes where he interacts with Merry and Pippin, a 14-foot-tall puppet was built on a wheel. Weta took urethane moulds of tree bark and applied them to the sculpt of Treebeard to create his wooden skin. Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd sat on bicycle seats concealed into Treebeard's hands to avoid discomfort and were left alone on set sitting in the puppet's hands during breaks. The puppet was shot against bluescreen.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The musical score for "The Two Towers" was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore, who also composed the music for the other two films in the series. While the scores for its predecessor and sequel won the Academy Award for Best Score, the soundtrack for "The Two Towers" was not nominated. Initially there was confusion over the score's eligibility due to a new rule applying to sequels, but the academy did declare it eligible.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The score features The London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices, The London Oratory School Schola and several vocal and instrumental soloists, including soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, and Irish fiddler and violinist Dermot Crehan, who also performed on the Hardanger fiddle, which is used in this film in conjunction with the various Rohan themes.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The funeral song Éowyn sings during her cousin Théodred's entombment in the extended edition is styled to be a traditional song of the Rohirrim, and has lyrics in their language, Rohirric (represented by Old English). The song does not appear in the book, and the tune is a variation upon a theme of the rímur Icelandic folk tradition; it can be heard as part of track 7 in the 1999 recording of a musical version of the Edda by Sequentia.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The soundtrack has a picture of Peter Jackson (barefoot), the composer, and two producers crossing Abbey Road, referencing The Beatles' album of the same name.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The teaser trailer premiered in theaters on 3 July 2002 with the release of "Men in Black II". The theatrical trailer was then released theatrically on 4 October 2002 with the debut of "Red Dragon".


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: "The Two Towers" was released on VHS and DVD on 26 August 2003 in the United States. The date was originally intended to be a simultaneous worldwide release, but due to a bank holiday weekend in the United Kingdom, some British outlets began selling DVDs as much as four days earlier, much to the ire of the UK distributor, Entertainment in Video, which had threatened to withhold advance supplies of subsequent DVD releases. During its first five days of release, the DVD release sold over 3.5 million units. The film also generated $22.8 million in rentals, breaking "The Bourne Identity"s record for having the biggest rentals of any DVD release. By December 2003, it was reported that "The Two Towers" sold 16.4 million copies and earned $305.4 million in sales revenue, becoming the second-highest selling home video release of 2003, after "Finding Nemo".


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: As with "Fellowship", an extended edition of "Two Towers" was released on VHS and DVD on 18 November 2003 with 45 minutes of new material, added special effects and music, plus 11 minutes of fan-club credits. The runtime expanded to 235 minutes. The 4-disc DVD set included four commentaries along with hours of supplementary material.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: In August 2006, a limited edition was released on DVD, and included both theatrical and extended editions on a double-sided disc along with all-new bonus material.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The theatrical Blu-ray version of "The Lord of the Rings" was released in the United States in April 2010. The individual disc of "Two Towers" was released in September 2010 with the same special features as the complete trilogy release, minus digital copy.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: "Two Towers" was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray on 30 November 2020 in the United Kingdom and on 1 December 2020 in the United States, along with the other installments, including both theatrical and extended cuts.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: "The Two Towers" opened in theaters on 18 December 2002. During its opening day, the film grossed $26 million, making it the second-highest opening Wednesday, behind "". It earned $62,007,528 in its opening weekend in the US and Canada, becoming the fifth-highest opening weekend of that year, behind "Austin Powers in Goldmember", "", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Spider-Man". This was also the third-highest opening weekend for a New Line Cinema film, trailing only behind "Rush Hour 2" and "Austin Powers in Goldmember". The film then made $101.5 million during its five-day Wednesday opening.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Outside the US and Canada, "The Two Towers" made $99.4 million from 25 territories during its opening weekend, which made it the highest international opening weekend. The combined total opening weekend gross increased to $189.9 million, making it the highest worldwide opening weekend of all time. The film would hold both records until 2003 when they were given to "The Matrix Reloaded" and its successor "The Matrix Revolutions" respectively. "The Two Towers" set opening day records in Germany, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and Norway, as well as a single-day record in Denmark. It then made opening weekend records in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and South Korea.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The film went on to gross $339,789,881 in North America and $596,899,854 internationally for a worldwide total of $936,689,735 against a budget of $94 million. "The Two Towers" was the highest-grossing film of 2002 worldwide. Box Office Mojo estimates over 57 million sold tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Through re-releases in 2003, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021, the film has grossed an additional $2,761,484 in the United States and Canada, and $8,043,876 overseas for a combined total of $10,805,360. This brings overall earnings to $342,551,365 domestic and $604,943,730 international for a worldwide total of $947,495,095.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "The Two Towers" holds an approval rating of 95% based on 255 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. The website's critics consensus reads, ""The Two Towers" balances spectacular action with emotional storytelling, leaving audiences both wholly satisfied and eager for the final chapter." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100 based on 39 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, a grade up from the "A−" earned by the previous film.


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: Like its predecessor, "The Two Towers" was released to universal critical acclaim. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three stars out of four, describing it as "one of the most spectacular swashbucklers ever made", and stating "It is not faithful to the spirit of Tolkien and misplaces much of the charm and whimsy of the books, but it stands on its own as a visionary thriller". Nev Pierce for the BBC gave the film four stars out of five, and wrote that while it lacked "the first film's wow-factor", it surpassed "The Fellowship of the Ring" "in terms of wit, action and narrative drive". Pierce described Gollum as "the first believable CG character" and the Battle of Helm's Deep as "one of the finest, most expansive combat sequences ever filmed". Writing for "The Observer", Philip French described "The Two Towers" as a "stunning visual epic". French commended the battle scenes and the visual style of the film, relating it to the paintings of "Caspar David Friedrich, the Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau illustrations for children's books, and the apocalyptic biblical landscapes ... of the Victorian visionary John Martin". He concluded the review looking forward to the release of the final chapter, writing "This is likely to be happier, more decisive and infinitely more satisfying than anything that will happen to our world in the next 12 months." Joe Morgenstern for "The Wall Street Journal" lauded the narrative construction of "The Two Towers": "Elaborate preparations are required for the payoff in this installment -- the massing of troops plus much individual struggle as splintered groups of the Fellowship make their separate ways toward the defining battle of Helm's Deep ... Yet these preparations count as payoffs too ... Seldom has a popular entertainment set its stage so carefully or evocatively, with such lavish respect for its audience." Morgenstern also highlighted the digital effects and the battle scenes, and said of the series ""The Lord of the Rings" continues to stake its singular claim on movie history; it's a gift of epic proportions." In his review for the "Evening Standard", Alexander Walker wrote that the Battle of Helm's Deep was "probably the greatest battlepiece composed for the screen since Eisenstein's "Ivan the Terrible"", and that with "The Two Towers" the trilogy had achieved "a majestic proportion, chivalric and quixotic, earthly and magical, an experience that reaches beyond the dimensions of the cinema screen and somehow reflects the global unease of the world in the first years of the 21st century".


