document_title: Film industry

question_text: who makes the most movies in the world

question_tokens: who makes the most movies in the world

text: Film industry

text: Modern film industry[edit]

text:
World cinema

African cinema
Asian cinema

East Asian cinema
South Asian cinema
Southeast Asian cinema
West Asian cinema

European cinema
Latin American cinema
North American cinema
Oceanian cinema

text: The worldwide theatrical market had a box office of US$38.6 billion in 2016. The top three continents/regions by box office gross were: Asia-Pacific with US$14.9 billion, the U.S. and Canada with US$11.4 billion, and Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with US$9.5 billion.[3][4] As of 2016, the largest markets by box office were, in decreasing order, the United States, China, Japan, India, and the United Kingdom. As of 2011, the countries with the largest number of film productions were India, Nigeria, and the United States. In Europe, significant centers of movie production are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.[5]

text: Distinct from the centers are the locations where movies are filmed. Because of labor and infrastructure costs, many films are produced in countries other than the one in which the company which pays for the film is located. For example, many U.S. movies are filmed in Canada, many Nigerian movies are filmed in Ghana, while many Indian movies are filmed in the Americas, Europe, Singapore etc.

text: United States[edit]

text: The cinema of the United States, often generally referred to as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. The United States cinema (Hollywood) is the oldest film industry in the world which originated more than 121 years ago and also the largest film industry in terms of revenue. Hollywood is the primary nexus of the U.S. film industry with established film study facilities such as the American Film Institute, LA Film School and NYFA being established in the area.[6] However, four of the six major film studios are owned by East Coast companies. The major film studios of Hollywood including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment are the primary source of the most commercially successful movies in the world, such as Gone with the Wind (1939), Star Wars (1977), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009). Today, American film studios collectively generate several hundred movies every year, making the United States one of the most prolific producers of films in the world. Only The Walt Disney Company — which owns the Walt Disney Studios — is fully based in Southern California.[7] And while Sony Pictures Entertainment is headquartered in Culver City, California, its parent company, the Sony Corporation, is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Most shooting now takes place in California, New York, Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina. Hollywood is the most popular film industry with the highest number of screens, and is the highest-grossing film industry in the world. Between 2009-2015, Hollywood consistently grossed $10 billion (or more) annually.[8] Hollywood's award ceremony, the Academy Awards, officially known as The Oscars, is held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) every year and a total of 2,947 Oscars have been awarded since the inception of the award.[9]

text: The earliest documented account of an exhibition of projected motion pictures in the United States was in June 1894 in Richmond, Indiana by Charles Francis Jenkins which makes United States cinema the earliest cinema in the whole world. Jenkins used his Phantoscope to project his film before an audience of family, friends and reporters. The film featured a vaudeville dancer performing a Butterfly Dance. Jenkins and his new partner Thomas Armat modified the Phantoscope for exhibitions in temporary theaters at the Cotton States Exposition in the fall of 1895. The Phantoscope was later sold to Thomas Edison, who changed the name of the projector to Edison's Vitascope.

text: Nestor Studios was Hollywood's first movie studio, founded on 27 October 1911 It was built by David Horsley for Nestor Motion Picture Company. It was then owned and operated by David Horsley and his brother, William Horsley. The first motion picture stage in Hollywood was built behind the tavern. Other East Coast studios had moved production to Los Angeles, prior to Nestor's move west. The California weather allowed for year-round filming and the ambitious studio operated three principal divisions under its Canadian-born general manager, Al Christie. Other filmmakers began opening studios in the Hollywood area. The Horsleys operated the Nestor Studios at the Sunset and Gower location until 20 May 1912, when the Universal Studios was formed, headed by Carl Laemmle. Nestor, along with several other motion picture companies, including Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), was merged with Universal.

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text: China[edit]

text: The Cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the Cinema of Hong Kong and the Cinema of Taiwan. Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, The Battle of Dingjunshan, was made in 1905, with the film industry being centered on Shanghai in the first decades. China is the home of the largest film studio in the world, the Hengdian World Studios, and in 2010 it had the third largest film industry by number of feature films produced annually. For the next decade the production companies were mainly foreign-owned, and the domestic film industry was centered on Shanghai, a thriving entrepot and the largest city in the Far East. In 1913, the first independent Chinese screenplay, The Difficult Couple, was filmed in Shanghai by Zheng Zhengqiu and Zhang Shichuan.[10] As the Sixth Generation gained international exposure, many subsequent movies were joint ventures and projects with international backers, but remained quite resolutely low-key and low budget. Jia's Platform (2000) was funded in part by Takeshi Kitano's production house,[11] while his Still Life was shot on HD video. Still Life was a surprise addition and Golden Lion winner of the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. Still Life, which concerns provincial workers around the Three Gorges region, sharply contrasts with the works of Fifth Generation Chinese directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige who were at the time producing House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Promise (2005). It featured no star of international renown and was acted mostly by non-professionals. In 2012 the country became the second-largest market in the world by box office receipts. In 2014, the gross box office in China was ¥29.6 billion (US$4.82 billion), with domestic films having a share of 55%. The country is predicted to have the largest market in the world in 2017 or 2018.[12][13] China has also become a major hub of business for Hollywood studios.[14][15] In 2013, China's gross box office was ¥21.8 billion (US$3.6 billion), the second-largest film market in the world by box office receipts[16] whereas in 2014, China's box office gross was $4.8 Billion, being the second largest box office grosser in film industry.[17]

text: India[edit]

text: India is the largest producer of films in the world and second oldest film industry in the world which originated around about 103 years ago.[18] In 2009 India produced a total of 2,961 films on celluloid; this figure includes 1,288 feature films.[19] India is the country that produces more films annually and has the largest number of admissions.[20] Indian film industry is multi-lingual and the largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced and 5th largest in terms of revenue mainly due to having amongst the lowest ticket prices in the world.[21] The industry is viewed mainly by a vast film-going Indian public, and Indian films have been gaining increasing popularity in the rest of the world—notably in countries with large numbers of expatriate Indians. Indian film industry is also the dominant source of movies and entertainment in its neighboring countries of South Asia. Largest film industry in India is the Hindi film industry mostly concentrated in Mumbai (Bombay),[22] and is commonly referred to as "Bollywood", an amalgamation of Bombay, which produces around 20% of films in India. The other largest film industries are Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, Kannada cinema, Malayalam cinema, and Bangla cinema (Cinema of West Bengal), which are located in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, and Kolkata, and are commonly referred to as "Kollywood"(Tamil), "Tollywood"(Telugu), "Sandalwood"(Kannada), "Mollywood" (Malayalam), and "Tollywood"(Bangla). The remaining majority portion is spread across northern, western, and southern India (with Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Assamese Cinema). However, there are several smaller centers of Indian film industries in regional languages centered in the states where those languages are spoken. Indian films are made filled with musicals, action, romance, comedy, and an increasing number of special effects. It encloses a number of several artforms like Indian classical music, folk music of different regions throughout the country, Indian classical dance, folk dance and much more. It is even the place for number of artists from the Indian subcontinent to showcase their talent. The Indian film industry produces more than 1000 films a year. "Bollywood" is the largest portion of this and is viewed all over the Indian Subcontinent, and is increasingly popular in UK, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Gulf countries and European countries. The largest film studio complex in the world is Ramoji Film City is located at Hyderabad, India, which opened in 1996 and measures 674 ha (1,666 acres). Comprising 47 sound stages, it has permanent sets ranging from railway stations to temples.[23]

text: Egypt[edit]

