History.

1977–1979: Early years and first two albums.

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, from Newcastle in northeast England, and friends John Illsley and Pick Withers, from Leicester in the east midlands, formed Dire Straits in London in 1977. Withers was already a 10-year music business veteran, having been a session drummer for Dave Edmunds, Gerry Rafferty, Magna Carta and others through the 1970s; he was part of the group Spring, which recorded an album for RCA in 1971. At the time of the band's formation, Mark was working as a teacher at art college, Illsley was studying at Goldsmiths' College, and David was a social worker. Mark and Withers had both been part of the pub rock group Brewers Droop at different points in around 1973.  Initially known as the Café Racers, the name Dire Straits was coined by a musician flatmate of Withers, allegedly thought up while they were rehearsing in the kitchen of a friend, Simon Cowe, of Lindisfarne. In 1977, the group recorded a five-song demo tape which included their future hit single, "Sultans of Swing", as well as "Water of Love" and "Down to the Waterline". After a performance at the Rock Garden in 1977, they took a demo tape to MCA in Soho but were turned down. Then they went to DJ Charlie Gillett, host of a show called "Honky Tonk" on BBC Radio London. The band simply wanted advice, but Gillett liked the music so much that he played "Sultans of Swing" on his show. Two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with the Vertigo division of Phonogram Inc. In October 1977, the band recorded demo tapes of "Southbound Again", "In the Gallery" and "Six Blade Knife" for BBC Radio London; in November demo tapes were made of "Setting Me Up", "Eastbound Train" and "Real Girl". The group's first album, "Dire Straits", was recorded at Basing Street studios in Notting Hill, London in February 1978, at a cost of £12,500. Produced by Muff Winwood, it was first released in the United Kingdom on Vertigo Records, then a division of Phonogram Inc. It came to the attention of A&R representative Karin Berg, working at Warner Bros. Records in New York City. She felt that it was the kind of music audiences were hungry for, but only one person in her department agreed at first. Many of the songs on the album reflected Mark Knopfler's experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London. "Down to the Waterline" recalled images of life in Newcastle; "In the Gallery" is a tribute to Leeds sculptor/artist Harry Phillips (father of Steve Phillips); "Wild West End" and "Lions" were drawn from Knopfler's early days in the capital.  That year, Dire Straits began a tour as opening band for Talking Heads after the re-released "Sultans of Swing" finally started to climb the UK charts. This led to a United States recording contract with Warner Bros. Records; before the end of 1978, Dire Straits had released their self-titled debut worldwide. They received more attention in the US, but also arrived at the top of the charts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. "Dire Straits" eventually went top 10 in every European country. The following year, Dire Straits embarked on their first North American tour. They played 51 sold-out concerts over a 38-day period. "Sultans of Swing" scaled the charts to number four in the United States and number eight in the United Kingdom. The song was one of Dire Straits' biggest hits and became a fixture in the band's live performances. Bob Dylan, who had seen the band play in Los Angeles, was so impressed that he invited Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to play on his next album, "Slow Train Coming".  Recording sessions for the group's second album, "Communiqué", took place in December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. Released in June 1979, "Communiqué" was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett and went to No. 1 on the German album charts, with the debut album "Dire Straits" simultaneously at No. 3. In the United Kingdom the album peaked at No. 5 in the album charts. Featuring the single "Lady Writer", the second album continued in a similar vein as the first and displayed the expanding scope of Knopfler's lyricism on the opening track, "Once Upon a Time in the West". In the coming year, however, this approach began to change, along with the group's line-up.

1980–1984: Increased musical complexity and early success.

In 1980, Dire Straits were nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Sultans of Swing". In July 1980 the band started recording tracks for their third album. Produced by Jimmy Iovine with Mark Knopfler also sharing credit, "Making Movies" was released in October 1980. During the recording sessions, tension between Mark and David Knopfler took its toll on the band, and David Knopfler left over creative differences with his brother to pursue a solo career; he was uncredited on the album. The sessions continued with Sid McGinnis on rhythm guitar and keyboardist Roy Bittan from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. After the recording sessions were completed, keyboardist Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes joined Dire Straits as full-time members for tours of Europe, North America, and Oceania.  "Making Movies" received mostly positive reviews and featured longer songs with more complex arrangements, a style which would continue for the rest of the band's career. The album featured many of Mark Knopfler's most personal compositions. The most successful chart single was "Romeo and Juliet" (number 8 in the UK singles chart), a song about a failed love affair, with Knopfler's trademark in keeping personal songs under fictitious names. Although never released as a hit single, "Solid Rock" was featured in all Dire Straits' live shows from this point on for the remainder of their career, while the album's lengthy opening track, "Tunnel of Love", with its intro "The Carousel Waltz" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was featured in the film "An Officer and a Gentleman". Although "Tunnel of Love" only reached the position of No. 54 in the UK Singles Chart when released as a single in 1981, it remains one of Dire Straits' most famous and popular songs and immediately became a favourite at concerts. "Making Movies" stayed in the UK Albums Chart for five years, peaking at No. 4. "Rolling Stone" ranked "Making Movies" number 52 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties". Dire Straits' fourth studio album "Love Over Gold", an album of songs filled with lengthy, experimental passages that featured Alan Clark's piano and keyboard work, was well received when it was released in September 1982, going gold in America and spending four weeks at number one in the United Kingdom. The title was inspired by graffiti seen from the window of Knopfler's old council flat in London. The phrase was taken from the sleeve of an album by Captain Beefheart. "Love Over Gold" was the first Dire Straits album produced solely by Mark Knopfler, and its main chart hit, "Private Investigations", gave Dire Straits their first top 5 hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached the number 2 position despite its almost seven-minute length, and became another of the band's most popular live songs.  In other parts of the world, "Industrial Disease", a song that looks at the decline of the British manufacturing industry in the early 1980s, focusing on strikes, depression and dysfunctionality, was the main single from the album, particularly in Canada, where it became a top 10 hit. As well as the title track and "It Never Rains", "Love Over Gold" featured the 14-minute-long epic "Telegraph Road". Also written by Knopfler during this period was "Private Dancer", which did not appear on the album, but was eventually given to Tina Turner for her comeback album of the same name. "Love Over Gold" reportedly sold two million copies during the first six weeks after its release. Shortly after the release of "Love Over Gold", drummer Pick Withers left the band. His replacement was Terry Williams, formerly of Rockpile and a range of other Welsh bands including Man. In 1983, a four-song EP titled "ExtendedancEPlay" was released while "Love Over Gold" was still in the album charts. It featured the hit single "Twisting By the Pool" which reached the Top 20 in the UK and Canada. The band won Best British Group at the 1983 Brit Awards. With session keyboard player Tommy Mandel added to the live line-up to help Clark cover the band's increasingly detailed arrangements, Dire Straits embarked on an eight month long Love over Gold Tour which finished with two sold-out concerts London's Hammersmith Odeon on 22 and 23 July 1983. The double album "" was a recording of excerpts from these two concerts and was reportedly released without studio overdubs. It was mixed in November 1983 and released in March 1984, reaching the Top 3 in the UK Albums Chart. The concert was also issued on VHS and was remastered and released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2010.  During 1983 and 1984 Mark Knopfler was also involved in other projects outside of the band. He wrote the music scores for the films "Local Hero" and "Cal", which were also released as albums. Also, during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's "Infidels" as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille. Also in 1984, John Illsley released his first solo album, "Never Told a Soul", to which Mark Knopfler, Alan Clark and Terry Williams contributed.

1985–1986: The "Brothers in Arms" era and international success.