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: In his review for "Newsweek", David Ansen commended Jackson's direction of the battle scenes, writing "Few people can stage a battle -- and the eyepopping siege of Helms Deep is one of the most spectacular you'll ever see -- with such sweep and clarity that the carnage doesn't seem an oppressive end in itself". Ansen also praised the complexity of the character of Gollum, commenting "While everyone else in Tolkien's myth falls neatly into the camps of Good and Evil, the self-lacerating Gollum is at war with himself. In an epic drenched in medievalism, he's the dangerously ambiguous voice of the modern." Caroline Westbrook, for "Empire", gave the film five stars out of five, and wrote "It may lack the first-view-thrill and natural dramatic shape of Fellowship, but this is both funnier and darker than the first film, and certainly more action-packed. An essential component of what is now destined to be among the best film franchises of all time." Westbrook lauded Jackson's ability to temper the spectacular scenes "with some heartstring-tugging moments - peasants despondent as they are forced to abandon their villages, Aragorn and Arwen's troubled relationship, and, of course, the return of Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen, superb as ever), one of the film's most powerful, memorable images that may well leave Ring devotees a little misty-eyed." A less enthusiastic review was written in "The Guardian" by Peter Bradshaw, who had already written a mixed review of "The Fellowship of the Ring". Bradshaw gave "The Two Towers" three stars out of five, appreciating it as "a very watchable, distinctive, if over-extended FX spectacle". However, he commented that the film could not be taken as "a serious evocation of good and evil", and dismissed the subject as "lots and lots of interminable nerdish nonsense".


title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

text: The Battle of Helm's Deep has been named by CNN as one of the greatest screen battles of all time, while Gollum was named as the third favourite computer-generated film character by "Entertainment Weekly" in 2007.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Nomadland is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century" by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves, including Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: "Nomadland" premiered on September 11, 2020, at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. It also won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. It had a one-week streaming limited release on December 4, 2020, and was distributed by Searchlight Pictures in selected IMAX theaters in the United States on January 29, 2021, and simultaneously in theaters, and streaming digitally on Hulu, on February 19, 2021. The film was a box office success, grossing $39 million worldwide against its $5 million budget and received widespread critical acclaim for its direction, editing, screenplay and cinematography, as well as the performances of McDormand and Strathairn. It was the third-highest rated film of 2020 on Metacritic, which found it to be the most frequently ranked by critics and publications as one of the best films of the year.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: At the 93rd Academy Awards, it won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for McDormand, from a total of six nominations. Zhao became the first Asian woman and the second woman ever to win Best Director; McDormand became the first woman and fourth person to win Academy Awards for both acting and producing, and the first person ever to win Academy Awards as producer and performer for the same film. It is also the first Searchlight release to win Best Picture since the studio's ownership under Walt Disney Studios, following Disney's acquisition of the 21st Century Fox assets. It also won Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director at the 78th Golden Globe Awards, four awards including Best Film at the 74th British Academy Film Awards, and four awards including Best Film at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: In 2011, Fern loses her job after the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada shuts down; she worked there for years along with her husband, who recently died. Fern sells most of her belongings and purchases a van to live in and travel the country searching for work. She takes a seasonal job at an Amazon fulfillment center through the winter.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Linda, a friend and co-worker, invites Fern to visit a desert rendezvous in Arizona organized by Bob Wells, which provides a support system and community for fellow nomads. Fern initially declines, but changes her mind as the weather turns cold and she struggles to find work in the area. There, Fern meets fellow nomads and learns basic survival and self-sufficiency skills for the road.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: When Fern's van blows a tire, she visits the van of a nearby nomad, Swankie, to ask for a ride into town to buy a spare. Swankie chastises Fern for not being prepared and invites her to learn road survival skills; they become friends. Swankie tells Fern about her cancer diagnosis and shortened life expectancy and her plan to make good memories on the road rather than waste away in a hospital. They eventually part ways.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Fern takes a job as a camp host at the Cedar Pass Campgrounds in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Also working there is Dave, another nomad she met and danced with at the desert community. When he falls ill with diverticulitis, Fern visits him at the hospital where he has had emergency surgery. They take restaurant jobs at Wall Drug in South Dakota. One night, Dave's son visits the restaurant looking for him, telling him that his wife is pregnant and asking him to meet his grandchild. He is hesitant, but Fern encourages him to go. Dave suggests that she come with him, but she declines.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Fern takes a new job at a sugar beet processing plant, but her van breaks down, and she cannot afford the repairs. Unable to borrow money, she visits her sister's family at their home in California. Fern's sister lends her the money to get the van fixed. She questions why Fern was never around in their lives and why Fern stayed in Empire after her husband died, but she tells Fern she is brave to be so independent. Fern later visits Dave and his son's family, learning that Dave has decided to stay with them long-term. He admits feelings for her and invites her to stay with him permanently in a guest house, but she decides to leave after only a few days, heading to the ocean.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Fern returns to her seasonal Amazon job and later revisits the Arizona rendezvous. There, she learns that Swankie has died, and she and the other nomads pay tribute to her life by tossing stones into the campfire. Fern opens up to Bob about her loving relationship with her late husband, and he shares the story of his son's suicide. Bob espouses the view that goodbyes are not final in the nomad community as its members always promise to see each other again "down the road".


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Fern returns to the nearly abandoned town of Empire to dispose of the belongings she has been keeping in a storage unit. She visits the factory and the home she shared with her husband before returning to the road.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Frances McDormand and Peter Spears optioned the film rights to the book in 2017. After seeing Chloé Zhao's film "The Rider" at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, McDormand decided to approach her about the project. She and Spears met with Zhao at the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards in March 2018, and Zhao agreed to write and direct the film.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Filming for "Nomadland" took place over four months in fall 2018, with writer-director Zhao splitting time between the set and pre-production for "Eternals" (2021). McDormand, Zhao, and other crew members lived out of vans over the course of production. David Strathairn, and real-life nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells, also star. Many other real-life nomads appear throughout the film. McDormand, Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, and Zhao produced the film.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Searchlight Pictures acquired the worldwide distribution rights for "Nomadland" in February 2019. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 11, 2020, and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on the same day. At Venice, the film won several awards, including the festival's top honor, the Golden Lion. At Toronto, the film won the People's Choice Award. It is the first film to win the top prize at both Venice and Toronto.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: In association with Searchlight, Film at Lincoln Center held exclusive virtual screenings of the film for one week only beginning on December 4, 2020, the film's initial release date before Searchlight delayed it to February 19, 2021, due to concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released in IMAX theaters on January 29, 2021, with a wide theatrical and drive-in release in the United States on February 19, and streaming on Hulu the same day. A two-week preview season in certain regions of Australia and New Zealand began on December 26, 2020, before a wider release on March 4, 2021.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Internationally, the film is also available on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. The release date on Disney+ was April 9, 2021 in Canada, and April 30, 2021, in most other countries. Although originally scheduled for a limited release in China starting on April 23, 2021, the film has still not been shown in any theaters there.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: "Nomadland" was released on Blu-ray and digital streaming services on April 27, 2021, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: "Nomadland" grossed $3.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $35.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $39.1 million.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Although Searchlight did not publicly release "Nomadland"'s grosses, it was released in North America the same day as "The Little Things", and sources estimated a gross of $170,000 from its two-week IMAX run, then $503,000 from 1,175 theaters in its wide opening weekend on February 19, for a total of $673,000. Social media monitor RelishMix noted online response was "mixed-to-leaning-positive" among audiences. In its second wide release weekend, it earned an estimated $330,000 from 1,200 theaters, for a four-week running total of $1.1 million.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that of critic reviews were positive, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "A poetic character study on the forgotten and downtrodden, "Nomadland" beautifully captures the restlessness left in the wake of the Great Recession." According to Metacritic, which assigned it a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 based on 53 critics, the film received "universal acclaim".