text: Egyptian cinema is the flourishing cinema of the Middle East. Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Association. Most of today’s Egyptian movies and TV series are produced in the Egyptian Media Production City which is equipped with the latest equipment for shooting in outdoor and indoor studios.[24] It includes about 64 high tech studios. Censorship, formerly an obstacle to freedom of expression, has decreased remarkably. The Egyptian cinema has witnessed a remarkable shift in terms of the taboos it may address. It has begun to tackle boldly issues ranging from sexual issues[25] to heavy government criticism.[26] The 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s are generally considered the golden age of Egyptian cinema. As in the West, films responded to the popular imagination, with most falling into predictable genres (happy endings being the norm), and many actors making careers out of playing strongly typed parts. In the words of one critic, "If an Egyptian film intended for popular audiences lacked any of these prerequisites, it constituted a betrayal of the unwritten contract with the spectator, the results of which would manifest themselves in the box office."[27] Since the 1990s, Egypt's cinema has gone in separate directions. Smaller art films attract some international attention but sparse attendance at home. Popular films, often broad comedies such as What A Lie!, and the extremely profitable works of comedian Mohamed Saad, battle to hold audiences either drawn to Western films or, increasingly, wary of the perceived immorality of film.[28]

text: Nigeria[edit]

text: The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to informally as Nollywood, is the second largest film industry, in terms of output, and the third largest, in terms of overall revenues generated.[29][30] Its history dates back to as early as the late 19th century and into the colonial era in the early 20th century. The history and development of the Nigerian motion picture industry is sometimes generally classified in four main eras: the Colonial era, Golden Age, Video film era and the emerging New Nigerian cinema.[31]

text: Film as a medium first arrived Nigeria in the late 19th century, in the form of peephole viewing of motion picture devices.[32] These were soon replaced in early 20th century with improved motion picture exhibition devices, with the first set of films screened at the Glover Memorial Hall in Lagos from 12 to 22 August 1903.[33] The earliest feature film made in Nigeria is the 1926's Palaver produced by Geoffrey Barkas; the film was also the first film ever to feature Nigerian actors in speaking roles.[34][35] The first film entirely copyrighted to the Nigerian Film unit is Fincho (1957) by Sam Zebba; which is also the first Nigerian film to be shot in colour.[36]

text: After Nigeria's independence in 1960, the cinema business rapidly expanded, with new cinema houses being established.[37] As a result, Nigerian content in theatres increased in the late 1960s into the 1970s, especially productions from Western Nigeria, owing to former theatre practitioners such as Hubert Ogunde and Moses Olaiya transitioning into the big screen.[38] In 1972, the Indigenization Decree was issued by Yakubu Gowon, which demands the transfer of ownership of about a total of 300 film theatres from their foreign owners to Nigerians, which resulted in more Nigerians playing active roles in the cinema and film.[39] The oil boom of 1973 through 1978 also contributed immensely to the spontaneous boost of the cinema culture in Nigeria, as the increased purchasing power in Nigeria made a wide range of citizens to have disposable income to spend on cinema going and on home television sets.[40]

text: After the decline of the Golden era, Nigerian film industry experienced a second major boom in the 1990s, supposedly marked by the release of the direct-to-video film Living in Bondage (1992); the industry peaked in the mid 2000s to become the second largest film industry in the world in terms of the number of annual film productions, placing it ahead of the United States and behind only India.[29] The films started dominating screens across the African continent and by extension, the Caribbeans and the diaspora,[41] with the movies significantly influencing cultures, and the film actors becoming household names across the continent. The boom also led to a backlash against Nigerian films in several countries, bordering on theories such as the "Nigerialization of Africa".[42][43] Since mid-2000s, the Nigerian cinema have undergone some restructuring to promote quality and professionalism, with The Figurine (2009) widely regarded as marking the major turn around of contemporary Nigerian cinema. There have since been a resurgence cinema establishments, and a steady return of the cinema culture in Nigeria, introducing a new era.[44]

text: Iran[edit]

text: The Cinema of Iran (Persian: سینمای ایران) or Cinema of Persia refers to the cinema and film industries in Iran which produce a variety of commercial films annually. Iranian art films have garnered international fame and now enjoy a global following.[45]

text: Along with China, Iran has been lauded as one of the best exporters of cinema in the 1990s.[46] Some critics now rank Iran as the world's most important national cinema, artistically, with a significance that invites comparison to Italian neorealism and similar movements in past decades.[45] A range of international film festivals have honored Iranian cinema in the last twenty years. World-renowned Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke and German filmmaker Werner Herzog, along with many film critics from around the world, have praised Iranian cinema as one of the world's most important artistic cinemas.[47]

text: Japan[edit]

text: See Cinema of Japan

text: Korea[edit]

text: The term "Cinema of Korea" (or "Korean cinema") encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late Joseon dynasty to the Korean War to domestic governmental interference. While both countries have relatively robust film industries today, only South Korean films have achieved wide international acclaim. North Korean films tend to portray their communist or revolutionary themes.

text: South Korean films enjoyed a "Golden age" during the late 1950s, and 1960s, but by the 1970s had become generally considered to be of low quality. Nonetheless, by 2005 South Korea had become one of few nations to watch more domestic than imported films in theatres[48] due largely to laws placing limits on the number of foreign films able to be shown per theatre per year.[49] In the theaters, Korean films must be played for 73 days per year since 2006. On cable TV 25% domestic film quota will be reduced to 20% after KOR-US FTA.[50] The Cinema of South Korea had a total box office gross in the country in 2015 of ₩884 billion and had 113,000,000 admissions, 52% of the total admissions.

text: Hong Kong[edit]

text: Hong Kong is a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including the worldwide diaspora) and East Asia in general. For decades it was the third largest motion picture industry in the world (after Bollywood and Hollywood) and the second largest exporter of films.[51] Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-1990s and Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997 Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage. Unlike many film industries, Hong Kong has enjoyed little to no direct government support, through either subsidies or import quotas. It has always been a thoroughly commercial cinema, concentrating on crowd-pleasing genres, like comedy and action, and heavily reliant on formulas, sequels and remakes. Typically of commercial cinemas, its heart is a highly developed star system, which in this case also features substantial overlap with the pop music industry.

text: Turkey[edit]

text: The Yeşilçam film industry is firmly established as the second largest European theatrical growth market and the 7th largest theatrical market in terms of admissions, only superseded by the ‘big 5’ EU markets and the Russian Federation. The Turkish film market also stands out in the pan-European landscape as the only market where national films regularly outperform US films.[52] It had 1.2 million number of admissions in film industry and 87 feature films were released in the year 2013.[53] Because of the exceptional box office success of Turkish films on the domestic market, the estimated 12.9 million admissions generated on non-national European markets only account for 7% of total admissions to Turkish films in Europe (including Turkey) between 2004 and 2013. This is the third lowest share among the 30 European markets for which such data are available and clearly illustrates the strong dependence of Turkish films on the domestic market, a feature which is shared by Polish and Russian films.[54]

text: Over the past ten years an increasing number of Turkish films and filmmakers have been selected for international film festivals and received a large number of awards, like Kış Uykusu (Winter's Sleep) won Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Film in 2014.[55] In terms of box office Turkey still ranks behind the Netherlands with just over EUR 200 million as Europe's eight largest box office market ahead of Sweden and Switzerland with a clear gap to the top 6 markets all of which registered GBO between EUR 504 million (Spain) up to over EUR 1 billion in France, the UK, Germany and the Russian Federation.[56] Cinema going is comparatively cheap in Turkey. In 2013 a cinema ticket cost on average EUR 4.0 in Turkey, and this is estimated to be the lowest average ticket price - measured in Euro - in Europe, marginally cheaper than in several Central and Eastern European markets like Croatia, Romania, Lithuania or Bulgaria.[57] When comparing ticket prices in Euro, one of course has to take into consideration that these comparisons are significantly affected by fluctuations in the exchange rates of the various currencies. Because of devaluation of the Turkish Lira against the Euro, average ticket prices measured in Euro remained fairly stable over the past 10 years.[57]