Dire Straits returned to recording at the end of 1984, and began recording tracks at Air Studios in Montserrat for their upcoming fifth studio album to be titled "Brothers in Arms" with Mark Knopfler and Neil Dorfsman producing. The recording sessions saw further personnel changes. Mandel had returned to session work and the band added a full-time second keyboardist, Guy Fletcher, who had previously worked as a session musician with Roxy Music and on the "Cal" soundtrack. Guitarist Hal Lindes left the band during the recording sessions and was replaced by New York guitarist Jack Sonni.  According to a "Sound on Sound" magazine interview with Neil Dorfsman, the performance of then-permanent drummer Terry Williams was considered to be unsuitable for the desired sound of the album during the first month of the recording sessions. Williams was temporarily replaced by jazz session drummer Omar Hakim, who re-recorded the album's drum parts during a two-day stay before leaving for other commitments. Both Hakim and Williams are credited on the album, although Williams' only contribution was the improvised cadenza at the beginning of "Money for Nothing". Andy Kanavan was briefly with the band as a drummer. Williams would be back in the band for the music videos and the 1985–1986 Brothers in Arms world tour that followed.  Released in May 1985, "Brothers in Arms" entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1 and spent a total of 228 weeks in the charts, and sold over 4.3 million copies. It went on to become the best-selling album of 1985 in the UK. "Brothers in Arms" was similarly successful in the US, peaking at No. 1 on "Billboard" 200 for nine weeks, going multi-platinum and selling nine million copies there. The album spent 34 weeks at number 1 on the Australian ARIA Charts, and it remains the longest-running number one album in Australia. The album featured a more lavish production and overall sound than Dire Straits' earlier work, and spawned several big chart singles: "Money for Nothing", which reached number 1 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, and number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, "So Far Away" (No. 20 UK, No. 19 US), "Brothers in Arms" (No. 16 UK), "Walk of Life" (No. 2 UK, No. 7 US), and "Your Latest Trick" (No. 26 UK). "Money for Nothing" was the first video to be played on MTV in the UK and featured guest vocals by Sting, who is credited with co-writing the song with Mark Knopfler, although it was the inclusion of the melody from "Don't Stand So Close To Me" that triggered the copyright credit, as no actual lyrics were written by Sting. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in February 1986.  "Brothers in Arms" was the first album recorded entirely digitally due to Knopfler pushing for improved sound quality. Written around the period of the British involvement in the Falklands War, the album's title track, "Brothers in Arms", has become a favourite at military funerals. Reported to be the world's first CD single, it was issued in the UK as a promotional item distinguished with a logo for the tour, Live in '85, while a second to commemorate the Australian leg of the tour marked Live in '86. Containing just four tracks, it had a very limited run. "Walk of Life" meanwhile was nearly excluded from the album when co-producer Neil Dorfsman voted against its inclusion, but the band members out-voted him. The result was Dire Straits' most commercially successful hit single in the UK, peaking at number two. The album is listed in the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the first compact disc (CD) to sell a million copies, and it has been credited with popularising the CD format. "The Guardian" ranked the "Brothers in Arms" CD number 38 in their list of the 50 key events in rock music history. The album featured the full version of the "Money for Nothing" cut, rather than the LP version, and it also includes extended versions of all tracks on the first side of the LP, with the exception of "Walk of Life".  The 1985–1986 Brothers in Arms world tour which followed the album's release was phenomenally successful, with over 2.5 million tickets sold. The tour included dates in Europe, Israel, North America, and Australia and New Zealand. The band played 248 shows in over 100 different cities. Saxophonist Chris White joined the band, and the tour began on 25 April 1985 in Split, Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia). While playing a 13-night residency at Wembley Arena in London, the band moved down the road to Wembley Stadium on the afternoon of 13 July 1985, to appear in a Live Aid slot, in which their set included "Money For Nothing" with Sting as guest vocalist. John Illsley states, “It was a very special feeling to be part of something so unique. Live Aid was a unique privilege for all of us. It’s become a fabulous memory.” The tour ended at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia on 26 April 1986, where Dire Straits still holds the record for consecutive appearances at 21 nights. The band also made an impromptu attempt at the Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda". With 900,000 tickets sold in Australia and New Zealand it was the biggest concert tour in Australasian music history, until it was overtaken in 2017–2018 by Ed Sheeran. Additionally in 1985, a group that set out from London to Khartoum to raise money for famine relief led by John Abbey, was called "The Walk of Life". Dire Straits donated the "Brothers in Arms" Gold disc to the participants in recognition of what they were doing. The band's concert of 10 July 1985 at Wembley Arena, in which they were accompanied by Nils Lofgren for "Solid Rock" and Hank Marvin joined the band at the end to play "Going Home" (the theme from "Local Hero"), was televised in the United Kingdom on The Tube on Channel 4 in January 1986. (Although never officially released, bootleg recordings of the performance entitled "Wembley does the Walk" (2005) have been circulated.)  In 1986 "Brothers in Arms" won two Grammy Awards, and also won Best British Album at the 1987 Brit Awards. "Q" magazine placed the album at number 51 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever in 2000. The album also ranked number 351 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003. "Brothers in Arms" is also ranked number 3 in the best albums of 1985 and number 31 in the best albums of the 1980s, and as of December 2017, the album was ranked the eighth-best-selling album in UK chart history, and is the 107th-best-selling album in the United States. In August 1986, MTV Europe was launched with Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing".

1987–1990: First break-up.

After the "Brothers in Arms" tour ended Mark Knopfler took a break from Dire Straits and during 1987 he concentrated on solo projects and film soundtracks. Dire Straits regrouped in 1988 for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act. They were joined for their set by Eric Clapton who performed his hit "Wonderful Tonight" with the group and played rhythm guitar on the other songs performed by the band, while guitarist Jack Sonni was absent. Soon afterwards, Williams left the band. Mark Knopfler announced the dissolution of Dire Straits in September 1988. He told Rob Tannenbaum in "Rolling Stone": "A lot of press reports were saying we were the biggest band in the world. There's not an accent then on the music, there's an accent on popularity. I needed a rest." The tremendous success of the "Brothers in Arms" album and the tour that went with it left the band members under a significant amount of stress, and Knopfler announced that he wanted to work on more personal projects. A greatest hits album, "Money for Nothing", was released in October 1988 and reached number one in the UK. Also in 1988, John Illsley released his second solo album, "Glass" which featured Mark Knopfler, Alan Clark, Guy Fletcher and Chris White.  In 1989, over a meal at a Notting Hill wine bar, Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies, a country-focused band whose line-up featured Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker, and Steve Phillips and manager Ed Bicknell on drums. The Notting Hillbillies' one album, "Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time" with its minor hit single "Your Own Sweet Way", was released in 1990. The Notting Hillbillies toured for the remainder of the year, and also appeared on "Saturday Night Live". Knopfler would further emphasise his country music influences on his 1990 collaboration with guitarist Chet Atkins, "Neck and Neck".  In 1990, Dire Straits performed alongside Elton John and Eric Clapton at Knebworth Festival, playing "Solid Rock", "Money for Nothing" and "I Think I Love You Too Much". Knopfler explained that the latter was an experimental song, and was unsure if they should record it on a following record. The song, a blues rock track with solos by Knopfler and Clapton, also appeared on the 1990 album "Hell To Pay" as a gift to Canadian blues/jazz artist Jeff Healey from Knopfler. This was prior to the time that Knopfler, Illsley and manager Ed Bicknell decided to reform the band the following year.

1991–1995: Resurrection, final albums and final dissolution.

In early 1991, Dire Straits reunited. Retaining Bicknell as their manager, Dire Straits comprised only four members once again: Clark, Fletcher, Illsley and Knopfler. The band began recording a new album, integrating new musicians including steel guitarist Paul Franklin and percussionist Danny Cummings. Saxophonist Chris White returned, and guitarist Phil Palmer filled the vacancy left by Sonni. Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro performed in place of Williams. Dire Straits released their final studio album, "On Every Street", in September 1991. It was met with more moderate success and mixed reviews, as well as a significantly reduced audience. Some reviewers including the All Music Guide dubbed "On Every Street" an "underwhelming" follow-up to "Brothers in Arms". However, it sold 8 million copies, reaching number one in the United Kingdom and number 12 in the United States.  The album failed to produce a major hit single in the United Kingdom. The first single release was the opening track "Calling Elvis", which had a video based on the 1960s television show "Thunderbirds". It charted at number 21 in the UK but dropped out of the charts within four weeks. The follow-up single, "Heavy Fuel", failed to reach the Top 50 in the UK singles chart, however in the United States the track reached number one on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their second song to do so (after "Money for Nothing"). Similarly, the album's title track was also relatively unsuccessful, failing to reach the UK Top 40. The final single released from the album and from the band in the UK was "The Bug", which contains backing vocals by Vince Gill, who was also invited to join the band full-time but declined, and pursued a solo career.  With session drummer Chris Whitten added to the lineup, Dire Straits embarked on a world tour to promote the album which lasted until October 1992. The On Every Street Tour featured 300 shows in front of some 7.1 million ticket-buying fans. While musically more elaborate than the previous 1985–86 world tour, the band's gruelling final tour was not as critically acclaimed nor as successful commercially. This proved to be too much for Dire Straits, and by this time Mark Knopfler had had enough of such massive operations. This led to the second and final break-up. Bill Flanagan described the sequence of events in "GQ": "The subsequent world tour lasted nearly two years, made mountains of money and drove Dire Straits into the ground. When the tour was over, both Knopfler's marriage and his band were gone."  Manager Ed Bicknell also said "The last tour was utter misery. Whatever the zeitgeist was that we had been part of, it had passed." John Illsley agreed, saying "Personal relationships were in trouble and it put a terrible strain on everybody, emotionally and physically. We were changed by it." The last stop and final touring concert of the group took place on 9 October 1992 in Zaragoza, Spain.  After the end of the tour, Mark Knopfler expressed a wish to give up touring on a big scale, and took some time out from the music business. A live album, "On the Night", was released in May 1993, which documented the tour, again to very mixed reviews. Nevertheless, it reached the UK Top 5, a rare achievement for a live album. The four track "Encores" EP was also released and rose to number one in the French and Spanish singles charts.  Dire Straits' final album, "Live at the BBC", was a collection of live recordings from 1978 to 1981, which mostly featured the original line-up of the band. Released in June 1995, their third and final live album was a contractual release to Vertigo Records (now a division of Mercury Records). At this time, Mark Knopfler quietly disbanded Dire Straits and prepared to work on his first full-fledged solo album (still signed to Mercury Records).