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", David Rooney called the film a "powerful character study", and added, "Like Zhao's earlier work, "Nomadland" is an unassuming film, its aptly meandering, unhurried non-narrative layering impressions rather than building a story with the standard markers. But the cumulative effect of its many quiet, seemingly inconsequential encounters and moments of solitary contemplation is a unique portrait of outsider existence." Adrian Horton of "The Guardian" gave the film a positive review, stating, ""Nomadland" has garnered industry praise as a likely frontrunner for the best picture Oscar ... The word of mouth is warranted." A.O. Scott of "The New York Times" similarly gave a positive review, writing "It's like discovering a new country, one you may want to visit more than once." Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film an "A−" and said, "director Chloé Zhao works magic with McDormand's face and the real world around it, delivering a profound rumination on the impulse to leave society in the dust." Some reviewers felt the film idealized financial despair. Critic Tim Brayton called it "108 minutes of poverty tourism", while WBUR's Sean Burns wrote "Zhao has made "The Grapes of Wrath" without the wrath".


title: Nomadland (film)

text: IndieWire's poll of 231 critics included "Nomadland" in its Best Movies of 2020. According to Metacritic, the film was ranked the best of 2020 by critics more often than any other.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: Zhao and the film's success prior to and leading up to the Golden Globes and the Oscars were initially praised on Chinese social media outlets, as well as official state-controlled news media.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: After the Golden Globes, Zhao was scrutinized by Chinese netizens over her remarks in a 2013 interview for "Filmmaker" magazine, in which she described China as "a place where there are lies everywhere". In response to the controversy, "Nomadland" was pulled from theatrical release by Disney China, and the 93rd Academy Awards were censored by Chinese media outlets along with all mention of Zhao or the film on social media.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: "Nomadland" won the Golden Lion upon premiering at the Venice Film Festival, and also won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. It received four nominations at the 78th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director; in winning the latter award, Zhao became the second woman and the first East Asian woman to do so. It received five nominations at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards and six nominations at the 26th Critics’ Choice Awards, winning four awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. At the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards, McDormand received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.


title: Nomadland (film)

text: The film won the BAFTA Award for Best Film in 2021. The film received six nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, winning Best Director (with Zhao becoming the second woman and first non-white woman to do so), Best Picture, and Best Actress awards in 2021. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named "Nomadland" as one of the top 10 films of 2020.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Party, he was the 35th president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. After winning the 2022 Brazilian general election, he will be sworn in on 1 January 2023 as the 39th president of Brazil, succeeding Jair Bolsonaro.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Of working-class origin, he migrated as a child from Pernambuco to São Paulo with his family. He began his career as a metalworker and trade unionist. During the military dictatorship in Brazil, he led major workers' strikes between 1978 and 1980, and helped start the Workers' Party in 1980, during Brazil's political opening. Lula was one of the main leaders of the Diretas Já movement which demanded democratic elections. In the 1986 Brazilian legislative election, he was elected as a federal deputy in the state of São Paulo with the most votes nationwide. He ran his first major campaign in the 1989 Brazilian presidential election, losing in the second round to Fernando Collor de Mello. He ran twice more in the 1994 and 1998 presidential elections, losing both elections in the first round to Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He won the 2002 Brazilian presidential election, defeating José Serra in the second round. He was reelected in the 2006 Brazilian presidential election, beating Geraldo Alckmin in the second round.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Described as left-wing, Lula's first presidency, which coincided with the first pink tide in the region, was marked by the consolidation of social programs like Bolsa Família and Fome Zero, leading Brazil to leave the UN's Hunger Map. During his two terms in office, he undertook radical reforms, leading to growth in GDP, a reduction in public debt and inflation, and helping 20 million Brazilians escape poverty. Poverty, inequality, illiteracy, unemployment, infant mortality, and child labor rates fell significantly, while the minimum wage and average income increased, and access to school, university, and health care were expanded. He played a prominent role in foreign policy, on a regional level (as part of the BRICS) and as part of global trade and environmental negotiations. Lula was considered one of the most popular politicians in the history of Brazil and was one of the most popular in the world while president. His first term was marked by numerous scandals, notably the Mensalão scandal and . After the 2010 Brazilian general election, he was succeeded by his former Chief of Staff, Dilma Rousseff.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: After his first presidency, Lula remained active in the political scene and began giving lectures in Brazil and abroad. In 2016, he was appointed as Rousseff's Chief of Staff, but the appointment was suspended by the Supreme Federal Court. In July 2017, Lula was convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption in a controversial trial, and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. The federal judge of the case, Sergio Moro, later became Minister of Justice and Public Security in Bolsonaro's government. After an unsuccessful appeal, Lula was arrested in April 2018 and spent 580 days in jail. Lula attempted to run in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election but was disqualified under Brazil's Ficha Limpa law. In November 2019, the Supreme Federal Court ruled that incarcerations with pending appeals were unlawful and Lula was released from prison as a result. In March 2021, Supreme Federal Court Justice Edson Fachin ruled that all of Lula's convictions must be nullified because he was tried by a court that did not have proper jurisdiction over his case. Fachin's ruling, which was confirmed by other Supreme Court Justices in April 2021, restored Lula's political rights. The Supreme Federal Court ruled later in March 2021 that judge Moro, who oversaw his corruption trial, was biased. All of the cases Moro had brought against Lula were annulled by 24 June 2021. Following the court ruling, Lula was legally allowed to run for president again in the 2022 elections, and defeated Bolsonaro in the runoff.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Luiz Inácio da Silva was born on 27 October 1945 (registered with a date of birth of 6 October 1945) in Caetés (then a district of Garanhuns), located 250 km (150 miles) from Recife, capital of Pernambuco, a state in the Northeast of Brazil. He was the seventh of eight children of Aristides Inácio da Silva and Eurídice Ferreira de Melo. Two weeks after Lula's birth, his father moved to Santos, São Paulo, with Valdomira Ferreira de Góis, a cousin of Eurídice. He was raised Roman Catholic. Lula's mother was of Portuguese and partial Italian descent.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In December 1952, when Lula was seven years old, his mother moved the family to São Paulo to rejoin her husband. After a journey of 13 days in a "pau-de-arara" (open truck bed), they arrived in Guarujá and discovered that Aristides had formed a second family with Valdomira. Aristides's two families lived in the same house for some time, but they did not get along very well, and four years later, Eurídice moved with her children to a small room behind a bar in São Paulo. After that, Lula rarely saw his father, who died an alcoholic in 1978.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula has been married three times. In 1969, he married Maria de Lourdes, who died of hepatitis in 1971 while pregnant with their first son, who also died. In 1974, Lula had a daughter, Lurian, with his then girlfriend, Miriam Cordeiro. The two were never married, and he only began participating in his daughter's life when she was already a young adult. In 1974, Lula married Marisa Letícia Rocco Casa, a widow, with whom he then had three sons. He also adopted Marisa's son from her first marriage. Lula and Marisa remained married for 43 years, until her death on 2 February 2017 after a stroke. He married Rosângela da Silva in 2022. The two met while he was serving time in jail in Curitiba, Paraná, due to corruption charges that were later dropped.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula has had little formal education. He did not learn to read until he was ten years old and quit school after the second grade to work and help his family. His first job at age 12 was as shoeshiner and street vendor. By 14, he had a formal job in a warehouse.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: He lost the little finger on his left hand at 19 in an accident, while working as a press operator in an automobile parts factory. After the accident, he had to run to several hospitals before he received medical attention. This experience increased his interest in participating in the Workers' Union. Around that time, he became involved in union activities and held several important union posts.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Inspired by his brother Frei Chico, Lula joined the labour movement when he worked at Villares Metals S.A, rising steadily through the ranks. He was elected in 1975, and reelected in 1978, as president of the Steel Workers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. Both cities are located in the ABCD Region, home to most of Brazil's automobile manufacturing facilities, including Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and others, and are among the most industrialized in the country. In the late 1970s, when Brazil was under military rule, Lula helped organize union activities, including major strikes. Labour courts found the strikes illegal, and Lula was jailed for a month. Due to this, and like other people imprisoned for political activities under the military government, Lula was awarded a lifetime pension after the fall of the military regime.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 10 February 1980, a group of academics, intellectuals, and union leaders, including Lula, founded the "Partido dos Trabalhadores" (PT) or Workers' Party, a left-wing party with progressive ideas created in the midst of Brazil's military government.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In 1982, he added the nickname Lula to his legal name. In 1983, he helped found the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) union association. In 1984, PT and Lula joined the popular "Diretas Já!" ("Direct [Elections] Now!") campaign, demanding a direct popular vote for the next Brazilian presidential election. According to the 1967 constitution, Presidents were at that time elected by both Houses of Congress in joint session, with representatives of all State Legislatures; this was widely recognised as a mere sham as, since the March 1964 coup d'état, each "elected" President had been a retired general chosen in a closed military caucus. Lula and the PT supported the public demand for a change in the electoral system. But the campaign was defeated by a vote in Congress that rejected an amendment calling direct elections for the following year, and, in 1985, a civilian president, Tancredo Neves, was elected by the same indirect procedure, with Lula's support. Only four years later, as a direct result of "Diretas Já!" and after years of popular struggle, the 1989 elections were the first in 29 years to elect a president by direct popular vote.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula first ran for office in 1982, for the state government of São Paulo, and lost. In the 1986 elections, Lula won a seat in Congress with the most votes nationwide. The Workers' Party helped write the country's post-military government Constitution, ensuring strong constitutional guarantees for workers' rights, but failed to achieve a proposed push for agrarian reform in the Constitutional text. Under Lula's leadership, the PT took a stance against the Constitution in the 1988 Constituent Assembly, reluctantly agreeing to sign the agreed draft at a later stage.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In 1989, still as a Congressman, Lula ran as the PT candidate in the first democratic elections for president since 1960. Lula and Leonel Brizola, two popular left-wing candidates, were expected to tie for first place. Lula was viewed as the more left-leaning of the two, advocating immediate land reform and a default on the external debt. A minor candidate, Fernando Collor de Mello, former governor of Alagoas, quickly amassed support among the nation's elite with a more business-friendly agenda. Collor became popular taking emphatic anti-corruption positions; he eventually beat Lula in the second round of the 1989 elections. In 1992, Collor resigned, under threat of impeachment for his alleged embezzlement of public money.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula refused to run for re-election as a Congressman in 1990, busying himself with expanding the Workers' Party organizations around the country. As the political scene in the 1990s came under the sway of the Brazilian real monetary stabilization plan, which ended decades of rampant inflation, former PSDB Minister of Finance Fernando Henrique Cardoso defeated Lula in 1994 and again, by an even wider margin, in 1998.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: A 2010 article in "The Washington Post" said that, before winning the presidency, Lula had been a "strident union organizer known for his bushy beard and Che Guevara T-shirts". In the 2002 campaign, Lula forswore both his informal clothing style and his platform plank of linking the payment of Brazil's foreign debt to a prior thorough audit. This last point had worried economists, businessmen and banks, who feared that even a partial Brazilian default along with the existing Argentine default would have a massive ripple effect through the world economy. Embracing political consultant Duda Mendonça's advice to pursue a more media-friendly image, Lula led the field in the first round of the 2002 election, held on 6 October, with a nearly two-to-one margin over PSDB candidate José Serra. He then defeated Serra in the runoff, to become the country's first leftist president following the fall of the military dictatorship in Brazil, with 61.3 percent of the vote.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: At the 1 October 2006 general elections, Lula came within a few thousand votes of being reelected in a single round (to date, Cardoso is the only person to win a first-round victory since the return of direct elections in 1989). He faced a run-off on 29 October and won by a substantial margin over the PSDB's Geraldo Alckmin, albeit with a slightly smaller share of the vote than he'd won in the 2002 runoff (60.83 percent vs 61.3 percent). In an interview published 26 August 2007, he said that he had no intention to seek a constitutional change so that he could run for a third consecutive term; he also said that he wanted "to reach the end of [his] term in a strong position in order to influence the succession."