text: Pakistan[edit]

text: The Cinema of Pakistan, or simply, Pakistani Cinema (Urdu: پاکستانی سنیما) refers to Pakistan's film industry. Most of the feature films shot in Pakistan are in Urdu, the national language, but may also include films in English, the official language, and regional languages such as Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, and Sindhi. Lahore was the epicentre of Pakistani cinema and Pakistan's largest film industry was Lollywood after The film industry again shifted its base in Karachi & by 2007 Karachi has permanently become the Pakistani film and showbiz industry's headquarters.[citation needed]

text: Before the separation of Bangladesh, Pakistan had three main film production centres: Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka. The regime of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, VCRs, film piracy, the introduction of entertainment taxes, strict laws based upon ultra-conservative jurisprudence, was an obstacle to the industry's growth.[58] Once thriving, the cinema in Pakistan had a sudden collapse in the 1980s and by the 2000s "an industry that once produced an average of 80 films annually was now struggling to even churn out more than two films a year.".[59][60] However, the industry has recently made a dramatic and remarkable comeback, evident from the fact that 18 of the 21 highest grossing Pakistani movies were released from 2013 through to the present, with Pakistani films frequently outcompeting Bollywood movies for the Pakistani audience, the industry is supported by Pakistani channels such as ARY and Geo whose entertainment divisions have invested significantly in Pakistani cinema when expanding from providing news and entertainment on TV channels, the lifting of strict regulations on production of films and reduction of taxes on cinemas helped to fuel an expansion across the industry from which the film industry has seen a revival.

text: Bangladesh[edit]

text: The cinema of Bangladesh is the Bengali language film industry based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The industry often has been a significant film industry since the early 1970s. The word "Dhallywood" is a portmanteau of the words Dhaka and Hollywood. The dominant style of Bangladeshi cinema is Melodramatic cinema, which developed from 1947 to 1990 and characterizes most films to this day. Cinema was introduced in Bangladesh in 1898 by Bradford Bioscope Company, credited to have arranged the first film release in Bangladesh. Between 1913 and 1914, the first production company named Picture House was opened. A short silent film titled Sukumari (The Good Girl) was the first produced film in the region during 1928. The first full-length film The Last Kiss, was released in 1931. From the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, Dhaka is the center of Bangladeshi film industry, and generated the majority share of revenue, production and audiences. The 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and the first half of the 1990s were the golden years for Bangladeshi films as the industry produced many successful films. The Face and the Mask, the first Bengali language Bangladeshi full-length feature film was produced in 1956.[61][62]

text: Directors such as Fateh Lohani, Zahir Raihan, Alamgir Kabir, Khan Ataur Rahman, Subhash Dutta, Ritwik Ghatak, Ehtesham, Chashi Nazrul Islam, Abdullah al Mamun, Sheikh Niamat Ali, Gazi Mazharul Anwar, Tanvir Mokammel, Tareque Masud, Morshedul Islam, Humayun Ahmed, Gias Uddin Selim, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Zahidur Rahman Anjan, Kamar Ahmed Saimon, Bijon Imtiaz, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and others have made significant contributions to Bangladeshi mainstream cinema, parallel cinema, art films and won global acclaim.

text: Indonesia[edit]

text: The biggest film studios in Southeast Asia has been soft opened on 5 November 2011 on 10 hectares of land in Nongsa, Batam Island, Indonesia. Infinite Frameworks (IFW) is a Singapore-based company (closed to Batam Island) which easy to approach or be approached by international clients and is owned by a consortium with 90 percent of it hold by Indonesian businessman and movie producer, Mike Wiluan.[63] In 2010-2011, due to the substantial increase in value added tax applied to foreign films, cinemas no longer have access to many foreign films, including Oscar-winning films. Foreign films include major box offices from the west, and other major film producers of the world. This has caused a massive ripple effect on the country's economy. It is assumed that this increases the purchase of unlicensed DVDs. However, even copyright violating DVDs now take longer to obtain. The minimum cost to view a foreign film not screened locally, is 1 million Rupiah. This is equivalent to US$100, as it includes a plane ticket to Singapore.[64] Locally made film quality has gone up in 2012, this is attested by the international release of films such as The Raid: Redemption, Modus Anomali, Dilema, Lovely Man, Java Heat, etc.

text: Trinidad and Tobago[edit]

text: Trinidad and Tobago’s film sector began emerging in the late fifties to early sixties and by the late seventies, there were a handful of local productions, both feature film and television.[65] The first full-length feature film to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago was “The Right and the Wrong” (1970) by Indian director/writer/producer, Harbance Kumar. The screenplay was written by the Trinidadian playwright, Freddie Kissoon.[66] The rest of the 20th century saw a couple more feature films being made in the country, with “Bim” (1974), being singled out by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago….and one of the classics of Caribbean cinema.”[67] It was one of the first films to feature an almost entirely Trinidadian cast and crew.[68] There was a rise in Trinidadian film production in the 2000s. Movies such as “Ivan the Terrible” (2004), “SistaGod” (2006), “I’m Santana: The Movie” (2012) and “God Loves the Fighter” (2013) were released both locally and internationally. “SistaGod” had its world premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[69]

text: The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company is the national agency that was established in 2006 to further development of the film industry. Trinidad and Tobago puts on a number of film festivals which are organized by different committees and organizations. These include the Secondary Schools Short Film Festival and Smartphone Film Festival organized by Trinidad and Tobago Film Company. There is also an annual Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival which runs for two weeks in the latter half of September.

text: Nepal[edit]

text: Nepali film does not have a very long movie history, but the industry has its own place in the cultural heritage of the country. It is often referred to as 'Nepali Chalchitra' (which translates to "Nepali movies" in English). The terms Kollywood and Kallywood are also used, as a portmanteau of "Kathmandu" and "Hollywood"; "Kollywood" however is more frequently used to refer to Tamil cinema.[1] Chhakka Panja has been considered the highest-grossing movie of all time in Nepali Movie Industry and Kohinoor the second highest. Nepali movies has recently begun receiving international acclaim with films such as The Black Hen (2015), Kagbeni (2006) and others. Nepali feature film White Sun (Seto Surya) has bagged the Best Film award at the 27th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF)(2016).

text: The Film Development Board (FDB) was established by the Government of Nepal for the development and promotion of the Nepali film industry. The Board is a liaison to facilitate the conceptualization, making, distribution and exhibition of Nepali films nationally. The Board attempts to bridge the gap between film entrepreneurship and government bureaucracy. The Board is a balance between the people at large, the government, and the process of film making. It is intended to act as the safeguard of the interests of the people, the watchdog of the government, and the advocate of filmmakers.

text: History[edit]

text: The first feature film to be made was the 1906 Australian silent The Story of the Kelly Gang, an account of the notorious gang led by Ned Kelly that was directed and produced by the Melburnians Dan Barry and Charles Tait. It ran, continuously, for eighty minutes.[70] By the time other countries began making feature films, in 1911, a further fifteen feature-length films had been made in Australia.[citation needed]

text: In the early 1910s, the film industry had fully emerged with D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. Also in the early 1900s motion picture production companies from New York and New Jersey started moving to California because of the good weather and longer days. Although electric lights existed at that time, none were powerful enough to adequately expose film; the best source of illumination for movie production was natural sunlight. Besides the moderate, dry climate, they were also drawn to the state because of its open spaces and wide variety of natural scenery.