1996–present: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

After disbanding Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler started his career as a solo artist, releasing his first solo album, "Golden Heart", in March 1996 after nearly 20 years of collaborations. "Brothers in Arms" was certified nine times platinum in the US in August 1996. During that year, the entire Dire Straits catalogue was remastered by Bob Ludwig and re-released on CD on Mercury Records, in most of the world outside the United States. The remasters were released in September 2000 in the United States, on Warner Bros. Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher reunited for one last time on 19 June 1999, with Ed Bicknell on drums, playing five songs including a performance of Chuck Berry's "Nadine" for Illsley's wedding. In 2002, Mark Knopfler was joined by John Illsley, Guy Fletcher, Danny Cummings and Chris White for four charity concerts. Brendan Croker joined Knopfler during the first half, playing mainly material composed with The Notting Hillbillies. Illsley came on for a Dire Straits session, toward the end of which, at a Shepherd's Bush concert, Jimmy Nail came on to provide backing vocals for Knopfler's solo composition, "Why Aye Man". The song appears in the 2002 album "The Ragpicker's Dream", an album that contains numerous other references to Knopfler's home area in North East England.  The most recent compilation, "", was released in November 2005 and reached the UK Top 20. Featuring material from the majority of Dire Straits' studio albums as well as Mark Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material, it was released in two editions, a single CD with grey cover and a double CD in blue cover. The only previously unreleased track on the album, "All the Roadrunning", is a duet with singer Emmylou Harris. The album was well received. Also in 2005 "Brothers in Arms" was re-released in a limited 20th anniversary edition, which was a success, winning a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album at the 48th Grammy Awards ceremony. Since the break-up of Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler has shown no interest in re-forming the band and is quoted as saying "Oh, I don't know whether to start getting all that stuff back together again," and telling reporters that "I would only do that for a charity. I'm glad I've experienced it all – I had a lot of fun with it – but I like things the way they are." However, keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler's solo material to date, and Danny Cummings has frequently contributed, notably to three of Knopfler's most recent solo album releases "All the Roadrunning" (with Emmylou Harris), "Kill to Get Crimson" and "Get Lucky".  In 2007, Knopfler said he did not miss the global fame that came his way at the height of the band's success, explaining that "It just got too big." In October 2008, John Illsley told the BBC that he wanted Knopfler to agree to re-form Dire Straits for a comeback tour. Knopfler declined, saying that he was often reluctant to re-form the group and insisted that he "isn't even a fan of Dire Straits' early hits." In the same interview, Illsley also suggested that Knopfler is enjoying his continued success as a solo artist, saying that "He's doing incredibly well as a solo artist, so hats off to him. He's having a perfectly good time doing what he's doing." Guy Fletcher stated on his website that Knopfler has no interest in re-forming Dire Straits.  In December 2009, the band was commemorated with a Heritage Award from PRS for Music. A plaque was placed on a block of flats in Deptford, London, the location where Dire Straits played their first gig. In 2011, Alan Clark, Chris White, and Phil Palmer, along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' drummer Steve Ferrone, formed a new band, the Straits, to perform at a charity show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. On 13 December 2017 Dire Straits were announced as inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2018. Speaking to "Billboard" magazine, John Illsley stated, "it fills me with a lot of pleasure to be recognized and to be included in the thing that we love doing best, which is making music and playing rock n' roll". On a possible reunion performance he added, "Mark is quite sort of restrained about things like this. We have spoken about [the induction], and we just said, 'Oh, that's nice.' I think it would probably be important if Mark and I were there. I'll definitely be there, and I'll definitely talk Mark into coming as well. It's essentially up to him if he wants to do anything, and I completely respect his feelings about it. He doesn't want too much white light." Knopfler did not appear at the ceremony, with Illsley stating, "I'll assure you it's a personal thing. Let's just leave it at that."  Clark, Palmer and others have continued touring under the name Dire Straits Legacy, and they also released an album "3 Chord Trick".

Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995. Dire Straits are one of the world's best-selling music artists, with album sales of over 100 million.

险峻海峡(Dire Straits,虽然因为代理唱片商的翻译方式使然,在中文领域中通常采直翻译名,但「dire straits」其实是个英文俚语,譬喻「困境」,因此也曾被译为困境),是一支1977年时成立于英国纽卡索的四人制摇滚乐团。有别于当时流行的庞克摇滚乐风,险峻海峡是支以根源摇滚(Roots Rock)为主要风格的乐团,1984年的畅销单曲《挥霍无度》("Money For Nothing")是其颠峰之作,除了是他们的首张告示牌排行榜冠军单曲外,也替其赢得1985年的格莱美奖,并被选为MTV欧洲台的开台首播音乐录影带。


Biography.

The existing variations in the basic accounts of al-Farabi's origins and pedigree indicate that they were not recorded during his lifetime or soon thereafter by anyone with concrete information, but were based on hearsay or guesses (as is the case with other contemporaries of al-Farabi). Little is known about his life. Early sources include an autobiographical passage where al-Farabi traces the history of logic and philosophy up to his time, and brief mentions by Al-Masudi, Ibn al-Nadim and Ibn Hawqal. Said Al-Andalusi wrote a biography of al-Farabi. Arabic biographers of the 12th–13th centuries thus had few facts to hand, and used invented stories about his life.  From incidental accounts it is known that he spent significant time (most of his life) in Baghdad with Christian scholars including the cleric Yuhanna ibn Haylan, Yahya ibn Adi, and Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Baghdadi. He later spent time in Damascus and in Egypt before returning to Damascus where he died in 950-1.  His name was Abū Naṣr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Farabi, sometimes with the family surname al-Ṭarḵānī, i.e., the element Ṭarḵān appears in a nisba. His grandfather was not known among his contemporaries, but a name, Awzalaḡ, suddenly appears later in the writings of Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa, and of his great-grandfather in those of Ibn Khallikan.  His birthplace could have been any one of the many places in Central Asia-Khurasan that is known by that name. The name "parab/farab" is a Persian term for a locale that is irrigated by effluent springs or flows from a nearby river. Thus, there are many places that carry the name (or various evolutions of that hydrological/geological toponym) in that general area, such as Fārāb on the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) in modern Kazakhstan, Fārāb (modern Türkmenabat) on the Oxus Amu Darya in Turkmenistan, or evenFāryāb in Greater Khorasan (modern day Afghanistan). The older Persian Pārāb (in Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam) or Fāryāb (also Pāryāb), is a common Persian toponym meaning "lands irrigated by diversion of river water". By the 13th century, Fārāb on the Jaxartes was known as Otrār.  Scholars largely agree that Farabi's ethnic background is not knowable.

Iranian origin theory.

Medieval Arab historian Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa (died in 1270)—al-Farabi's oldest biographer—mentions in his ʿUyūn that al-Farabi's father was of Persian descent. Al-Shahrazūrī who lived around 1288 A.D. and has written an early biography also states that Farabi hailed from a Persian family. According to Majid Fakhry, an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University, Farabi's father ""was an army captain of Persian extraction."" Dimitri Gutas notes that Farabi's works contain references and glosses in Persian, Sogdian, and even Greek, but not Turkish. Sogdian has also been suggested as his native language and the language of the inhabitants of Fārāb. Muhammad Javad Mashkoor argues for an Iranian-speaking Central Asian origin. A Persian origin has been stated by many other sources as well.

Turkic origin theory.

The oldest known reference to a Turkic origin is given by the medieval historian Ibn Khallikān (died in 1282), who in his work Wafayāt (completed in 669/1271) states that Farabi was born in the small village of Wasij near Fārāb (in what is today Otrar, Kazakhstan) of Turkic parents. Based on this account, some modern scholars say he is of Turkic origin. Dimitri Gutas, an American Arabist of Greek origin, criticizes this, saying that Ibn Khallikān's account is aimed at the earlier historical accounts by Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa, and serves the purpose to "prove" a Turkic origin for al-Farabi, for instance by mentioning the additional nisba (surname) ""al-Turk"" (arab. "the Turk")—a nisba Farabi never had. However, Abu al-Fedā', who copied Ibn Ḵhallekān, corrected this and changed "al-Torkī" to the phrase "wa-kāna rajolan torkīyan", meaning "he was a Turkish man." In this regard, Oxford professor C.E. Bosworth notes that "great figures [such] as al-Farabi, al-Biruni, and ibn Sina have been attached by over enthusiastic Turkish scholars to their race".

Life and education.

Al-Farabi spent almost his entire life in Baghdad. In the auto-biographical passage preserved by Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa, Farabi stated that he had studied logic, medicine and sociology with Yūḥannā bin Ḥaylān up to and including Aristotle's "Posterior Analytics", i.e., according to the order of the books studied in the curriculum, Fārābī was claiming that he had studied Porphyry's "Eisagoge" and Aristotle's "Categories", "De Interpretatione", "Prior and Posterior Analytics". His teacher, bin Ḥaylān, was a Nestorian cleric. This period of study was probably in Baghdad, where Al-Masudi records that Yūḥannā died during the reign of Al-Muqtadir (295-320/908-32). He was in Baghdad at least until the end of September 942, as recorded in notes in his "Mabādeʾ ārāʾ ahl al-madīna al-fāżela". He finished the book in Damascus the following year (331), i.e., by September 943). He also studied in Tétouan, Morocco and lived and taught for some time in Aleppo. Farabi later visited Egypt, finishing six sections summarizing the book "Mabādeʾ" in Egypt in 337/July 948 – June 949 when he returned to Syria, where he was supported by Sayf al-Dawla, the Hamdanid ruler. Al-Masudi, writing barely five years after the fact (955-6, the date of the composition of the Tanbīh), says that Farabi died in Damascus in Rajab 339 (between 14 December 950 and 12 January 951).

Religious beliefs.

Henry Corbin writes that the evidence supports the opinion common in Iran that al-Farabi was a Shia Muslim. Corbin argues that there are many similarities between what he calls Farabi's "prophetic philosophy" and the teachings of Shiite Imams. Najjar Fauzi likewise argues that al-Farabi's political philosophy was influenced by Shiite sects. Giving a positive account, Nadia Maftouni describes shi'ite aspects of Farabi's writings. As she put it, Farabi in his Al-Millah, Al-Sīyāsah al-Madanīyah, and Tahsil al-Sa’adah believes in a utopia governed by prophet and his successors: the Imams.

Works and contributions.

Farabi made contributions to the fields of logic, mathematics, music, philosophy, psychology, and education.

Alchemy.

Al-Farabi wrote: "The Necessity of the Art of the Elixir"

Logic.

Though he was mainly an Aristotelian logician, he included a number of non-Aristotelian elements in his works. He discussed the topics of future contingents, the number and relation of the categories, the relation between logic and grammar, and non-Aristotelian forms of inference. He is also credited with categorizing logic into two separate groups, the first being "idea" and the second being "proof".  Al-Farabi also considered the theories of conditional syllogisms and analogical inference, which were part of the Stoic tradition of logic rather than the Aristotelian. Another addition al-Farabi made to the Aristotelian tradition was his introduction of the concept of poetic syllogism in a commentary on Aristotle's "Poetics".

Music.

Al-Farabi wrote a book on music titled "Kitab al-Musiqa" (The Book of Music). In it, he presents philosophical principles about music, its cosmic qualities, and its influences.  He also wrote a treatise on the "Meanings of the Intellect", which dealt with music therapy and discussed the therapeutic effects of music on the soul.

Philosophy.