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In early September 2018, Brazil's top electoral court banned former president Lula da Silva from running for president on the 2018 general election due to his corruption conviction, in accordance with Lei da Ficha Limpa. Instead, Fernando Haddad ran for president on the Workers Party ticket and was defeated by Jair Bolsonaro, after securing nearly 45 percent of the popular vote in a run-off between the candidates.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula served two terms as president from 2003 through 2010 and left office on 1 January 2011. During his farewell speech he said he felt an additional burden to prove that he could handle the presidency despite his humble beginnings. "If I failed, it would be the workers' class which would be failing; it would be this country's poor who would be proving they did not have what it takes to rule."


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Very few of the proposed reforms were actually implemented during Lula's terms of office. Some wings of the Worker's Party disagreed with the increasing moderation in focus since the late eighties and have since left the party to form parties, such as the Workers' Cause Party, the United Socialist Workers' Party and during Lula's presidency the Socialism and Liberty Party. Alliances with old, traditional oligarch politicians, like former presidents José Sarney and Fernando Collor, have been a cause of disappointment for some.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula put social programs at the top of his agenda during the campaigns and after election. From very early on his leading program was to eradicate hunger, following the lead of projects already put into practice by the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, but expanded by the new "Fome Zero" ("Zero Hunger") program. The program combined a series of programs with the goal of ending hunger in Brazil through the construction of water cisterns in Brazil's semi-arid region of Sertão, countering teenage pregnancy, strengthening family agriculture, distributing a minimum amount of cash to the poor and many other measures.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula launched a housing aid program that was far superior in scope to the policies developed until then. More than 15 billion euros were invested in water purification and the urbanization of favelas, and more than 40 billion in housing. As a priority, the government proposed to relocate the poor populations that occupy the "risk zones", prone to floods or landslides, and then to extend the electricity network, to launch work to relocate the streets and to improve the precarious housing. The government undertook to democratize access to real estate credit.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: During Lula's first term, child malnutrition decreased by 46%. In May 2010, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) awarded Lula da Silva the title of "World Champion in the Fight against Hunger".


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The largest assistance program was "Bolsa Família" (Family Allowance), which was based upon the previous "Bolsa Escola" (School Allowance), which was conditional on school attendance, first introduced in the city of Campinas by then-mayor José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira. Not long thereafter, other municipalities and states adopted similar programs. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso later federalized the program in 2001. In 2003, Lula formed "Bolsa Família" by combining "Bolsa Escola" with additional allowances for food and kitchen gas. This was preceded by the creation of a new ministry – the Ministry of Social Development and Eradication of Hunger. This merger reduced administrative costs and bureaucratic complexity for both the families involved and the administration of the program.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: "Fome Zero" has a government budget and accepts donations from the private sector and international organizations. The "Bolsa Família" program has been praised internationally for its achievements, despite internal criticism accusing it of having turned into an electoral weapon.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Along with projects such as "Fome Zero" and "Bolsa Família", another Lula administration flagship program was the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The PAC had a total budget of $646 billion reais (US$353 billion) by 2010, and was the Lula administration's main investment program. It was intended to strengthen Brazil's infrastructure, and consequently to stimulate the private sector and create more jobs. The social and urban infrastructure sector was scheduled to receive $84.2 billion reais (US$46 billion).