text: Another reason was the distance of Southern California from New Jersey, making it more difficult for Thomas Edison to enforce his motion picture patents. At the time, Edison owned almost all the patents relevant to motion picture production and, in the East, movie producers acting independently of Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company were often sued or enjoined by Edison and his agents. Thus, movie makers working on the West Coast could work independently of Edison's control. If he sent agents to California, word would usually reach Los Angeles before the agents did and the movie makers could escape to nearby Mexico.[citation needed]

text: Hollywood[edit]

text: Hollywood is the oldest film industry in the world which was originated 121 years ago. The earliest documented account of an exhibition of projected motion pictures in the United States was in June 1894 in Richmond, Indiana by Charles Francis Jenkins. The first movie studio in the Hollywood area, Nestor Studios, was founded in 1911 by Al Christie for David Horsley in an old building on the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. In the same year, another fifteen Independents settled in Hollywood. Hollywood came to be so strongly associated with the film industry that the word "Hollywood" came to be used colloquially to refer to the entire industry.

text: In 1913 Cecil B. DeMille, in association with Jesse Lasky, leased a barn with studio facilities on the southeast corner of Selma and Vine Streets from the Burns and Revier Studio and Laboratory, which had been established there. DeMille then began production of The Squaw Man (1914). It became known as the Lasky-DeMille Barn and is currently the location of the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

text: The Charlie Chaplin Studios, on the northeast corner of La Brea and De Longpre Avenues just south of Sunset Boulevard, was built in 1917. It has had many owners after 1953, including Kling Studios, which housed production for the Superman TV series with George Reeves; Red Skelton, who used the sound stages for his CBS TV variety show; and CBS, who filmed the TV series Perry Mason with Raymond Burr there. It has also been owned by Herb Alpert's A&M Records and Tijuana Brass Enterprises. It is currently The Jim Henson Company, home of the Muppets. In 1969 The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board named the studio a historical cultural monument.

text: The famous Hollywood Sign originally read "Hollywoodland." It was erected in 1923 to advertise a new housing development in the hills above Hollywood. For several years the sign was left to deteriorate. In 1949 the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped in and offered to remove the last four letters and repair the rest.

text: The sign, located at the top of Mount Lee, is now a registered trademark and cannot be used without the permission of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which also manages the venerable Walk of Fame.

text: The first Academy Awards presentation ceremony took place on 16 May 1929, during a banquet held in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Tickets were USD $10.00[citation needed] and there were 250 people in attendance.

text: From about 1930 five major Hollywood movie studios from all over the Los Angeles area, Paramount, RKO, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros., owned large, grand theaters throughout the country for the exhibition of their movies. The period between the years 1927 (the effective end of the silent era) to 1948 is considered the age of the "Hollywood studio system", or, in a more common term, the Golden Age of Hollywood. In a landmark 1948 court decision, the Supreme Court ruled that movie studios could not own theaters and play only the movies of their studio and movie stars, thus an era of Hollywood history had unofficially ended. By the mid-1950s, when television proved a profitable enterprise that was here to stay, movie studios started also being used for the production of programming in that medium, which is still the norm today.

text: Cinema of India[edit]

text: Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; however, it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centres producing films in multiple languages.[71] Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centres of film production in the world.[72][73][74]

text: Bollywood is formally referred to as Hindi cinema.[75]

text: The Wrestlers (1899) and The Man and His Monkeys (1899) directed and produced by Harischandra Sakharam Bhatawdekar (H. S. Bhatavdekar) were the first two films made by Indian filmmakers, which were both short films. He was also the first Indian filmmaker to direct and produce the first documentary and news related film titled The Landing of Sir M.M. Bhownuggree.

text: Pundalik (Shree Pundalik) (1912), by Dadasaheb Torne alias Rama Chandra Gopal, and Raja Harishchandra (1913), by Dadasaheb Phalke, were the first and second silent feature films respectively made in India.[76][77][78][79] By the 1930s the industry was producing more than 200 films per annum.[80] The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara (1931), was a major commercial success.[81] There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming. Joymoti (1935 film) by Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla was the first Indian dubbed film, released in Calcutta on 10 March 1935. Till then, all dialogues of all talkies were had to be recorded at locations during the shooting of the film. Through Joymoti (1935 film), dubbing technology was successfully introduced to Indian cinema by Assamese filmmaker Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla.[77]

text: The 1930s and 1940s were tumultuous times: India was buffeted by the Great Depression, World War II, the Indian independence movement, and the violence of the Partition. Most Bollywood films were unabashedly escapist, but there were also a number of filmmakers who tackled tough social issues, or used the struggle for Indian independence as a backdrop for their plots.[80]

text: In 1937 Ardeshir Irani, of Alam Ara fame, made the first colour film in Hindi, Kisan Kanya. The next year, he made another colour film, a version of Mother India. However, colour did not become a popular feature until the late 1950s. At this time, lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema.

text: Statistics[edit]

text: Largest industries by number of film productions[edit]

text: The following is a list of the top 15 countries by the number of feature films (fiction, animation & documentary) produced in 2011, as determined by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.[82]

text:
Rank
Country
Films

1
India
1,255

2
Nigeria
997

3
United States
819

4
China
584

5
Japan
441

6
United Kingdom
299

7
France
272

8
South Korea
216

9
Germany
212

10
Spain
199

11
Italy
155

12
Russia
140

13
Argentina
100

14
Brazil
99

15
Canada
86

text: Largest markets by box office[edit]

text: Source: Theatrical Market Statistics 2016 – MPAA

text:
Rank
Country
Box office (billions)
Year
Box office
from national films[83]

-
World
$38.6
2016
–

1
 United States
 Canada
$11.4
2016
–

2
 China
$6.6
2016
7001550000000000000♠55% (2015)[84]

3
 Japan
$2.0
2016
7001554000000000000♠55.4% (2015)[85]

4
 India
$1.9
2016
–

5
 United Kingdom
$1.7
2016
7001160000000000000♠16% (2016)[86]

6
 France
$1.6
2016
7001333009999900000♠33.3% (2013)[87]

7
 South Korea
$1.5
2016
7001520000000000000♠52.0% (2015)[88]

8
 Germany
$1.1
2016
–

9
 Australia
$0.9
2016
7000350000000000000♠3.5% (2013)[89]

10
 Mexico
$0.8
2016
7001108000000000000♠10.8% (2013)[89]

11
 Brazil
$0.7
2016
7001304000000000000♠30.4% (2013)[89]

12
 Italy
$0.7
2016
7001169009999900000♠16.9% (2013)[89]

13
 Russia
$0.7
2016
7001180000000000000♠18% (2013)[90]

14
 Spain
$0.7
2016
7001139000000000000♠13.9% (2013)[89]

15
 Netherlands
$0.3
2016
-

text: Largest markets by number of admission[edit]

text: Source:World Film Market Trends - European Audiovisual Observatory

text:
Rank
Country
Number of
admissions (millions)
Year

1
 India
9,164.0
2013

2
 China
1,372.0
2016

3
 United States
 Canada
1,300.6
2016

4
 France
208.0
2013

5
 Mexico
197.0
2013

6
 United Kingdom
176.3
2013

7
 Japan
171.3
2013

8
 South Korea
168.8
2013

9
 Germany
156.3
2013

10
 Russia
146.0
2013


document_title: FOB (shipping)

question_text: who pays the freight cost when the terms are fob destination

root

text: FOB (shipping)

text: Incoterms[edit]

text: Under the Incoterms 2010 standard published by the International Chamber of Commerce, FOB is only used in sea freight and stands for "Free On Board". The term is always used in conjunction with a port of loading.[1]

tag: p

text: Indicating "FOB port" means that the seller pays for transportation of the goods to the port of shipment, plus loading costs. The buyer pays the cost of marine freight transport, insurance, unloading, and transportation from the arrival port to the final destination. The passing of risks occurs when the goods are loaded on board at the port of shipment. For example, "FOB Vancouver" indicates that the seller will pay for transportation of the goods to the port of Vancouver, and the cost of loading the goods on to the cargo ship (this includes inland haulage, customs clearance, origin documentation charges, demurrage if any, origin port handling charges, in this case Vancouver). The buyer pays for all costs beyond that point, including unloading. Responsibility for the goods is with the seller until the goods are loaded on board the ship. Once the cargo is on board, the buyer assumes the risk.