As a philosopher, Al-Farabi was a founder of his own school of early Islamic philosophy known as "Farabism" or "Alfarabism", though it was later overshadowed by Avicennism. Al-Farabi's school of philosophy "breaks with the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle [... and...] moves from metaphysics to methodology, a move that anticipates modernity", and "at the level of philosophy, Alfarabi unites theory and practice [... and] in the sphere of the political he liberates practice from theory". His Neoplatonic theology is also more than just metaphysics as rhetoric. In his attempt to think through the nature of a First Cause, Alfarabi discovers the limits of human knowledge".  Al-Farabi had great influence on science and philosophy for several centuries, and was widely considered second only to Aristotle in knowledge (alluded to by his title of "the Second Teacher") in his time. His work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and Sufism, paved the way for the work of Ibn Sina (Avicenna).  Al-Farabi also wrote a commentary on Aristotle's work, and one of his most notable works is "Al-Madina al-Fadila" () where he theorized an ideal state as in Plato's "The Republic". Al-Farabi argued that religion rendered truth through symbols and persuasion, and, like Plato, saw it as the duty of the philosopher to provide guidance to the state. Al-Farabi incorporated the Platonic view, drawing a parallel from within the Islamic context, in that he regarded the ideal state to be ruled by the prophet-imam, instead of the philosopher-king envisaged by Plato. Al-Farabi argued that the ideal state was the city-state of Medina when it was governed by the prophet Muhammad as its head of state, as he was in direct communion with Allah whose law was revealed to him.

Physics.

Al-Farabi wrote a short treatise "On Vacuum", where he thought about the nature of the existence of void. He also may have carried out the first experiments concerning the existence of vacuum, in which he investigated handheld plungers in water. His final conclusion was that air's volume can expand to fill available space, and he suggested that the concept of perfect vacuum was incoherent.

Psychology.

Wrote "Social Psychology" and "Principles of the Opinions of the Citizens of the Virtuous City", which were the first treatises to deal with social psychology. He stated that "an isolated individual could not achieve all the perfections by himself, without the aid of other individuals," and that it is the "innate disposition of every man to join another human being or other men in the labor he ought to perform." He concluded that to "achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them."  In his treatise "On the Cause of Dreams", which appeared as chapter 24 of his "Principles of the Opinions of the Citizens of the Ideal City", he distinguished between dream interpretation and the nature and causes of dreams.

Philosophical thought.

Influences.

The main influence on al-Farabi's philosophy was the neo-Aristotelian tradition of Alexandria. A prolific writer, he is credited with over one hundred works. Amongst these are a number of prolegomena to philosophy, commentaries on important Aristotelian works (such as the Nicomachean Ethics) as well as his own works. His ideas are marked by their coherency, despite drawing together of many different philosophical disciplines and traditions. Some other significant influences on his work were the planetary model of Ptolemy and elements of Neo-Platonism, particularly metaphysics and practical (or political) philosophy (which bears more resemblance to Plato's "Republic" than Aristotle's "Politics").

Al-Farabi, Aristotle, Maimonides.

In the handing down of Aristotle’s thought to the Christian west in the middle ages, al-Farabi played an essential part as appears in the translation of Farabi’s "Commentary and Short Treatise on Aristotle’s de Interpretatione" that F.W. Zimmermann published in 1981. Farabi had a great influence on Maimonides, the most important Jewish thinker of the middle ages. Maimonides wrote in Arabic a "Treatise on logic", the celebrated "Maqala fi sina at al-mantiq". In a wonderfully concise way, the work treats of the essentials of Aristotelian logic in the light of comments made by the Persian philosophers: Avicenna and, above all, al-Farabi. Rémi Brague in his book devoted to the Treatise stresses the fact that Farabi is the only thinker mentioned therein.  Al-Farabi as well as Ibn Sina and Averroes have been recognized as Peripatetics ("al-Mashsha’iyu"n) or rationalists ("Estedlaliun") among Muslims. However, he tried to gather the ideas of Plato and Aristotle in his book "The gathering of the ideas of the two philosophers".  According to Adamson, his work was singularly directed towards the goal of simultaneously reviving and reinventing the Alexandrian philosophical tradition, to which his Christian teacher, Yuhanna bin Haylan belonged. His success should be measured by the honorific title of "the second master" of philosophy (Aristotle being the first), by which he was known. Adamson also says that he does not make any reference to the ideas of either al-Kindi or his contemporary, Abu Bakr al-Razi, which clearly indicates that he did not consider their approach to Philosophy as a correct or viable one.

Thought.

Metaphysics and cosmology.

In contrast to al-Kindi, who considered the subject of metaphysics to be God, al-Farabi believed that it was concerned primarily with being "qua" being (that is, being in and of itself), and this is related to God only to the extent that God is a principle of absolute being. Al-Kindi's view was, however, a common misconception regarding Greek philosophy amongst Muslim intellectuals at the time, and it was for this reason that Avicenna remarked that he did not understand Aristotle's "Metaphysics" properly until he had read a prolegomenon written by al-Farabi.  Al-Farabi's cosmology is essentially based upon three pillars: Aristotelian metaphysics of causation, highly developed Plotinian emanational cosmology and the Ptolemaic astronomy. In his model, the universe is viewed as a number of concentric circles; the outermost sphere or "first heaven", the sphere of fixed stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and finally, the Moon. At the centre of these concentric circles is the sub-lunar realm which contains the material world. Each of these circles represent the domain of the secondary intelligences (symbolized by the celestial bodies themselves), which act as causal intermediaries between the First Cause (in this case, God) and the material world. Furthermore these are said to have emanated from God, who is both their formal and efficient cause.  The process of emanation begins (metaphysically, not temporally) with the First Cause, whose principal activity is self-contemplation. And it is this intellectual activity that underlies its role in the creation of the universe. The First Cause, by thinking of itself, "overflows" and the incorporeal entity of the second intellect "emanates" from it. Like its predecessor, the second intellect also thinks about itself, and thereby brings its celestial sphere (in this case, the sphere of fixed stars) into being, but in addition to this it must also contemplate upon the First Cause, and this causes the "emanation" of the next intellect. The cascade of emanation continues until it reaches the tenth intellect, beneath which is the material world. And as each intellect must contemplate both itself and an increasing number of predecessors, each succeeding level of existence becomes more and more complex. This process is based upon necessity as opposed to will. In other words, God does not have a choice whether or not to create the universe, but by virtue of His own existence, He causes it to be. This view also suggests that the universe is eternal, and both of these points were criticized by al-Ghazzali in his attack on the philosophers  In his discussion of the First Cause (or God), al-Farabi relies heavily on negative theology. He says that it cannot be known by intellectual means, such as dialectical division or definition, because the terms used in these processes to define a thing constitute its substance. Therefore if one was to define the First Cause, each of the terms used would actually constitute a "part" of its substance and therefore behave as a "cause" for its existence, which is impossible as the First Cause is uncaused; it exists without being caused. Equally, he says it cannot be known according to genus and differentia, as its substance and existence are different from all others, and therefore it has no category to which it belongs. If this were the case, then it would not be the First Cause, because something would be prior in existence to it, which is also impossible. This would suggest that the more philosophically simple a thing is, the more perfect it is. And based on this observation, Adamson says it is possible to see the entire hierarchy of al-Farabi's cosmology according to classification into genus and species. Each succeeding level in this structure has as its principal qualities multiplicity and deficiency, and it is this ever-increasing complexity that typifies the material world.

Epistemology and eschatology.

Human beings are unique in al-Farabi's vision of the universe because they stand between two worlds: the "higher", immaterial world of the celestial intellects and universal intelligibles, and the "lower", material world of generation and decay; they inhabit a physical body, and so belong to the "lower" world, but they also have a rational capacity, which connects them to the "higher" realm. Each level of existence in al-Farabi's cosmology is characterized by its movement towards perfection, which is to become like the First Cause, i.e. a perfect intellect. Human perfection (or "happiness"), then, is equated with constant intellection and contemplation.  Al-Farabi divides intellect into four categories: potential, actual, acquired and the Agent. The first three are the different states of the human intellect and the fourth is the Tenth Intellect (the moon) in his emanational cosmology. The potential intellect represents the capacity to think, which is shared by all human beings, and the actual intellect is an intellect engaged in the act of thinking. By thinking, al-Farabi means abstracting universal intelligibles from the sensory forms of objects which have been apprehended and retained in the individual's imagination.  This motion from potentiality to actuality requires the Agent Intellect to act upon the retained sensory forms; just as the Sun illuminates the physical world to allow us to see, the Agent Intellect illuminates the world of intelligibles to allow us to think. This illumination removes all accident (such as time, place, quality) and physicality from them, converting them into primary intelligibles, which are logical principles such as "the whole is greater than the part". The human intellect, by its act of intellection, passes from potentiality to actuality, and as it gradually comprehends these intelligibles, it is identified with them (as according to Aristotle, by knowing something, the intellect becomes like it). Because the Agent Intellect knows all of the intelligibles, this means that when the human intellect knows all of them, it becomes associated with the Agent Intellect's perfection and is known as the acquired Intellect.  While this process seems mechanical, leaving little room for human choice or volition, Reisman says that al-Farabi is committed to human voluntarism. This takes place when man, based on the knowledge he has acquired, decides whether to direct himself towards virtuous or unvirtuous activities, and thereby decides whether or not to seek true happiness. And it is by choosing what is ethical and contemplating about what constitutes the nature of ethics, that the actual intellect can become "like" the active intellect, thereby attaining perfection. It is only by this process that a human soul may survive death, and live on in the afterlife.  According to al-Farabi, the afterlife is not the personal experience commonly conceived of by religious traditions such as Islam and Christianity. Any individual or distinguishing features of the soul are annihilated after the death of the body; only the rational faculty survives (and then, only if it has attained perfection), which becomes one with all other rational souls within the agent intellect and enters a realm of pure intelligence. Henry Corbin compares this eschatology with that of the Ismaili Neo-Platonists, for whom this process initiated the next grand cycle of the universe. However, Deborah Black mentions we have cause to be skeptical as to whether this was the mature and developed view of al-Farabi, as later thinkers such as Ibn Tufayl, Averroes and Ibn Bajjah would assert that he repudiated this view in his commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, which has been lost to modern experts.