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: As Lula gained strength in the run-up to the 2002 elections, the fear of drastic measures, and comparisons with Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, increased internal market speculation. This led to some market hysteria, contributing to a drop in the value of the real, and a downgrade of Brazil's credit rating.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula also chose Henrique Meirelles of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, a prominent market-oriented economist, as head of the Brazilian Central Bank. As a former CEO of the BankBoston he was well known to the market. Meirelles was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2002 as a member of the opposing PSDB, but resigned as deputy to become Governor of the Central Bank.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula and his cabinet followed, to an extent, the lead of the previous government, by renewing all agreements with the International Monetary Fund, which were signed by the time Argentina defaulted on its own deals in 2001. His government achieved a satisfactory primary budget surplus in the first two years, as required by the IMF agreement, exceeding the target for the third year. In late 2005, the government paid off its debt to the IMF in full, two years ahead of schedule.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The Brazilian economy was generally not affected by the mensalão scandal, which related to vote buying in the Brazilian Congress. In early 2006, Antonio Palocci resigned as finance minister due to his involvement in an abuse of power scandal. Lula then appointed Guido Mantega, a member of the PT and an economist by profession, as finance minister. Mantega, a former Marxist who had written a PhD thesis (in Sociology) on the history of economic ideas in Brazil from a left-wing viewpoint, was known for his criticism of high interest rates, something he claimed satisfied banking interests. Mantega was also supportive of a higher level of employment by the state. Not long after the start of his second term, Lula's government announced the Growth Acceleration Program ("", PAC), an investment program to solve many of the problems that prevented the Brazilian economy from expanding more rapidly. The measures included investment in the creation and repair of roads and railways, simplification and reduction of taxation, and modernization of the country's energy production to avoid further shortages. The money pledged to be spent on this program was considered to be around R$ 500 billion (more than 250 billion dollars) over four years. Prior to taking office, Lula had been a critic of privatization. His administration created public-private partnership concessions for seven federal roadways.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: After decades with the largest foreign debt among emerging economies, Brazil became a net creditor for the first time in January 2008. By mid-2008, both Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's had elevated the classification of Brazilian debt from speculative to investment grade. Banks made record profits under Lula's government.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula's second term was much more confident; Lula was then not only the undisputed object of popular affection, as the first president to bring a modest well-being to many people, but also in complete control of his own administration. His two leading ministers were gone. Palocci was no longer needed to calm the nerves of overseas investors and Lula had never liked and somewhat feared José Dirceu, a virtuoso of cold political calculation and intrigue. Their joint elimination freed Lula for sole command in Brasilia. When, midway through his second term its test came, he handled it with aplomb. The crash of Wall Street in 2008 might have been a tsunami in the US and Europe, he declared, but in Brazil it would be no more than a little 'ripple' (""). The phrase was seized on by the Brazilian press as proof of reckless economic ignorance and irresponsibility. In 2008, Brazil enjoyed economic good health to fight the global financial crisis with a large economic stimulus lasting, at least, until 2014. The Lula administration's economic policies also helped to significantly raise living standards, with the percentage of Brazilians belonging to the consumerist middle class rising from 50% to 73% of the population. According to "The Washington Post":


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In terms of environmental protection, the creation of conservation areas and indigenous reserves led to a substantial decrease in deforestation starting in 2004.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Initially, Lula's administration pushed for progressive policies that significantly curbed deforestation in the Amazon. Despite this, he did not support legislation that would have required the country to phase out its fossil fuels.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: During his 2022 election campaign, he focused more on environmental issues and espoused more environmentally conscious policies.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Leading a large and competitive agricultural state, Lula generally opposed and criticized farm subsidies, and this position has been seen as one of the reasons for the walkout of developing nations and subsequent collapse of the Cancún World Trade Organization talks in 2003 over G8 agricultural subsidies. Brazil played an important role in negotiations regarding internal conflicts in Venezuela and Colombia, and concentrated efforts on strengthening Mercosur. During the Lula administration, Brazilian foreign trade increased dramatically, changing from deficits to several surpluses after 2003. In 2004, the surplus was US$29 billion, due to a substantial increase in global demand for commodities. Brazil also provided UN peace-keeping troops and led a peace-keeping mission in Haiti.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: According to "The Economist" of 2 March 2006, Lula had a pragmatic foreign policy, seeing himself as a negotiator, not an ideologue, a leader adept at reconciling opposites. As a result, he befriended both Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and U.S. President George W. Bush. Lula also gained increasing stature in the Southern hemisphere through economic growth in Brazil. In 2008, he was said to have become a "point man for healing regional crises," as in the escalation of tensions between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Former Finance Minister, and current advisor, Delfim Netto, said: "Lula is the ultimate pragmatist."


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: He travelled to more than 80 countries during his presidency. A goal of Lula's foreign policy was for the country to gain a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. In this he was unsuccessful. Lula was considered to have pulled off a major coup with Turkey in regards to getting Iran to send its uranium abroad in contravention of western calls.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The condemnation of Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for the crime of adultery, with a sentence of execution by stoning, led to calls for Lula da Silva's intervention on her behalf. On the issue, Lula commented that "I need to respect the laws of a [foreign] country. If my friendship with the president of Iran and the respect that I have for him is worth something, if this woman has become a nuisance, we will receive her in Brazil." The Iranian government declined the offer. Lula da Silva's actions and comments sparked controversy. Mina Ahadi, an Iranian Communist politician, welcomed Lula da Silva's offer of asylum for Ashtiani, but also reiterated a call for an end to stoning altogether and requesting a cessation of recognition and support for the Iranian government. Jackson Diehl, Deputy editorial page Editor of "The Washington Post", called Lula da Silva the "best friend of tyrants in the democratic world" and criticised his actions. Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner viewed Lula da Silva's intervention in a more positive light, calling it a "powerful message to the Islamic Republic." In the final month of his administration, his government officially recognized Palestine as a state, with a number of Latin American countries following suit.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula's administration was plagued by numerous corruption scandals, notably the Mensalão scandal and in his first term. The Brazilian attorney-general presented charges against 40 politicians and officials involved in the Mensalão affair, including several charges against Lula himself. He stated on Brazilian public television that he knew nothing about the scandals. Top officials involved, such as Roberto Jefferson, José Dirceu, Luiz Gushiken and Humberto Costa have corroborated this; but one of his own party members, Arlindo Chinaglia, alleged that Lula had been warned about the matter. Having lost numerous government aides in the face of political turmoil, Lula survived largely unscathed in the eyes of the public, with overwhelming approval rates.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: His administration was heavily criticized for relying on local, right-of-centre political barons, like José Sarney, Jader Barbalho, Renan Calheiros and Fernando Collor to ensure a majority in Congress. Another frequent reproach was his ambiguous treatment of the left wing of the PT. Analysts felt that he would occasionally give in to left-wing calls for tighter government control on media and increased state intervention: in 2004, he pushed for the creation of a "Federal Council of Journalists" (CFJ) and a "National Cinema Agency" (Ancinav), the latter designed to overhaul funding for electronic communications. Both proposals ultimately failed amid concerns over the effect of state control on free speech.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Before a G-20 summit in London in March 2009, Lula caused an uproar by declaring that the economic crisis was caused by "the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don't know anything."