text: The use of "FOB" originated in the days of sailing ships. When the ICC first wrote their guidelines for the use of the term in 1936,[2] the ship's rail was still relevant, as goods were often passed over the rail by hand. In 1954, in the case of Pyrene Co. Ltd. v. Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.,[3] Justice Devlin, ruling on a matter relating to liability under an FOB contract, described the situation thus:

text: In the modern era of containerization, the term "ship's rail" is somewhat archaic for trade purposes, as with a sealed shipping container there is no way of establishing when damage occurred after the container has been sealed. The standards have noted this. Incoterms 1990 stated,

text: Incoterms 2000 adopted the wording,

text: The phrase passing the ship's rail is no longer in use, having been dropped from the FOB Incoterm in the 2010 revision.

text: Due to potential confusion with domestic North American usage of "FOB", it is recommended that the use of Incoterms be explicitly specified, along with the edition of the standard.[4][5] For example, "FOB New York (Incoterms 2000)". Incoterms apply to both international trade and domestic trade, as of the 2010 revision.

text: North America[edit]

text: In North America, FOB is written into a sales agreement to determine where the liability responsibility for the goods transfers from the seller to the buyer. FOB stands for "Free On Board" or so there is no line item payment by the buyer for the cost of getting the goods onto the transport. There are two possibilities: "FOB origin", or "FOB destination". "FOB origin" means the transfer occurs as soon as the goods are safely on board the transport. "FOB destination" means the transfer occurs the moment the goods are removed from the transport at the destination. "FOB origin" (also sometimes phrased as "FOB shipping" or "FOB shipping point") indicates that the sale is considered complete at the seller's shipping dock, and thus the buyer of the goods is responsible for freight costs and liability during transport. With "FOB destination", the sale is complete at the buyer's doorstep and the seller is responsible for freight costs and liability during transport.[6][7]

text: The two terms have a specific meaning in commercial law and cannot be altered. But the FOB terms do not need to be used, and often are not. In this case the specific terms of the agreement can vary widely, in particular which party, buyer or seller, pays for the loading costs and shipment costs, and/or where responsibility for the goods is transferred. The last distinction is important for determining liability or risk of loss for goods lost or damaged in transit from the seller to the buyer.[7][8]

text: For example, a person in Miami purchasing equipment from a manufacturer in Chicago could receive a price quote of "$5000 FOB Chicago", which would indicate that the buyer would be responsible for the shipping from Chicago to Miami. If the same seller issued a price quote of "$5000 FOB Miami", then the seller would cover shipping to the buyer's location.

text: International shipments typically use "FOB" as defined by the Incoterms standards, where it always stands for "Free On Board". Domestic shipments within the United States or Canada often use a different meaning, specific to North America, which is inconsistent with the Incoterms standards.

text: North American FOB usage corresponds to Incoterms approximately as follows:

text:
North America
Incoterms

FOB shipping point or FOB shipping point, freight collect
FCA shipping point

FOB shipping point, freight prepaid
CPT destination

FOB destination or FOB destination, freight prepaid
DAP destination

tag: table

text: A related but separate term "CAP" ("customer-arranged pickup") is used to denote that the buyer will arrange a carrier of their choice to pick the goods up at the seller's premises, and the liability for any damage or loss belongs to the buyer.

text: Although FOB has long been stated as "'Freight On Board'" in sales contract terminology, this should be avoided as it does not precisely conform to the meaning of the acronym as specified in the UCC.[7]

text: Sometimes FOB is used in sales to retain commission by the outside sales representative. It is unclear where this originated.

text: Accounting and auditing (FOB)[edit]

text: In the past, the FOB point determined when title transferred for goods. For example, at year- and period-end goods in transit under "FOB destination" (North American usage) appear on the seller's balance sheet but not in the buyer's balance sheet, as the risk and rewards of ownership change to the buyer at the "destination" port.

text: It is much easier to determine when title transfers by referring to the agreed upon terms and conditions of the transaction; typically, title passes with risk of loss. The transfer of title may occur at a different time (or event) than the FOB shipping term. The transfer of title is the element of revenue that determines who owns the goods and the applicable value.

text: Import fees when they reach the border of one country to enter the other country under the conditions of FOB destination are due at the customs port of the destination country.[9]

text: With the advent of e-commerce, most commercial electronic transactions occur under the terms of "FOB shipping point" or "FCA shipping point".

text: "Freight On Board"[edit]

text: Some sources claim that FOB stands for "Freight On Board". This is not the case. The term "Freight On Board" is not mentioned in any version of Incoterms, and is not defined by the Uniform Commercial Code in the USA.[10] Further to that, it has been found in the US court system that "Freight On Board" is not a recognized industry term.[11] Use of the term "Freight On Board" in contracts is therefore very likely to cause confusion.


document_title: Area code 956

question_text: where is area code 956 located in the usa

text: Area code 956

text: North American area code 956 is a state of Texas telephone area code for numbers in the Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo and South Padre Island areas.  It was created May 25, 1997, in a split from area code 210.

text: Counties served by this area code:

text: Towns and cities served by this area code:


document_title: Gran Torino

question_text: who sings gran torino at the end of the movie

text: Gran Torino

text: Plot[edit]

text: Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is a cantankerous, retired Polish American assembly line worker and Korean War veteran, who has recently been widowed after 50 years of marriage, causing him to be a lapsed Catholic. His Highland Park neighborhood in the Detroit area of Michigan, formerly populated by working-class white families, is now dominated by poor Asian immigrants, and gang violence is commonplace. Adding to his isolation and detachment are his feelings towards his married sons and their families.

text: He rejects a suggestion from one of his sons to move to a retirement community (sensing that they want his home and possessions), and lives alone with his elderly dog, Daisy. A longtime cigarette smoker, Walt suffers from coughing fits, occasionally coughing up blood, but conceals this from his family. Roman Catholic priest Father Janovich (Christopher Carley) tries to comfort him, but Walt disdains the young, inexperienced man. Eventually, Walt opens up to the priest, revealing that he is still haunted by memories of the war.

text: The Hmong Vang Lor family reside next door to Walt. Initially, he wants nothing to do with his new neighbors, particularly after he catches Thao (Bee Vang) attempting to steal his 1972 Ford Gran Torino as a coerced initiation into a Hmong gang run by Thao's cousin, Fong, whose nickname is "Spider". The gang is infuriated by Thao's failure and they attack him, but Walt confronts them with an M1 Garand rifle and chases them off, earning the respect of the Hmong community.