Psychology, the soul and prophetic knowledge.

In his treatment of the human soul, al-Farabi draws on a basic Aristotelian outline, which is informed by the commentaries of later Greek thinkers. He says it is composed of four faculties: The "appetitive" (the desire for, or aversion to an object of sense), the "sensitive" (the perception by the senses of corporeal substances), the "imaginative" (the faculty which retains images of sensible objects after they have been perceived, and then separates and combines them for a number of ends), and the "rational", which is the faculty of intellection. It is the last of these which is unique to human beings and distinguishes them from plants and animals. It is also the only part of the soul to survive the death of the body. Noticeably absent from these scheme are internal senses, such as common sense, which would be discussed by later philosophers such as Avicenna and Averroes.  Special attention must be given to al-Farabi's treatment of the soul's "imaginative" faculty, which is essential to his interpretation of prophethood and prophetic knowledge. In addition to its ability to retain and manipulate sensible images of objects, he gives the imagination the function of imitation. By this he means the capacity to represent an object with an image other than its own. In other words, to imitate "x" is to imagine "x" by associating it with sensible qualities that do not describe its own appearance. This extends the representative ability of the imagination beyond sensible forms and to include temperaments, emotions, desires and even immaterial intelligibles or abstract universals, as happens when, for example, one associates "evil" with "darkness". The prophet, in addition to his own intellectual capacity, has a very strong imaginative faculty, which allows him to receive an overflow of intelligibles from the agent intellect (the tenth intellect in the emanational cosmology). These intelligibles are then associated with symbols and images, which allow him to communicate abstract truths in a way that can be understood by ordinary people. Therefore what makes prophetic knowledge unique is not its content, which is also accessible to philosophers through demonstration and intellection, but rather the form that it is given by the prophet's imagination.

Practical philosophy (ethics and politics).

The practical application of philosophy was a major concern expressed by al-Farabi in many of his works, and while the majority of his philosophical output has been influenced by Aristotelian thought, his practical philosophy was unmistakably based on that of Plato. In a similar manner to Plato's "Republic", al-Farabi emphasized that philosophy was both a theoretical and practical discipline; labeling those philosophers who do not apply their erudition to practical pursuits as "futile philosophers". The ideal society, he wrote, is one directed towards the realization of "true happiness" (which can be taken to mean philosophical enlightenment) and as such, the ideal philosopher must hone all the necessary arts of rhetoric and poetics to communicate abstract truths to the ordinary people, as well as having achieved enlightenment himself. Al-Farabi compared the philosopher's role in relation to society with a physician in relation to the body; the body's health is affected by the "balance of its humours" just as the city is determined by the moral habits of its people. The philosopher's duty, he wrote, was to establish a "virtuous" society by healing the souls of the people, establishing justice and guiding them towards "true happiness".  Of course, al-Farabi realized that such a society was rare and required a very specific set of historical circumstances to be realized, which means very few societies could ever attain this goal. He divided those "vicious" societies, which have fallen short of the ideal "virtuous" society, into three categories: ignorant, wicked and errant. "Ignorant" societies have, for whatever reason, failed to comprehend the purpose of human existence, and have supplanted the pursuit of happiness for another (inferior) goal, whether this be wealth, sensual gratification or power. Al-Farabi mentions "weeds" in the virtuous society: those people who try to undermine its progress towards the true human end. The best known Arabic source for al-Farabi's political philosophy is his work titled, "al-Madina al-fadila" ("The Virtuous City").  Whether or not al-Farabi actually intended to outline a political programme in his writings remains a matter of dispute amongst academics. Henry Corbin, who considers al-Farabi to be a <nowiki>crypto-</nowiki>Shi'ite, says that his ideas should be understood as a "prophetic philosophy" instead of being interpreted politically. On the other hand, Charles Butterworth contends that nowhere in his work does al-Farabi speak of a prophet-legislator or revelation (even the word philosophy is scarcely mentioned), and the main discussion that takes place concerns the positions of "king" and "statesmen". Occupying a middle position is David Reisman, who, like Corbin, believes that al-Farabi did not want to expound a political doctrine (although he does not go so far to attribute it to Islamic Gnosticism either). He argues that al-Farabi was using different types of society as examples, in the context of an ethical discussion, to show what effect correct or incorrect thinking could have. Lastly, Joshua Parens argues that al-Farabi was slyly asserting that a pan-Islamic society could not be made, by using reason to show how many conditions (such as moral and deliberative virtue) would have to be met, thus leading the reader to conclude that humans are not fit for such a society. Some other authors such as Mykhaylo Yakubovych argue that for al-Farabi religion ("milla") and philosophy ("falsafa") constituted the same praxeological value (i.e. basis for "amal al-fadhil"—"virtuous deed"), while its epistemological level ("ilm"—"knowledge") was different.

Legacy.

The main-belt asteroid 7057 Al-Fārābī was named in his honor.

References.

Primary Sources (Fārābī) in translation.

Portuguese  German

Abu Nasr Al-Farabi (; '; known in the West as Alpharabius"'; c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951) was a renowned early Islamic philosopher and jurist who wrote in the fields of political philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and logic. He was also a scientist, cosmologist, mathematician and music scholar.

阿布·纳斯尔·穆罕默德·伊本·穆罕默德·塔尔汗·法拉比·伊本·乌扎克·阿勒-法拉比·阿特 突鲁克(,872年-950年12月14日至951年1月12日之间),西方称为阿尔法拉比乌斯(拉丁语:Alpharabius),是喀喇汗王朝(870—1213年)初期著名医学家、哲学家、心理学家、音乐学家。出生于中亚突厥斯坦附近的的讹答剌城(他说自己出自钦察),讹答剌被阿拉伯人称为法拉布,阿布·纳斯尔·阿乐·法拉比意思就是来自法拉比的“阿布纳斯尔”。


Early life.

Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. His mother, Julie (née Eckstein), is a writer who published the book "Journey of a Lifetime," and has acted in many plays. His father, Mark Rosenbaum, used to work in pharmaceuticals. He is one of six children with two brothers, Eric and Adam, and a sister, Laurie. After his parents' divorce, his mother remarried sports reporter Gordon Engelhardt, and his father remarried Alexis Peregrino, a starting performer, with whom he had two daughters, Rosenbaum's half-sisters Ava and Lia. His uncle is pet behaviorist Warren Eckstein. Rosenbaum is Jewish, and says he was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana.  He graduated from Castle High School in Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Career.

Once in New York, Vincent Letizia, an MTV Networks intern spotted his 8 x 10 black-and-white photo in a batch of other casting submissions for a pilot called "Talk Girl". The pilot was never green-lighted, but Rosenbaum stood out as a newly discovered talent. A new MTV pilot was conceived specifically for Rosenbaum with the working title of "The Michael Rosenbaum Project". The project later became known as "The Temp" and covered Rosenbaum in a reality television setting as a temp, who would walk into a different job each day. The pilot featured Rosenbaum as a Cat filling in on Broadway's "Cats" musical, and as a zoo keeper filling in at the zoo, sweeping animal manure and the like. The pilot never took off with MTV Executives.  In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on "Smallville". Continuing in the superhero genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. The Flash) in the DC Comics animated series "Justice League", "Static Shock", and "Justice League Unlimited" as well as portraying a younger version of Wally West as Kid Flash in "Teen Titans". In the third season "Justice League Unlimited" episode "Great Brain Robbery", Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when his character was trapped in Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor's body. In February 2008, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving "Smallville" after the seventh season of the show. After many months of speculation and him first turning down the contract to return, it was announced on February 11, 2011 that Rosenbaum would return to "Smallville" for the two-hour series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011, with Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor.  In 2012, Rosenbaum appeared in Hit and Run, a movie that he made with his friends Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell. Michael portrayed the character Gil, a jealous ex-boyfriend from Annie's (Bell's character) past.  Rosenbaum has a few notable vocal impressions in his repertoire, including Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Spacey. The makers of the DCAU have used these impressions in their work, having Rosenbaum do his Walken voice for Ghoul in "" and his Spacey voice for Deadshot; Spacey coincidentally portrayed Lex Luthor in the film "Superman Returns", and Walken played Max Shreck in "Batman Returns". He filmed the original SyFy comedy series "Saved By Zeroes"; yet was never picked up. He recurred in Fox's original sitcom "Breaking In"; the show gets cancelled initially after the first season but got a second chance, and Rosenbaum was promoted to series regular. Yet the series was cancelled again after a few episodes of the second season.  In 2014, Rosenbaum made his feature film directorial and writing debut with the comedy "Back in the Day", where he stars as an actor who returns to his hometown in Indiana for a class reunion. The movie was filmed in Newburgh and Evansville, Indiana.  Prior to the production of "Back in the Day", Rosenbaum planned to direct another comedy film, titled "Sorry is For Sissies". The film had a cast including Jon Heder, Colin Hanks and Jennifer Love Hewitt, however, at least half of the film's budget was lost, therefore the film was scrapped.  On June 17, 2014, Rosenbaum was cast as the lead in the TV Land original sitcom "Impastor". The plot has been summarised as a "low-life who hides out in a small town by conning the residents into thinking he is their newly hired gay pastor".  In 2017, Rosenbaum served as narrator for the reality television show "Hunted" which pitted investigators against teams of ordinary citizens trying to evade capture as fugitives.  Since 2018, Rosenbaum has hosted a casual celebrity interview-based podcast called "Inside of You". His first guest was his "Smallville" co-star Tom Welling.

Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor, producer, singer and comedian. He is known for his performance in "Sorority Boys" and for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman television series "Smallville", a role that "TV Guide" included in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".