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: When wanted Italian terrorist Cesare Battisti was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on 18 March 2007 by Brazilian and French police officers, Brazilian Minister of Justice Tarso Genro granted him status as a political refugee, a controversial decision which divided Italy and the Brazilian and international press. On 5 February 2009, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in support of Italy and held a minute's silence in memory of Battisti's victims. On 18 November 2009, the Brazilian Supreme Court declared the refugee status illegal and allowed Battisi's extradition, but also stated that the Brazilian constitution gave the president personal powers to deny the extradition if he chose to, effectively putting the final decision in the hands of Lula. Lula barred Battisti's extradition. On 31 December 2010, Lula's last day in office, the decision not to allow extradition was officially announced. Battisti was released on 9 June 2011 from prison after the Brazilian Constitutional Court denied Italy's request to extradite him. Italy planned to appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Battisti was extradited in December 2018.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In 2014, Brazil began "Operação Lava Jato" (English: Operation Car Wash), resulting in several arrests and convictions, including nine suits against Lula.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In April 2015, the Public Ministry of Brazil opened an investigation into allegations of influence peddling by Lula, which alleged that between 2011 and 2014 he had lobbied for government contracts in foreign countries for the Odebrecht company and had also persuaded the Brazilian Development Bank to finance the projects in Ghana, Angola, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. In June 2015, Marcelo Odebrecht, president of Odebrecht, was arrested on charges that he had paid politicians $230 million in bribes. Three other company executives were also arrested, as well as the chief executive of Andrade Gutierrez, another construction conglomerate.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 4 March 2016, as part of "Operation Car Wash", Brazilian authorities raided Lula's home. After the raid, the police detained Lula for questioning. A police statement alleged that Lula had collaborated in illegal bribes from the oil company Petrobras to benefit his political party and presidential campaign. Prosecutor Carlos Fernando said, "The favors to Lula from big construction companies involved in the fraud at Petrobras were many and hard to quantify". Lula said that he and his party were being politically persecuted.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 16 March 2016, Rousseff appointed Lula as her chief of staff, a position comparable to that of prime minister. This would have shielded him from arrest due to the immunity that went with the position. Cabinet ministers in Brazil are among close to seven hundred senior government officials enjoying special judicial standing, which means they can only be tried by Brazil's Supreme Federal Court. Supreme Court Judge Gilmar Mendes suspended Lula da Silva's appointment on the grounds that Rousseff was trying to help Lula circumvent prosecution.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 14 September 2016, prosecutors filed corruption charges against Lula, accusing him of being the mastermind or 'maximum commander of the scheme'. On 19 September 2016, 13th Circuit (Paraná) federal judge Sérgio Moro, who was leading the corruption probe, accepted an indictment for money laundering against Lula and his wife Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva. On 11 May 2017, Lula answered a summons by appearing in Curitiba and was questioned by Moro. The closed-court hearing lasted five hours. Thousands of Lula supporters went to Curitiba, together with Dilma Rousseff. After the hearing, Lula and Rousseff gave speeches to his supporters; Lula attacked what he called bias in the Brazilian media.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula was found guilty by the lower court of accepting in bribes ($1.2 million US) in the form of improvements to his beachfront house, made by construction company , which in turn received lucrative contracts from the state-owned oil company Petrobras. Lula also faced other charges, including money laundering, influence peddling and obstruction of justice. On 12 July 2017, Sergio Moro sentenced Lula to nine and a half years in prison. Lula remained free pending his appeal. Lula's lawyer accused the judge of bias and the judge replied that nobody, not even the former president, should be above the rule of law.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 25 January 2018, the Appeal Court of Porto Alegre found Lula guilty of corruption and money laundering and increased his sentence to 12 years of prison for one of the nine charges, while the other eight were still pending. On 26 March 2018, that same court upheld its own sentence, thus ending the case in that court.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 23 March 2021, the Supreme Federal Court ruled by a 3–2 decision that Moro, who had overseen Lula's trial in a case, was biased against him. It upheld the ruling on 23 June by a 7–4 decision. Judge Gilmar Mendes of the Supreme Federal Court on 24 June annulled the two other cases Moro had brought against Lula, reasoning that there was a link between them and the case in which Moro was declared biased. This meant that all evidence Moro had collected against Lula is inadmissible in court and fresh trials would be needed.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 5 April 2018, Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) voted 6–5 to deny Lula's habeas corpus petition. The court ruled that Lula must begin serving the sentence relating to 12 July 2017 conviction, despite not having exhausted all of his appeals. Lula and his political party vowed to continue his campaign from prison following the court's decision that he must surrender himself by 6 April. The head of Brazil's army, General Eduardo Villas Boas, called for Lula to be placed behind bars. Lula failed to turn himself in at the scheduled time, but he did so on the following day on 7 April 2018. After the imprisonment of Lula, protesters took to the streets in cities across Brazil. Lula's imprisonment led to the formation of the Free Lula Movement.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 8 July 2018, federal judge for the 4th region Rogério Favreto ordered Lula's release. Moro immediately stated that Favreto did not have the power to release Lula and Favreto's ruling was overturned the same day by the Judge Pedro Gebran Neto, president of the 4th regional court.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 9 June 2019, "The Intercept" published leaked Telegram messages between the judge in Lula's case, Sérgio Moro, and the Operation Car Wash lead prosecutor, Deltan Dallagnol, in which they allegedly conspired to convict Lula to prevent his candidacy for the 2018 presidential election.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The information published by "The Intercept" prompted reactions both in Brazil and overseas. A group of seventeen lawyers, ministers of Justice, and high court members from eight countries reacted to the leaks by describing former President Lula as a political prisoner and calling for his release. United States Senator Bernie Sanders said Lula should be released and his conviction annulled. Ro Khanna asked the Trump administration to investigate Lula's case, saying that "Moro was a bad actor and part of a larger conspiracy to send Lula to jail". American political commentator Michael Brooks, a vocal advocate for the former president, stated that Lula's imprisonment and Moro's alleged political motives had rendered the results of the 2018 election "fundamentally illegitimate."


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 8 November 2019, Lula was released from prison after 580 days when the Brazilian Supreme Court ended mandatory imprisonment of convicted criminals after their first appeal failed.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Judge Edson Fachin of the Supreme Federal Court annulled all convictions against Lula on 8 March 2021, ruling that the court in Curitiba which convicted him lacked jurisdiction to do so, and ordered a retrial in Brasilia. A full Supreme Court bench later upheld the ruling by an 8–3 decision on 15 April.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: After the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court refused to consider alleged violations of fundamental human rights by Judge Moro, Lula's defense lawyers appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. In the lawsuit, the lawyers requested that the Committee provide an opinion on the accusations that Moro violated Lula's right to privacy, his right to not be arbitrarily arrested and his right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. They presented as proof of abusive practices:


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Because the judge's chief of staff had posted on her Facebook page a petition calling for Lula's imprisonment and the presiding judge of the appellate panel had praised Moro's decision to convict Lula for corruption, before Moro had issued his decision, an op-ed in "The New York Times" concluded that "Brazil's democracy is now weaker than it has been since military rule ended". The newspaper was joined by a number of international intellectuals, activists and political leaders, from Noam Chomsky to a group of twelve United States Congressmen, who complained that the legal proceedings appeared to be designed to prevent Lula (the front-runner in opinion polls) from running for president in 2018.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 28 July 2016, Lula filed a 39-page petition with the UN's Human Rights Committee outlining alleged abuses of power. The petition stated that "Lula is a victim of abuse of power by a judge, with the complicity of prosecutors and the media". The petition was the first ever taken against Brazil which ratified the committee's protocol in 2009.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The UN accepted the case and Brazil was given six months to respond to the petition. The committee was made of 18 international jurists. In November 2016, Lula's legal team filed additional evidence of abuses by the Brazilian justice system, and another document was filed on 5 October 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland, reporting other facts, such as Judge Moro's attendance at the premiere of a film that depicted former President Lula as guilty, despite the lack of any definitive decision against him at that time.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Following Judge Moro's issuance of an arrest warrant for the ex-President, on 6 April 2018, Lula appealed to the UN's Human Rights Committee to ask the government to prevent his arrest until he had exhausted all appeals. Lula argued that the Brazilian Supreme Court had narrowly adopted its ruling with only six votes against five, which "shows the need for an independent court to examine if the presumption of innocence was violated" in his case. The Human Rights Committee received a request for "interim measures" and was deliberating the request. The UN Human Rights Committee denied the request seeking emergency action against his imprisonment.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 28 May 2018, the Committee initiated a formal investigation into violations against basic judicial guarantees in Lula's case. In August, the UN Human Rights Committee "requested Brazil to take all necessary measures to ensure that Lula can enjoy and exercise his political rights while in prison, as candidate in the 2018 presidential elections."


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 2 August 2018, Pope Francis received three former allies of Lula in Rome: Celso Amorim, Alberto Fernández and Carlos Ominami. At the conclusion of the hour-long meeting, Pope Francis was given a copy of Lula's biography "The Truth Will Win" by Amorim. Later, he addressed a handwritten note to Lula (posted on his Twitter account) with the following text: "To Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with my blessing, asking him to pray for me, Francisco". In the same month, President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, who had previously served as Chief of Staff to President Lula da Silva from 2005 to 2010, confirmed that the Pope also sent her an unofficial letter, the content of which was not disclosed.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula, along with his former chief of staff and five others, was indicted in a corruption probe as part of regarding payment of R$6 million in bribe. According to prosecutors, they helped pass Provisional Measure 471 (which was later converted into Law 12,218/2010) in 2009 in order to benefit the automotive companies CAOA and MMC. Judge Frederico Botelho de Barros Viana of the 10th Federal Court of Brasilia acquitted all the accused on 21 June 2021, stating that the prosecution could not convincingly demonstrate that the defendants were involved in a criminal conspiracy.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 29 October 2011, through the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital of São Paulo, it was announced that Lula had a malignant tumor in his larynx. He had chemotherapy to counteract the tumor, and on 16 November, his press office released photos of his wife shaving his beard and hair, leaving him bald, although he retained his moustache. It was the first time that he had been seen without his beard since he left office. He was treated with radiation, and the cancer went into remission. Lula announced his recovery in March 2012, as well as his return to politics. Fellow politician Dilma Rousseff, then president of Brazil, welcomed the news. Contrary to rumors, Lula stated in early 2013 that he was not a presidential candidate, supporting Dilma Rousseff for a second term.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 21 January 2021, Lula said that he tested positive for COVID-19 while participating in the filming of an Oliver Stone documentary in Cuba, five days after arriving on the island. He did not need hospital admission and was able to recover. On 13 March 2021, Lula received his first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In 2017, Lula announced he would stand as the Workers' Party candidate for president again in the 2018 election. In September, he led a caravan of supporters which travelled through the states of Brazil, starting with Minas Gerais, whose governor was Lula's political ally Fernando Pimentel. While traveling through the South of Brazil, the caravan became the target of protests. In Paraná, a campaign bus was shot, and in Rio Grande do Sul, rocks were thrown at pro-Lula militants.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Despite Lula's imprisonment in April 2018, the Workers' Party kept Lula as the party's presidential candidate. In a poll conducted by Ibope in June 2018, Lula led with 33% of vote intentions, with the PSL candidate Jair Bolsonaro polling second with 15%. Lula negotiated a national coalition with the PCdoB and regional alliances with the Socialist Party.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The Workers' Party officially nominated Lula as its candidate on 5 August 2018, in São Paulo. Actor Sérgio Mamberti read a letter written by Lula, who was unable to attend because of his prison sentence. Former São Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad was named as Lula's running mate and intended to represent Lula in events and debates. In the event that Lula were declared ineligible, Haddad would replace Lula as candidate, with Manuela d'Ávila replacing Haddad as the vice presidential candidate.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In response to an appeal considering Lula as a political prisoner, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled on 17 August 2018 that it had requested the Brazilian government to allow Lula to exercise his political rights.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In a 26 August poll, Lula had 39 percent of vote intentions within one month of the first round. The same opinion polling put Lula ahead of all his challengers in a second round run-off, including the nearest one, PSL candidate Jair Bolsonaro, by 52 to 32.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula's candidacy was denied by the Superior Electoral Court on 31 August 2018, when the majority of the seven-judge panel voted to bar Lula from running in the presidential race. On 11 September 2018, Lula officially dropped out of the election and was replaced by Fernando Haddad, whom Lula endorsed.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In May 2021, Lula stated that he would run for a third term in the October 2022 general election, against the incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, with opinion polls at the end of July 2021 suggesting he would comfortably beat Bolsonaro. He was 17% ahead of Bolsonaro in a poll in January 2022.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In April 2022, Lula announced that his running mate would be Geraldo Alckmin, a three-term governor of Sao Paulo state who ran against Lula in the 2006 presidential elections.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: On 2 October, the vote of the first round, Lula was in first place with 48.43% of the electorate, qualifying for the second round with Bolsonaro, who received 43.20% of the votes. Lula was elected in the second round on 30 October, three days after his seventy-seventh birthday. He became the first president of Brazil elected to three terms and the first since Getúlio Vargas to serve in non-consecutive terms. He is also the first candidate to unseat an incumbent president. He will be sworn in on 1 January 2023.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Lula said that his main commitments are the reconstruction of the country in the face of the economic crisis; with democracy, sovereignty and peace; with economic development and stability; with the fight against poverty; with education; with the implementation of a National System of Culture and the expansion of housing programs.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: In Brazil, "liberal" is often avoided by leftists because of connotations with pro-business policies during neoliberalism or the military dictatorship. He advocated "socialism of the 21st century", but Lulism is considered to be substantially similar to social liberalism. Although he showed a moderate centre-left liberal tendency economically, he highlighted his closeness with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and negatively evaluated Juan Guaidó during the Venezuelan crisis. He is "personally against" abortion, but maintains that it should be treated as a public health issue.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: Academy Award-nominated film director Fábio Barreto directed the 2009 Brazilian film "Lula, Son of Brazil" that depicts the life of Lula up to 35 years of age. The film was a commercial and critical failure. Critics charged that it was election propaganda, fostering a cult of personality.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The series "The Mechanism" on Netflix deals with Operation Car Wash and features a character that alludes to Lula, João Higino, played by Arthur Kohl.


title: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

text: The 2019 documentary "The Edge of Democracy", written and directed by Petra Costa, chronicled the rise and fall of Lula and Dilma Rousseff and the socio-political upheaval in Brazil during the period.


title: William Wordsworth

text: William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication "Lyrical Ballads" (1798).


title: William Wordsworth

text: Wordsworth's "magnum opus" is generally considered to be "The Prelude", a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published by his wife in the year of his death, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge".


title: William Wordsworth

text: The second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, (now in Cumbria), part of the scenic region in northwestern England known as the Lake District. William's sister, the poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, to whom he was close all his life, was born the following year, and the two were baptised together. They had three other siblings: Richard, the eldest, who became a lawyer; John, born after Dorothy, who went to sea and died in 1805 when the ship of which he was captain, the "Earl of Abergavenny", was wrecked off the south coast of England; and Christopher, the youngest, who entered the Church and rose to be Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.