text: As penance, Thao's mother makes him work for Walt, who has him do odd jobs around the neighborhood, and the two form a grudging mutual respect. Thao's sister Sue (Ahney Her) introduces Walt to Hmong culture and helps him bond with the Hmong community, who soon become more like family to Walt than his actual family and he, in turn, becomes a better man to them than he was to his own sons. Walt helps Thao get a job and gives him dating advice. Walt eventually visits a doctor regarding his coughing fits, where it is implied that he does not have long to live.

text: Spider's gang continues to pressure Thao, assaulting him on his way home from work. After he sees Thao's injuries, Walt visits the gang's house, where he attacks a gang member as a warning. In retaliation, the gang performs a drive-by shooting on the Vang Lor home, injuring Thao. They also kidnap and rape Thao's sister Sue. There are no other witnesses, while the community members, including the victims, refuse to assist the police to incriminate the gang members.

text: The next day, Thao seeks Walt's help to exact revenge, and Walt tells him to return later in the afternoon. In the meantime, Walt makes personal preparations: he buys a suit, gets a haircut, and makes a confession to Father Janovich, who had pressured him to make it at the behest of his late wife. When Thao returns, Walt takes him to the basement, gives him his Silver Star medal, and tells him of his haunting memory of having killed a surrendering enemy soldier. He then locks Thao in his basement, until the revenge is over, to make sure the boy will never be haunted by killing someone, with his life ahead of him.

text: That night Walt goes to the gang members' house, where they draw their weapons on him. He loudly berates them and enumerates their crimes, drawing the attention of the neighbors. Putting a cigarette in his mouth, he asks for a light, then puts his hand in his jacket and provocatively pulls it out as if he were holding a gun, causing the gang members to shoot and kill him. As he falls to the ground, his hand opens to reveal the Zippo cigarette lighter with the 1st Cavalry insignia; he was unarmed. His plan had in fact been to provoke them into killing him in public. Sue, following Walt's directions, frees Thao, and they drive to the scene in Walt's Gran Torino. One of the police officers tells them that all gang members have been placed under arrest for the murder, and due to the number of witnesses, they all face a lengthy stay in prison.

text: Walt's funeral Mass is celebrated by Father Janovich and attended by his family and many of the Hmong community, many of whom are wearing traditional attire; their presence visibly puzzles Walt's family. Later, his last will and testament is read. To the surprise of his family, Walt leaves them nothing: his house goes to the church and his cherished Gran Torino goes to Thao, with the condition that he does not modify the vehicle. Later, Thao is seen driving the car along Jefferson Avenue with Daisy.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski
Bee Vang as Thao Vang Lor, a young Hmong teenager
Ahney Her as Sue Lor, Thao's older sister
Christopher Carley as Father Janovich
Doua Moua as Fong "Spider," Thao's cousin and the main antagonist
Sonny Vue as Smokie, Spider's right-hand man
Elvis Thao as Hmong Gangbanger No. 1
Brian Haley as Mitch Kowalski, Walt's older son
Brian Howe as Steve Kowalski, Walt's younger son
Geraldine Hughes as Karen Kowalski, Mitch's wife
Dreama Walker as Ashley Kowalski, Mitch and Karen's daughter
Michael E. Kurowski as Josh Kowalski, Mitch and Karen's son
John Carroll Lynch as Martin, an Italian American barber friend of Walt's
Chee Thao as Grandma Vang Lor, the matriarch of Thao's family
Choua Kue as Youa
Scott Eastwood as Trey, Sue's date

tag: ul

text: After holding casting calls in Fresno, California, Detroit, Michigan, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, Eastwood selected ten Hmong lead actors and supporting actors. Of them, only one was not a first time actor.[6] Of the Hmong cast, five, including Bee Vang,[5] one of the principal actors,[7] were from the state of Minnesota.[5] Ahney Her comes from Lansing, Michigan. The casting agency Pound & Mooney recruited thirty actors and over 500 extras. The firm recruited many Hmong actors from a Hmong soccer tournament in Macomb County, Michigan.[7] Sandy Ci Moua, a Hmong actress based in the Twin Cities, assisted with the film's casting of Hmong actors.[8]

text: Production[edit]

text: Gran Torino was written by Nick Schenk and directed by Clint Eastwood.[6] It was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, Media Magik Entertainment and Malpaso Productions for film distributor Warner Bros. Eastwood co-produced with his Malpaso partners Robert Lorenz and Bill Gerber.[9] Eastwood has stated he enjoyed the idea "that it dealt with prejudice, that it was about never being too old to learn" [10]

text: Shooting began in July 2008.[11] Hmong crew, production assistants, consultants, and extras were used.[6][12] The film was shot over five weeks. Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, the editors, cut the film so it was under two hours long.[13] The crew spent over $10 million while shooting the film in Detroit.[7]

text: In the early 1990s, Schenk became acquainted with the history and culture of the Hmong while working in a factory in Minnesota.[14] He also learned how they had sided with the South Vietnamese forces and its US allies during the Vietnam War, only to wind up in refugee camps, at the mercy of North Vietnamese Communist forces, when US troops pulled out and the government forces were defeated.[14] Years later, he was deciding how to develop a story involving a widowed Korean War veteran trying to handle the changes in his neighborhood when he decided to place a Hmong family next door and create a culture clash.[14] He and Dave Johannson, Schenk's brother's roommate, created an outline for the story.[14] According to Schenk, each night he used a pen and paper to write the script while in Grumpy's, a bar in northeastern Minneapolis, while not working at his day jobs. He recalled writing 25 pages within a single night in the bar. He recalled asking the bartender, who was his friend, questions about the story's progress.[15] Some industry insiders told Schenk that a film starring an elderly main character could not be produced, as the story could not be sold,[14] especially with an elderly main character who used language suggesting that he held racist views.[15] Through a friend, Schenk sent the screenplay to Warner Bros. producer Bill Gerber.[14] Eastwood was able to direct and star on the project as filming for Invictus was delayed to early 2009, leaving sufficient time for filming Gran Torino during the previous summer.[14] Eastwood said that he had a "fun and challenging role, and it's an oddball story."[14]

text: According to Schenk, aside from changing Minneapolis references to Detroit references, the production headed by Eastwood "didn't change a single syllable" in the script.[16] Schenk added that the concept of the producers not making any substantial revisions to a submitted script "never happens."[17] Eastwood said that he stopped making significant revisions after attempting to change the script of Unforgiven and later deciding to return to the original revision, believing that his changes were "emasculating" the product.[17]

text: Selection of Detroit for production and setting[edit]

text: The original script was inspired by the Northeast community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, but filmmakers chose to shoot in Michigan, becoming one of the first productions to take advantage of the state's new law that provided lucrative incentive packages to film productions.[18] Bill Huizenga, a man from Zeeland, Michigan who once served in the Michigan House of Representatives, helped write and coordinate the State of Michigan's incentive package to the film creators.[19] The film ultimately received a 42% tax credit. Bruce Headlam of The New York Times said "That helped make it easy for Warner Bros. to sign off on bankrolling the movie, something that hasn’t always been a given in the studio’s relationship with the director."[17]

text: Producer Robert Lorenz said that while the script was originally set in Minnesota, he chose Michigan as the actual setting as Kowalski is a retired car plant worker.[20] Metro Detroit was the point of origin of the Ford Motor Company.[17] Schenk said that sometimes the lines in the movie feel out of place with the Detroit setting; for instance a line about one of Walt's sons asks if Walt still knows a person who has season tickets for Minnesota Vikings games was changed to being about a person with Detroit Lions tickets. Schenk said "They don't sell out in Detroit. And so that bothered me. It seemed really untrue to me."[16]

text: Shooting locations[edit]