迈克尔·欧文·罗森巴姆(英语:Michael Owen Rosenbaum,又译:迈克尔·罗森鲍姆、麦克·罗森鲍姆,1972年-7月11日),美国演员、导演;他饰演最出名的角色是在《超人前传》中饰演雷克斯·路瑟以及Breaking In中的Dutch,另外他还在DC漫画闪电侠中担任配音等工作。


History.

The facade existing today was only built after 1900 on the initiative of King Leopold II. The first nucleus of the present-day building dates from the end of the 18th century. However, the grounds on which the palace stands were once part of the Coudenberg Palace a very old palatial complex that dated back to the Middle Ages.  The first building on the Coudenberg hill was constructed between the second half of the 11th and first half of the 12th century. At that time it probably looked like a fortified castle forming a part of the fortifications of the city of Brussels. It was the home of the Dukes of Brabant who also resided in the nearby city of Leuven and in the Castle of Tervuren. In the following centuries it was rebuilt, extended and improved in line with the increased prestige of the Dukes of Brabant and their successors; the Dukes of Burgundy, the Emperor Charles V, the Archduke Albert of Austria and Infanta Isabel of Spain and successive Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands.  The "Aula Magna", or Throne Room, was built for Philip the Good in the 15th century. It was in this room that the Emperor Charles V abdicated in 1555 in favour of his son Philip II of Spain. This prestigious complex was unfortunately destroyed by a fire on February 3, 1731. The ruins only disappeared when the district was redeveloped after 1775. At that time the urban axes of the present-day Brussels Park were laid out. The Place Royale was built on top of the ruined palace. Excavations of the site by different archeological organisations have unearthed various remains of different parts of the Palace as well as the surrounding town. The monumental vaults remaining under the square and its surrounding buildings can be visited.

The New Palace.

Charles Alexander of Lorraine, at that time Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands had a new palace, the Palace of Charles of Lorraine, built on the nearby site of the former palace of the Nassau family (Hof van Nassau). The Palace of Charles of Lorraine is now part of the Royal Library of Belgium. The old palace garden was redesigned as a public park. On the north side a new building for the Council of Brabant (Raad van Brabant / Conseil de Brabant) was built by the French architect Gilles Barnabé Guimard, which today houses the Belgian Federal Parliament and is known as the 'Palace of the Nation'. On the other side of the park (the building plot of the present-day palace) the middle axis of the park continued as a street between two newly built mansions. One served as the residence of the Abbot of the nearby Coudenberg Abbey, while the other was inhabited by important government members.  After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, Brussels became (together with The Hague) the joint capital of the new established United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was under the rule of William I of the Netherlands that the street was covered and the two mansions were joined with a gallery. The newly created 'palace' received a new neo-classic facade designed by Tilman-François Suys with a peristyle in the middle, and a balcony with a wrought iron parapet surrounding the entire first floor.  The street running alongside the new palace was widened and thus the "Place des Palais" or "Paleizenplein" was created. The new square was called 'Square of the Palaces' in plural, because another palace was built on the left side of the Royal Palace. This new building (1823) was designed as the residence of the Crown Prince called the Prince of Orange (the later King William II of the Netherlands). Today it houses the Royal Academies of Sciences and Arts of Belgium and is consequently called "Academiënpaleis / Palais des Academies". The rooms and 'Salons' of the old mansions were incorporated in the new Royal Palace and were only partly refurnished. Some of them survived al the 19th and 20th century renovations and are still partly intact today. A major addition to the interior decoration from the time of William I is the so-called 'Empire room' which was designed as a ballroom. It has a very refined cream and gold decoration designed and executed by the famous French sculptor François Rude.

Extensions by Leopold II.

After the Belgian revolution the palace was offered to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg when he ascended the throne as the first King of the Belgians. Just like his predecessor William II he used the palace mainly for official receptions and other representational purposes and lived in the Royal Palace of Laeken. During his reign (until 1865) little was changed to the palace. It was his son and successor Leopold II who judged the building to be too modest for a king of his stature, and who kept on enlarging and embellishing the palace until his death in 1909. During his reign the palace nearly doubled in surface. After the designs of his architect Alphonse Balat, imposing rooms like the 'Grand Staircase', 'Throne Room' and the 'Grande Gallerie' were added. Balat also planned a new façade but died before the plans could be executed.  It was only after 1904 that the new façade was executed after new plans by Henri Maquet. The pediment sculpture shows an allegorical figure of "Belgium" flanked by groups representing "Industry" and "Agriculture", by Belgian sculptor Thomas Vinçotte. The new design included a formal front garden separating the building from the 'Place des Palais'.

Royal Collection.

In the palace an important part of the royal collection is found. This consists of mainly state portraits and important furniture of Napoleon, Leopold I, King Louis Philippe and Leopold II. Silverware, porcelain and fine crystal is kept in the cellars used during state banquets and formal occasions at court. Queen Paola added modern art in some of the state rooms.  During state visits, the royal apartments and suites are at the disposal of visiting heads of state. Ambassadors too are received here with state ceremony. New Year's receptions are held for NATO, ambassadors of the EU and politicians. Royal wedding banquets take place in the palace, and after their death, the body of the deceased king lies in state here. If the king is currently in the country, the flag is hoisted on the central building. If he is present inside the palace then the Honor Guard stands at the front of the palace.

The Royal Palace of Brussels (,, ) is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital Brussels. However it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the palace as follows: The Palace is where His Majesty the King exercises his prerogatives as Head of State, grants audiences and deals with affairs of state. Apart from the offices of the King and the Queen, the Royal Palace houses the services of the Grand Marshal of the Court, the King's Head of Cabinet, the Head of the King's Military Household and the Intendant of the King's Civil List. The Palace also includes the State Rooms where large receptions are held, as well as the apartments provided for foreign Heads of State during official visits.

布鲁塞尔王宫(,,)是比利时王室的正式宫殿,位于布鲁塞尔市中心,但现在比利时王室成员实际上并不居住在这里,而是居住在布鲁塞尔郊区的拉肯皇家城堡。这里在中世纪时期就已经有宫殿,但现在的建筑的历史可以追溯到18世纪末期。现在的建筑外观则多修建于1900年以后。


History.

Although earlier films such as Alessandro Blasetti's "Europa di notte" ("Europe By Night", 1959) and Luigi Vanzi's "Il mondo di notte" ("World By Night", 1961) may be considered examples of the genre, the origins of the mondo documentary are generally traced to the 1962 Italian film "Mondo Cane" ("A Dog's World"—a mild Italian profanity) by Paolo Cavara, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi which was a commercial success.  Documentary films imitating "Mondo Cane" in the 1960s often included the term "mondo" in their titles, even if they were in English; examples include "Mondo Bizarro", "Mondo Daytona", "Mondo Mod", "Mondo Infame" and "Mondo Hollywood". Films outside the genre followed suit: "Mondo Trasho", "Mondo Weirdo: A Trip to Paranoia Paradise", "Mondo Keyhole" and "Mondo Brutale" (a German release of Wes Craven's "The Last House on the Left") title themselves "mondo", although none are mondo documentaries. Later in the decade, this naming convention began to fall out of favour and fewer mondo films identified themselves as such in their titles.  Filmmakers wanted to top each other in shock value to attract audiences. Cruelty to animals, accidents, tribal-initiation rites and surgeries are features of a typical mondo. Much of the action is staged, although the filmmakers may claim their goal is to document "reality". Subjects of mondo films include sex ("Mondo Sex" and "Mondo Sexualis USA"); celebrities ("Mondo Elvis" and "Mondo Lugosi"); youth culture ("Mondo Teeno") and the gay subculture ("Mondo Rocco").  Russ Meyer's film "Mondo Topless" was one of the few "documentaries" restricted to the old midnight movie circuit in the pre-VCR era; it explored strip clubs in 1960s San Francisco at a time when strip clubs were a novelty in the United States, restricted to centers of port-city decadence (such as San Francisco). Other examples of this genre include "Mondo New York" by Harvey Keith, "Mondo di Notte" by Gianni Proia and "Mondo Balordo" by Roberto Bianchi Montero.  The 1980s saw a resurgence of mondo movies focusing almost exclusively on (onscreen) death, instead of world cultures. The "Faces of Death" series is a notable example of this type of mondo (or "death") movie. The producers used fake footage (passed off as real), but some of the footage was legitimate (including scenes of autopsies, suicides and accidents).  The rare 1985 film "Mondo Senza Veli" ("World Without Veils" or "Mondo Fresh") was purported by viewers to feature at its end the brutal execution of a young Arab rapist by public rectal impalement. This episode was, however, believed to have been a staged execution by some viewers.  Mondo films in the 21st century feature gore, exemplified by the "Faces of Gore" and "Traces of Death" series. There is less fake footage, and many use news footage of accidents from East Asia.  A number of films have parodied the genre. Examples include Ricardo Fratelli's "Mondo Ford"; "Mr. Mike's Mondo Video" by "Saturday Night Live"s Michael O'Donoghue and "Is There Sex After Death?" by Jeanne and Alan Abel. "Mondo Beyondo" spoofed the films' approach to titling, but was a parody of satellite television. The Italian cannibal film is arguably an offshoot of the mondo film.

Films.