title: William Wordsworth

text: Wordsworth's father was a legal representative of James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, and, through his connections, lived in a large mansion in the small town. He was frequently away from home on business, so the young William and his siblings had little involvement with him and remained distant from him until his death in 1783. However, he did encourage William in his reading, and in particular set him to commit large portions of verse to memory, including works by Milton, Shakespeare and Spenser. William was also allowed to use his father's library.


title: William Wordsworth

text: William also spent time at his mother's parents' house in Penrith, Cumberland, where he was exposed to the moors, but did not get along with his grandparents or his uncle, who also lived there. His hostile interactions with them distressed him to the point of contemplating suicide.


title: William Wordsworth

text: Wordsworth was taught to read by his mother and attended, first, a tiny school of low quality in Cockermouth, then a school in Penrith for the children of upper-class families, where he was taught by Ann Birkett, who insisted on instilling in her students traditions that included pursuing both scholarly and local activities, especially the festivals around Easter, May Day and Shrove Tuesday. Wordsworth was taught both the Bible and the "Spectator", but little else. It was at the school in Penrith that he met the Hutchinsons, including Mary, who later became his wife.


title: William Wordsworth

text: After the death of Wordsworth's mother, in 1778, his father sent him to Hawkshead Grammar School in Lancashire (now in Cumbria) and sent Dorothy to live with relatives in Yorkshire. She and William did not meet again for nine years.


title: William Wordsworth

text: Wordsworth made his debut as a writer in 1787 when he published a sonnet in "The European Magazine". That same year he began attending St John's College, Cambridge. He received his BA degree in 1791. He returned to Hawkshead for the first two summers of his time at Cambridge, and often spent later holidays on walking tours, visiting places famous for the beauty of their landscape. In 1790 he went on a walking tour of Europe, during which he toured the Alps extensively, and visited nearby areas of France, Switzerland, and Italy.


title: William Wordsworth

text: In November 1791, Wordsworth visited Revolutionary France and became enchanted with the Republican movement. He fell in love with a French woman, Annette Vallon, who, in 1792, gave birth to their daughter Caroline. Financial problems and Britain's tense relations with France forced him to return to England alone the following year. The circumstances of his return and his subsequent behaviour raised doubts as to his declared wish to marry Annette. However, he supported her and his daughter as best he could in later life. The Reign of Terror left Wordsworth thoroughly disillusioned with the French Revolution and the outbreak of armed hostilities between Britain and France prevented him from seeing Annette and his daughter for some years.


title: William Wordsworth

text: With the Peace of Amiens again allowing travel to France, in 1802 Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy visited Annette and Caroline in Calais. The purpose of the visit was to prepare Annette for the fact of his forthcoming marriage to Mary Hutchinson. Afterwards he wrote the sonnet "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free", recalling a seaside walk with the 9-year-old Caroline, whom he had never seen before that visit. Mary was anxious that Wordsworth should do more for Caroline. Upon Caroline's marriage, in 1816, Wordsworth settled £30 a year on her (equivalent to £2,313 in 2021), payments which continued until 1835, when they were replaced by a capital settlement.


title: William Wordsworth

text: The year 1793 saw the first publication of poems by Wordsworth, in the collections "An Evening Walk" and "Descriptive Sketches". In 1795 he received a legacy of £900 from Raisley Calvert and became able to pursue a career as a poet.


title: William Wordsworth

text: It was also in 1795 that he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Somerset. The two poets quickly developed a close friendship. For two years from 1795, William and his sister Dorothy lived at Racedown House in Dorset—a property of the Pinney family—to the west of Pilsdon Pen. They walked in the area for about two hours every day, and the nearby hills consoled Dorothy as she pined for the fells of her native Lakeland. She wrote,


title: William Wordsworth

text: "We have hills which, seen from a distance almost take the character of mountains, some cultivated nearly to their summits, others in their wild state covered with furze and broom. These delight me the most as they remind me of our native wilds."


title: William Wordsworth

text: In 1797, the pair moved to Alfoxton House, Somerset, just a few miles away from Coleridge's home in Nether Stowey. Together Wordsworth and Coleridge (with insights from Dorothy) produced "Lyrical Ballads" (1798), an important work in the English Romantic movement. The volume gave neither Wordsworth's nor Coleridge's name as author. One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey", was published in this collection, along with Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". The second edition, published in 1800, had only Wordsworth listed as the author, and included a preface to the poems. It was augmented significantly in the next edition, published in 1802. In this preface, which some scholars consider a central work of Romantic literary theory, Wordsworth discusses what he sees as the elements of a new type of verse, one that is based on the ordinary language "really used by men" while avoiding the poetic diction of much 18th-century verse. Wordsworth also gives his famous definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility", and calls his own poems in the book "experimental". A fourth and final edition of "Lyrical Ballads" was published in 1805.


title: William Wordsworth

text: Between 1795 and 1797, Wordsworth wrote his only play, "The Borderers", a verse tragedy set during the reign of King Henry III of England, when Englishmen in the North Country came into conflict with Scottish border reivers. He attempted to get the play staged in November 1797, but it was rejected by Thomas Harris, the manager of the Covent Garden Theatre, who proclaimed it "impossible that the play should succeed in the representation". The rebuff was not received lightly by Wordsworth and the play was not published until 1842, after substantial revision.


title: William Wordsworth

text: Wordsworth, Dorothy, and Coleridge travelled to Germany in the autumn of 1798. While Coleridge was intellectually stimulated by the journey, its main effect on Wordsworth was to produce homesickness. During the harsh winter of 1798–99 Wordsworth lived with Dorothy in Goslar, and, despite extreme stress and loneliness, began work on the autobiographical piece that was later titled "The Prelude". He wrote a number of other famous poems in Goslar, including "The Lucy poems". In the Autumn of 1799, Wordsworth and his sister returned to England and visited the Hutchinson family at Sockburn. When Coleridge arrived back in England he travelled to the North with their publisher Joseph Cottle to meet Wordsworth and undertake a proposed tour of the Lake District. This was the immediate cause of the brother and sister's settling at Dove Cottage in Grasmere in the Lake District, this time with another poet, Robert Southey, nearby. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey came to be known as the "Lake Poets". Throughout this period many of Wordsworth's poems revolved around themes of death, endurance, separation and grief.


title: William Wordsworth

text: In 1802, Lowther's heir, William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, paid the £4,000 owed to Wordsworth's father through Lowther's failure to pay his aide. It was this repayment that afforded Wordsworth the financial means to marry. On 4 October, following his visit with Dorothy to France to arrange matters with Annette, Wordsworth married his childhood friend Mary Hutchinson. Dorothy continued to live with the couple and grew close to Mary. The following year Mary gave birth to the first of five children, three of whom predeceased her and William:


title: William Wordsworth

text: Wordsworth had for years been making plans to write a long philosophical poem in three parts, which he intended to call "The Recluse". In 1798–99 he started an autobiographical poem, which he referred to as the "poem to Coleridge" and which he planned would serve as an appendix to a larger work called "The Recluse". In 1804 he began expanding this autobiographical work, having decided to make it a prologue rather than an appendix. He completed this work, now generally referred to as the first version of "The Prelude", in 1805, but refused to publish such a personal work until he had completed the whole of "The Recluse". The death of his brother John, also in 1805, affected him strongly and may have influenced his decisions about these works.