text: Locations, all within Metro Detroit, included Highland Park, Center Line,[21] Warren, Royal Oak, and Grosse Pointe Park were used.[22] The house depicting Walt Kowalski's house is on Rhode Island Street in Highland Park. The Hmong gang house is located on Pilgrim Street in Highland Park. The house depicting the residence of one of Walt's sons is on Ballantyne Road in Grosse Pointe Shores. The church used in the film, Saint Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, is in Grosse Pointe Park. The hardware store, Pointe Hardware, is also in Grosse Pointe Park. VFW Post 6756, used as the location where Walt meets friends to drink alcohol, is in Center Line.[7]

text: The barber shop, Widgren's Barber Shop, is along 11 Mile Road,[7] near Center Street, in Royal Oak. The shop, founded in 1938, in a space now occupied by another business, moved to its current location, west of its original location, in 1970. The film producers selected that shop out of 60 candidates in Metro Detroit. According to Frank Mills, the son-in-law of owner Ted Widgren, the producers selected it because they liked "the antique look inside."[23] Eastwood asked Widgren to act as an extra in the barber shop scene. In the area around the barbershop, vehicle traffic had to be stopped for three to five minutes at a time, so traffic in the area slowed down.[23]

text: Shooting and acting[edit]

text: Of the entire cast, only Eastwood was an established actor; the Hmong actors had relatively little experience,[24] and some were not proficient in English.[17] Jeff Baenen said that Eastwood used a "low-key approach to directing."[24] Eastwood said that "I’d give them little pointers along the way, Acting 101. And I move along at a rate that doesn’t give them too much of a chance to think."[17] Bee Vang said that he originally felt fright, but was able to ease into the acting.[24] Baenen said that Eastwood was a "patient teacher" of the first-time actors.[24] According to Vang, Eastwood did not say "action" whenever filming a particular shoot began.[24]

text: Vang said that he had studied the script as if it was a textbook. According to Vang, after the first film cut ended, Vang did not hear a response from Eastwood. When Vang asked if something was wrong, other people told Vang that if Eastwood did not make a comment, then his performance was satisfactory.[25] Vang added that Eastwood encouraged ad-libbing with the Hmong actors.[24] Ahney Her said that she liked the improvisation work, even when she was required to translate between the English and Hmong languages.[26] When asked if the in-character racial slurs offended the actors in real life, Ahney said that she did not feel offense. Vang said "I was called so many names that I can’t say here because of how vulgar they were. It disturbed me quite a lot, but at the end of the day it was just a script."[25]

text: Vang said in a 2011 program that Eastwood did not allow the Hmong actors to change their lines, despite what he said in the earlier interviews.[27]

text: Hmong people and culture during the production[edit]

text: Nick Schenk said that he became friends with many Hmong coworkers while employed at a VHS factory in Bloomington, Minnesota. In regards to Schenk's stories of his interactions with the Hmong people, Laura Yuen of Minnesota Public Radio said "That sense of humor and curiosity permeate the script, even though the Gran Torino trailers make the movie look like, by all measures, a drama."[16]

text: Eastwood wanted Hmong as cast members, so casting director Ellen Chenoweth enlisted Hmong organizations and set up calls in Detroit, Fresno and Saint Paul; Fresno and Saint Paul have the two largest Hmong communities in the United States, while Detroit also has an appreciable population of Hmong.[20] Chenoweth recruited Bee Vang in St. Paul and Ahney Her in Detroit.[14]

text: The screenplay was written entirely in English. Therefore, the actors of Gran Torino improvised the Hmong used in the film. Louisa Schein, author of Hmong Actors Making History Part 2: Meet the Gran Torino Family, said before the end of production that "some of the lines actors ad-libbed in Hmong on camera will be tricky to translate back for subtitles."[26] Screenwriter Nick Schenk had input from Hmong people when writing the script.[28] Dyane Hang Garvey served as a cultural consultant, giving advice on names, traditions, and translations.[5]

text: Vang argued that the use of the Hmong people did not seem relevant to the overall plot. He said "there is no real reason for us to be Hmong in the script" and that even though Walt Kowalski had fought in Korea, he had still confused the Hmong with Koreans and other Asian ethnic groups.[29] In a 2011 program Vang said that Hmong actors were treated unfairly on the set, and that Eastwood did not give tips on how to build the characters.[27] Vang also said that other white cast members made Hmong actors feel excluded.[27] Vang said that some important lines that the Hmong characters said in the Hmong language were not subtitled, so audiences developed a skewed perception of the Hmong people.[27]

text: Roxane Battle of MinnPost said "Rutgers University professor Louisa Shein, an expert on Hmong studies, adeptly moderated the discussion and challenged the audience to view the young cast members for what they were: actors in a film, and not so much representatives of an entire culture."[25]

text: Cultural accuracies and inaccuracies[edit]

text: Bee Vang, as paraphrased by Jeff Baenen of the Associated Press, said that the film's portrayal of the Hmong is "generally accurate."[24] Regarding the result, Vang said "[t]his film is not a documentary. We can't expect 101 percent correctness."[24] During the filming, Hmong cast members addressed what they believed to be cultural inaccuracies that were being introduced. Cedric Lee,[25] a half-Hmong[30] who worked as a production assistant and a cultural consultant, said that "Some things were over-exaggerated for dramatic purposes. Whether it was our job or not, I still felt some responsibility to speak our mind and say something, but at the same time, the script was what it was. We didn’t make the final decision."[25] Vang said while many Hmong had objected to some elements, the producers selected the viewpoints of the cultural consultants which "had the most amenable take on the matter and would lend credence to whatever Hollywood stereotypes the film wanted to convey."[31] Vang further said that "this was a white production, that our presence as actors did not amount to control of our images."[31]

text: Louisa Schein and Va-Megn Thoj, authors of "Gran Torino’s Boys and Men with Guns: Hmong Perspectives," said "Perhaps the most commonly voiced Hmong objections to the film concern its myriad cultural inaccuracies, exaggerations and distortion."[32] Schein also said that "[t]he [Hmong] actors struggle, too, with their culture being made into spectacle."[6] Even though a real Hmong shaman acts as a Hmong shaman in the film, Schein said that "his expertise was overridden by the screenplay and the filming, which distorted the ceremonial scenes by making them inaccurately exotic."[6] Vang said that the tea ceremonies depicted in the film were not correctly performed.[27] Even though, in the film, Hmong characters feel offense when Walt touches a girl on the head, Schein said that in real life in Hmong culture it is okay to touch a person on the head.[25] In other segments of the film, the Hmong shaman touches a baby's head without any negative criticism. Schein adds that Spider touches Thao Vang Lor's head "without consequence."[32] Christine Wilson Owens, author of "Hmong Cultural Profile," said "Most traditional Hmong elders, especially men, do not want strangers to touch their heads, or those of their children, due to their religious beliefs and personal values."[33]

text: Thao and Sue Lor wear Hmong clothing to Walt Kowalski's funeral. Hmong do not ordinarily wear traditional Hmong clothing to funerals.[25] Grandma Lor spits a betel nut she had been chewing to show contempt for Walt Kowalski, even though the Hmong do not chew betel nuts.[34] The Hmong shaman reads Walt's personal character, when in real life he would communicate with the spirit world. In the film the shaman himself does a sacrifice of a chicken in a manner that Schein and Thoj say is "in dramatic ceremonial fashion," when in real life an assistant would do this "perfunctorily."[32] The authors said that the hu plis ceremony done in honor of the baby has an incorrect spatial layout, that the clothing and grooming of the Hmong gangs is not correct, and "the obsequious making of offerings on doorstep" are not accurate.[32] While Thao himself cleans dishes, Schein and Thoj add that he would not do this alone because he is in a house with other female family members.[32] Schein and Thoj also add that there is "inconsistent use of the two Hmong dialects within one family."[32] They also argue that members of a Hmong clan would not show aggression towards a member of a fellow clan and that they would not rape a member of their own clan, like the gang in the film rapes Sue.[32] Sharon Her, a Hmong writer from New York, argued that the film had "confusion of Asian customs" and that "Hmong people do not use favors as a method of atonement nor do they endlessly shower individuals with gifts out of gratitude."[35]