The original mondo film series was the "Mondo Cane" series by Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco Prosperi. When this type of film proved successful, many imitators followed.  The pair's "Mondo candido" (1975) is not a "Mondo" film; the title was imposed on them by the studio, who wished to cash in on their earlier successes. The film is a retelling of Voltaire's novel, "Candide".  In the late 1980s Stelvio Massi (a.k.a. Max Steele) made two spinoffs of the original "Mondo Cane" series, known as "Mondo Cane 3" and "Mondo Cane 4" on video.  In 1969, brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni began to make a series of their own mondo films until the early 1980s. They made five films in all, tying Jacopetti and Prosperi as the most prolific mondo film producers. Each film examines brutal and bizarre behavior on the African continent. Their films are considered some of the most graphic Mondo films ever made.  Antonio Climati, cinematographer to Prosperi and Jacopetti in many mondo films, joined Mario Morra in 1974 to produce their own string of mondo films, known as the Savage Trilogy. Prosperi also produced the films. Climati and Morra were known for staging scenes.  The 1978 "Faces of Death" popularized a Mondo style known as "death films", which depicted humans or animals dying in graphic ways.  Uwe Schier bought the rights to the "Mondo Cane" and "Faces of Death" films and released his own entries in both series, consisting largely of footage lifted from other mondo films. "Faces of Death 5" draws heavily on "Death Scenes"; "Faces of Death 6" consists almost entirely of "Days of Fury" and "Mondo Cane IV" (not to be confused with "Mondo Cane 2000, l'Incredibile", Schier's "Mondo Cane IV" is in fact the fifth film in the series) lifts from other films (including "Death Scenes" and "Death Faces IV"). In 1993, Hurricane Pictures edited a mix of scenes featured in "Addio ultimo uomo" and "Shocking Africa", labeling it the "fifth chapter" of the saga ("Teil V" in German).  Several imitators followed the "Faces of Death" series; many used (or were composed entirely of) footage from other mondo films.

A mondo film is a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include portrayals of foreign cultures (which have drawn accusations of ethnocentrism or racism), an emphasis on taboo subjects such as death and sex, and staged sequences presented as genuine documentary footage. Over time, the films placed increasing emphasis on footage of the dead and dying (both real and fake). The term shockumentary is also used to describe the genre. The term "mondo" is derived from the Italian word for "world". The genre is also noted for the graphic footage of death and deceased people often shown in many such films, leading to the popular nickname of "death film".

残酷纪录片(英语:Mondo film)是剥削电影及纪录片的子流派。许多残酷记录片的制作方式类似于伪纪录片,通常描绘煽情的话题、场景或情景。这些电影的共同特点包括强调禁忌话题(如死亡和性)、异域风情(这已引起种族优越感或种族主义的指责)的描写和上演表现为真正的纪录片镜头画面。随着时间的推移,这类电影越来越注重拍摄死尸和死亡的画面(无论真假),也因此被称为死亡电影。此外,“震惊纪录片”(shockumentary)也用于描述该类电影。


Plot.

Bruno, 20, and Sonia, 18, are surviving on her welfare cheques and Bruno's petty crimes when Sonia becomes pregnant. While Sonia is absent, Bruno sells their baby to a black market adoption ring to make some quick cash. He tells Sonia, telling her that they can simply "make" another baby, but Sonia is sickened and faints.  Faced with Sonia's shock, and feeling regret for his mistake, Bruno buys the child back at a premium—but, after being turned away by Sonia, his mounting debts lead Bruno down a quick path to desperation. He also learns Sonia is pressing charges. He winds up in prison, and Sonia visits him, sharing a moment of despair.

Reception.

Critical response.

"L'Enfant" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 86% approval rating, based on 106 reviews, with an average score of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "The Dardennes continue to excel at presenting works of rigorous naturalism, with detached observations of authentic characters that nevertheless resonate with complex moral issues.". At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 87, based on 34 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Accolades.

"L'Enfant" won the Palme d'Or in 2005 Cannes Film Festival, making directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne twice winners of the Palme d'Or, having won the award previously in 1999 with "Rosetta". The film received the André Cavens Award for Best Film by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC). It was also nominated for Best Film and Best Actor (for Jérémie Renier) at the European Film Awards.  The film was chosen as Belgium's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards, but did not secure a nomination.

L'Enfant (English: The Child) is a 2005 Belgian film directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, starring Jérémie Renier and Déborah François. The film was released under its French title in the US, and as The Child in the UK.

《孩子》()是2005年由比利时导演尚-皮耶·达顿与卢·达顿执导的电影,获得第58届戛纳电影节最高荣誉金棕榈奖,这也使达顿兄弟成为影史上第六组获得两次金棕榈奖的电影导演。


Synopsis.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on 19 August 1930, Frank (Francis) McCourt is the oldest son of Malachy McCourt and Angela Sheehan McCourt. Both of his parents emigrated from Ireland and married in a shotgun wedding over Angela's pregnancy with Frankie. Angela is originally from Limerick, Ireland, and is fond of music, singing, and dancing. Malachy, from Northern Ireland, is an alcoholic known for his "odd manner" and for telling fantastical stories about Irish heroes. Frankie is often said to closely resemble his father, having a hang-dog face and the same "odd manner." The narrative is told from the point of view of Frankie as a child.  In America, the McCourts live in modern tenement housing next to a park and share a floor, and a communal lavatory, with other immigrant families from Ireland, Italy, and the Jewish communities.  Frankie has four younger siblings: Malachy, born in 1931, who is often favored over Frankie for being an attractive, open child; blond twins Oliver and Eugene, born in 1932; and an infant sister, Margaret, in 1935.  The family often struggles with poverty as Malachy Sr. engages in an endless struggle to find work and alcohol. The family's prospects, and Angela's spirits, lift whenever he finds a new job and brings home his first week's wages, but eventually he finds himself spending all of his pay in pubs, despite Angela's many schemes to prevent him from doing so, and losing his job after a few weeks.  Margaret's birth seems to instill new life into the family: the whole family falls in love with her, Malachy Sr most of all. He gives up drinking and finds steady work to support the family. However, due to her parents' ignorance of children's disease, Margaret lives for only seven weeks. With her death, Malachy Sr abandons his family for days to indulge in an alcoholic binge, while Angela falls into a severe, debilitating depression. Frank, age four, is forced to feed and care for his younger siblings, often with the kind intervention of the neighbors. The neighbors soon realize the family's dire straits and intervene, contacting Angela's cousins, who in turn recommend the family return to Ireland with Angela's family in Limerick.  Angela is pregnant with a new baby as they return to Ireland from America, though she loses the child shortly after moving to Limerick.  The Great Depression has struck Ireland, particularly Limerick, even harder than it did the United States. There is little work, and conditions for poor families are miserable. Malachy Sr finds it even more difficult to find work because of his Northern Ireland accent and mannerisms, the children are mocked for their American accents, and many neighbors, as well as Angela's family, look down on the McCourts for their return from America.  The family is forced to rely on the dole and charity from the local Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, which requires extensive, and humiliating application processes. Angela and Malachy Sr often argue about this as Malachy drinks the welfare money meant to feed the family, and views Angela's asking for charity as begging and degrading. For many years, the family subsists on little more than bread and tea.  Within a year of the family's arrival, Oliver and Eugene also die—Oliver of what is implied to be scarlet fever and Eugene, a few months later, from grieving the loss of his twin and pneumonia. After each death, Angela sinks into depression, and the family moves because she cannot bear being in the same house. Each move results in the McCourts sliding down into worse and worse circumstances. Eventually, they end up living in a slum house. The entire ground floor floods for half a year, requiring the family to live in an upstairs room together. Their house is located next to the only lavatory on the whole street. There is a constant traffic of families dumping chamber pots in the filthy lavatory, which often backs up and smells. Two additional baby brothers, Michael (born 1936), and Alphie (Alphonsus, b. 1940), are born in Limerick.  Frankie grows up in Limerick as a sensitive and intelligent child. He often makes unique observations from those around him and has an emotional need to help. His strict Catholic upbringing preys on his imaginative nature and thoughts on whether he will be going to hell plague on his mind. Frankie must balance his Catholic beliefs against a church which frequently rejects him due to his poverty and family, his Irish upbringing against his desire to return to America once he's grown, and his desire for his father's attention against his loyalty to his mother. Strangers often prefer his more attractive and outgoing siblings, but Frankie wins over a few champions, mainly in the form of his school teachers and the various adults who hire him for odd jobs.  Frank develops typhoid fever and is taken to a Catholic hospital, where for the first time he has adequate food, warmth, and access to limitless books, and the time to read them, giving birth to his lifelong love of literature. Frankie additionally contracts chronic conjunctivitis, which does little to improve his looks or perceived, sarcastic demeanor.  At the outbreak of World War II, many Limerick men find work at a defence plant in Coventry, England, leaving their families behind and sending back money to support them. These good-paying jobs lift many of the McCourts' neighbors out of poverty. Malachy Sr leaves the family behind and secures a defence job. For several weeks, the payments allow the family to enjoy small luxuries such as candy and visits to the movies. But soon, the money stops coming and Malachy Sr abandons his family for good.  Frank and his brothers begin to scavenge the streets for coal or peat turf for fuel. They also steal leftover food from restaurants at the end of the day and grocery deliveries from doorsteps.  Eventually, the family is evicted and homeless. With few options, Angela and her children move in with her bachelor cousin, Laman Griffin. Laman is a petty tyrant who resents the presence of the children and enjoys degrading them and Angela. A preteen Frankie resents this treatment, but puts up with it for his mother and younger brothers. Upon discovering that part of Laman's deal for providing housing is a sexual relationship with Angela, Frankie has a fight with Laman and is thrown out of the house. Shortly after, Malachy Jr leaves Laman Griffin's to join the military as a bugle boy.  Frankie moves in with his maternal uncle, who was dropped on his head as a child and now lives in the house left to him by his deceased mother. Frank gets a job as a telegram delivery boy on his 14th birthday and begins to support himself while saving for his passage to America. The interesting people and situations Frankie meets on his deliveries cause him to grow as a person.  Frankie supports his youngest brothers by providing food and respite from Laman Griffin when they come to visit him. Eventually, his brothers ask if they can move in with him, which he allows, and they are shortly followed by Angela. Frankie must now turn over the majority of his wages to his mother as the bread winner of the family, though he still takes on various odd jobs to earn extra for his ticket to America, such as writing threatening collection letters on behalf of a local moneylender.  On his sixteenth birthday, Frank's uncle takes him to the pub to buy him his first beer. Frank gets drunk and returns home, singing like his father used to. When his mother shames him for drinking the way his father did, Frank hits her, accusing her of being a whore for Laman Griffin, and is immediately ashamed of himself.  One day Frank returns to the moneylender's home to find she has died. Liberated, Frank takes money from her purse and throws her ledger of debtors into the river to free the neighborhood of their debts. The contents of the moneylender's purse give him enough money to return to America at the age of nineteen. Frank arrives in Poughkeepsie, New York, ready to begin a new life in the country of his birth.

Character list.

McCourt family  Others

Background.

After traveling to America (where the book ends), Frank ended up working at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City, where he remained until 1951. Frank was drafted during the Korean war to be stationed in Bavaria, Germany. After being discharged, Frank returned to New York and dabbled with several different jobs until he was accepted into NYU. After graduating in 1957 with a bachelor's degree in English, McCourt turned to teaching in New York schools. He then obtained his master's degree and traveled to Dublin in pursuit of his PhD, which he never completed.

Awards.

"Angela's Ashes" won several awards, including the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the 1996 National Book Critics Circle Award (Biography), and the 1997 Boeke Prize.  Frank McCourt was elected Irish American of the Year in 1998.

Disputed memories.

McCourt was accused of exaggerating his family's impoverished upbringing by many Limerick natives, including Richard Harris. McCourt's mother had denied the accuracy of his stories shortly before her death in 1981, walking out of a stage performance by her two elder sons; Malachy's recollection is that she said it was "all a pack of lies."  Local writer and filmmaker Gerry Hannan has compiled a list of 117 inaccuracies in "Angela's Ashes", most notably, that McCourt claims that Willie Harrold charged people to watch his sisters undressing, but Harrold had no sisters; McCourt's sexual relationship with Teresa Carmody is considered to be tarnishing the name of a girl who died young, and his working as a telegraph boy is said not to be true; and that the family never lived with Laman (Gerry) Griffin. McCourt is accused of hatred toward "pillars" of Limerick city, especially the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Catholic Church and Munster Rugby. Hannan confronted McCourt on "The Late Late Show" in 1999. Paddy Malone, who appears on the book's cover in a school photograph, claims that "McCourt calls this book a memoir, but it is filled with lies and exaggerations. The McCourts were never that poor." For example, McCourt was a member of the Boy Scouts, which was a middle-class pursuit that the poor could not afford, and family photographs show the children and Angela as well-fed.  American journalist Mike Meyer visited Limerick and took the tour of the city sparked by publication of the book. He realized how much the city had changed since McCourt's childhood years there, including destruction of the slum area where his family lived when Frank was in school.  McCourt described the book as "a memoir, not an exact history", and admitted to fabricating the story about Willie Harrold's sister. Similarly, Alan Parker, who directed the film version, said that "Angela's Ashes" "was a work of art which met Gore Vidal's definition of autobiography, being an 'impression' of a life, rather than a memoir."

Film.

In 1999 a film version was released. It was co-written and directed by Alan Parker starring Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, and Michael Legge, as the Young, Middle and Older Frank McCourt respectively and Emily Watson as McCourt's mother Angela, Robert Carlyle as the father.  The film begins when the McCourt family move back to Ireland after experiencing hardship in America. Many of the Street scenes were filmed in Cork, Ireland. The film soundtrack was composed and conducted by John Williams, and features songs by Billie Holiday and Sinéad O'Connor.

Musical.

A stage musical adaptation of "Angela's Ashes" by Adam Howell (Music & Lyrics) and Paul Hurt (Book) received its world premiere at the Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick on July 6, 2017 with following performances at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin and the Grand Opera House, Belfast.

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt, with various anecdotes and stories of his childhood. It details his very early childhood in Brooklyn, New York, US but focuses primarily on his life in Limerick, Ireland. It also includes his struggles with poverty and his father's alcoholism.

《安琪拉的灰烬》(英语:"Angela's Ashes")是爱尔兰裔美国作家法兰克.麦考特(1930年8月19日-2009年7月19日)在1996年完成的回忆录文学作品。书中内容主要叙述作者童年趣闻轶事,从幼儿时期在纽约布鲁克林生活开始描述,主要篇幅描述他在爱尔兰利默里克劳工生活,其中也包括他挣扎于贫穷生活与父亲酗酒问题。


Plot.

Vietnam War veteran Paul Brenner is in Georgia, masquerading as First Sergeant Frank White, to broker an illegal arms trade with a self-proclaimed freedom fighter. Brenner is actually a Chief Warrant Officer serving as an undercover agent of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command.  While on a local army base, Brenner's car gets a flat tire and a young officer helps him change it. The officer is Elisabeth Campbell, the commanding general's daughter and a captain in psychological operations. The next evening, she is found murdered. The base provost marshal, Colonel Kent, secures the crime scene. Brenner and Sara Sunhill, a rape specialist, are brought in to investigate. It starts out awkwardly between Brenner and Sunhill...they'd been involved in the past. Sunhill was engaged to a major while dating Brenner on the side and appears to enjoy toying with Brenner.  Brenner and Sunhill search Elisabeth's home and find a room containing video and BDSM equipment. Brenner is attacked by an intruder who removes the video tapes. Brenner questions Elisabeth's superior officer, Colonel Moore. Moore is evasive and gives a false alibi, which leads Brenner to arrest him on charges of conduct unbecoming an officer.  Sunhill is knocked to the ground by four men who try to intimidate her and Brenner. Sunhill notices that the main assailant is wearing a silver claddagh ring. It turns out to be a Captain Elby. At gunpoint, he confesses that Elisabeth was sexually promiscuous with the men on the base as part of an extensive "psychological warfare" campaign against her father.  Back at the jail, Colonel Kent releases Moore, confining him to quarters at his home on-base. When Brenner, Sunhill, and Kent return to Moore's home, they find him dead with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. But Brenner is not convinced that Moore's death was suicide. General Campbell's adjutant, Colonel Fowler, attempts to close the investigation, stating that Moore killed himself out of guilt, but Brenner refuses to accept this.  Brenner and Sunhill visit Colonel Slesinger, the Academy's psychiatrist, who explains that Elisabeth had been brutally gang raped by fellow cadets at West Point, and left to die in an isolated area—staked down in exactly the same manner in which she was found murdered. While not directly cooperative Slesinger hints at where a key to the file cabinet is kept. He also hints at where a special notation was attached to her file...revealing the name of someone who came forward regarding Elisabeth to Slesinger privately. Elisabeth never knew the names of her assailants, but Sunhill tracks down the cadet who was in the report attached to Elisabeths file in Slesinger's cabinet at West Point. She tricks him into admitting his presence during Elisabeth's by showing him a pair of underwear that she'd purchased only an hour before...but makes the former cadet think they were Elisabeth's. She told him that the attackers DNA was on it. Feeling trapped but also guilt-ridden...because while he wasn't one of the attackers Elisabeth was his friend and he didn't help her...he admits witnessing the rape and the hatred the men had towards a woman who surpassed them as a cadet. They then arrest the other assailants, all of whom face 20 years imprisonment for their crime.  The agents pay a visit to the general, who corroborates the story. Fearing that the assailants would never be caught, Campbell had acted upon the advice of another general and decided to cover up the incident since such a scandal could have destroyed the United States Military Academy. He also visited Elisabeth in the hospital and convinced her to do the same. This denial of justice severely traumatized Elisabeth, causing her to partake in various violent sexual activities and wage a war of psychological revenge against her father. Campbell also reveals that he encountered his daughter the night of her murder and that, with the aid of Moore, she staged the reenactment of her West Point rape in an attempt to force him to face what he did. But Campbell was unmoved, and left her tied to the stakes.  Realizing that Kent is the only suspect left, Brenner decides to question him. He calls Sunhill but learns that she was returning to the murder scene with Kent, who also wants to see Brenner. Brenner arrives and confronts Kent, who admits that he killed Elisabeth. He had been madly, obsessively in love with her and was even ready to leave his wife and children to be with her forever. He snapped when she spat in his face and then strangled her to death. He also admits he murdered Moore and made it appear as suicide in an attempt to get away with it. Kent then commits suicide by deliberately stepping on an anti-personnel mine.  As General Campbell prepares to get on the plane to accompany Elisabeth's body to the funeral, he is confronted by Brenner, who lays the burden of his daughter's death on the general. Brenner tells Campbell that his betrayal of Elisabeth was what had killed her and that Kent had just put her out of her misery. Though General Campbell threatens Brenner to keep silent or else be run out of the Army, Brenner has him court-martialed for conspiracy to conceal a crime, thus ruining the general's public and military careers.

Production.

"The General's Daughter" was directed by Simon West and produced by Mace Neufeld. It was an adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name, written by Nelson DeMille and published in 1992. William Goldman did some work on the script. Michael Douglas was originally attached to star.  Much of the film was filmed in various locations in and around Savannah, Georgia.  A love scene between Travolta and Stowe was cut from the final film.  Two key changes were made after test screenings: Travolta's character made a stronger moral stand at the end, and it became clearer at the beginning that he was a military investigator working undercover.

Reception.

Box office.

With a $95 million budget, the film grossed almost $103 million at the domestical box office and $150 million worldwide.

Critical response.

The film had generally negative reviews with 22% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 89 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The consensus is "Contrived performances and over-the-top sequences offer little real drama". On Metacritic the film has a score of 47% based on reviews from 24 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.  Roger Ebert gave the film a mixed 2.5 stars out a possible 4, describing "The General's Daughter" as well-made and with credible performances, but marred by a death scene that was "so unnecessarily graphic and gruesome that by the end I felt sort of unclean."

The General's Daughter is a 1999 American mystery crime film directed by Simon West and starring John Travolta. The plot concerns the mysterious death of the daughter of a prominent Army general. The film is based on the 1992 novel by the same name by Nelson DeMille.

《将军的女儿》(英语:The General's Daughter)是一部1999年上映的电影,由约翰·屈伏塔主演、执导,剧情根据在1992年著作的同名小说改编。