text: In regard to the early script, Her said "An early draft of the script even had names misspelled and referenced Chinese surnames, a sloppy mistake that was easily corrected[.]"[35]

text: Release[edit]

text: Theatrical run[edit]

text: In the film's opening weekend of wide release in the US, it grossed $29.5 million; as of August 21, 2009, has taken in $269,541,625 worldwide.[3][36]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on June 9, 2009 in the United States in both standard DVD format and Blu-ray.[37] The disc includes bonus materials and extra features.[37] A featurette is included and a documentary about the correlation of manhood and the automobile.[38] The Blu-ray version presents the film in 2.40:1 ratio format, a digital copy, and the audio in multiple languages.[38][39]

text: About 3,751,729 DVD units have been sold as of November 1, 2009 generating $56,684,999 in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray sales.[40]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical reviews[edit]

text: Gran Torino received generally positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 79% of critics gave the film "Certified Fresh" positive write-ups, based upon a sample of 224, with an average score of 7.1/10 and the site's consensus stating: "Though a minor entry in Eastwood's body of work, Gran Torino is nevertheless a humorous, touching, and intriguing old-school parable."[41] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 72, based on 34 reviews.[42]

text: After seeing the film, The New York Times noted the requiem tone captured by the film, describing it as "a sleek, muscle car of a movie made in the USA, in that industrial graveyard called Detroit". Manohla Dargis compared Eastwood's presence on film to Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name, stating: "Dirty Harry is back, in a way, in Gran Torino, not as a character, but as a ghostly presence. He hovers in the film, in its themes and high-caliber imagery, and of course, most obviously, in Mr. Eastwood’s face. It is a monumental face now, so puckered and pleated that it no longer looks merely weathered, as it has for decades, but seems closer to petrified wood."[43] The Los Angeles Times also praised Eastwood's performance and credibility as an action hero at the age of 78. Kenneth Turan said of Eastwood's performance, "It is a film that is impossible to imagine without the actor in the title role. The notion of a 78-year-old action hero may sound like a contradiction in terms, but Eastwood brings it off, even if his toughness is as much verbal as physical. Even at 78, Eastwood can make "Get off my lawn" sound as menacing as "Make my day", and when he says "I blow a hole in your face and sleep like a baby", he sounds as if he means it".[44] Roger Ebert wrote that the film is "about the belated flowering of a man's better nature. And it's about Americans of different races growing more open to one another in the new century."[45] Sang Chi and Emily Moberg Robinson, editors of Voices of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Experience: Volume 1, said that within the mainstream media, the film received "criticial acclaim" "for its nuanced portrayal of Asian Americans."[46] Louisa Schein and Va-Megn Thoj, authors of "Gran Torino’s Boys and Men with Guns: Hmong Perspective," said that the mainstream critical response was "centered on Eastwood‘s character and viewed the film mainly as a vision of multicultural inclusion and understanding."[47]

text: However, not everyone enjoyed the film. Mark Harris, columnist for Entertainment Weekly, described it as "fantasy pretending to be social commentary", and accused it of peddling "the delusion that even the bigot next door has something to teach us all about heroism and self-sacrifice", adding "no, he doesn't".[48] Conversely, Nicole Sperling, also of Entertainment Weekly, perceived it in the exact opposite manner. She called it a drama with "the commercial hook of a genre film" and described it further as "a meditation on tolerance wrapped in the disguise of a movie with a gun-toting Clint Eastwood and a cool car".[49] Chi and Robinson said that within the Asian-American community, some criticized "depictions of Hmong men" and "the archetypical white savior trope that permeated the film".[46]

text: Reception in relation to the Hmong[edit]

text: Clint Eastwood's decision to cast Hmong actors, including amateur actors, received a positive reception in Hmong communities.[50] Tou Ger Xiong, a Hmong storyteller and performance artist from the Minneapolis-St. Paul who had auditioned for a role in the film, said that he had respect for the film because the producers actually cast Hmong instead of asking other Asian-Americans to mimic Hmong.[5] Xiong also argued "First things first, let's get our foot in the door. Complain later."[5] Dyane Hang Garvey, who served as a cultural consultant for the film production, said that the film was not intended to be a documentary on the Hmong people and that it positively highlights, as paraphrased by Laura Yuen of Minnesota Public Radio, "the close-knit nature of the Hmong community in Detroit".[5] Doua Moua, a Hmong actor in the film, said that he had no regrets in playing a gang member, because, in the words of Laura Yuen of Minnesota Public Radio, "gangs consumed his brother's life while they were growing up in Saint Paul".[5] Moua added that many first generation Hmong are affected by gangs and drift into gangs due to a lack of father figures.[5]

text: Louisa Schein, a Rutgers University anthropologist who is an expert on the Hmong culture, approved the concept of Hmong achieving visibility in the popular culture of the United States, but believed that the film may be promoting out of date stereotypes of the Hmong. Schein said that her Hmong friends were "touched" by the film's portrayal of Hmong culture redeeming and reaching out to Walt Kowalski.[50] Bee Vang, one of the Hmong actors, said that he was satisfied with the outcome of the film.[51]

text: Schein further added that the film seemed to give little prominence to the history of the Hmong, and that only two male Hmong, Thao and a gang member, were given depth in the story. Schein said "I feel a lot of the plot about the Eastwood character is driven by the fact that he is a veteran. Yet there is no possibility for representing the fact that the Hmong were veterans too."[50] An individual established a blog, eastwoodmovie-hmong.com, documenting what the author believed to be cultural inaccuracies of the film's depiction of the Hmong.[6]

text: David Brauer of MinnPost said that some Hmong liked Gran Torino and that many believed that the film was offensive.[31] Actor Bee Vang said "Hmong around the country were furious about its negative stereotypes and cultural distortions" and that they confronted him when he spoke at events.[31] Vang added that he engaged in "explaining my obligation as an actor while also recognizing that, as a Hmong-American, I didn't feel that I could own the lines I was uttering."[31] Brauer said that in an opinion editorial released in 2011, Vang "isn't kind to the Clint Eastwood film".[31] Krissy Reyes-Ortiz of The Bottom Line of the University of California Santa Barbara said, based on Vang's testimony in a 2011 program, that "Though many of the people who have seen the film may have gotten a sense of satisfaction and joy from seeing that Walt overcame his racism, the people who acted as the Hmong members in the movie did not" and that "They were offended by the traces of racism that were included in the movie and that they experienced themselves on set".[27] Some Hmong on internet message boards had posted criticisms of the film.[5]

text: Philip W. Chung of AsianWeek said that Eastwood, portraying a White man, was the "main weapon" of the film even though screenwriter Nick Schenk "does his best to portray Hmong culture and the main Hmong characters with both depth and cultural sensitivity".[52] Chung argued that "Gran Torino might have been another "“white man saves the day” story" but that "What Eastwood has really created is not a story about the white man saving the minority (though it can be read on that level and I’m sure some will) but a critical examination of an iconic brand of white macho maleness that he played a significant part in creating."[52]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Gran Torino was recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the Ten Best Films of 2008.[53] Clint Eastwood's performance has also garnered recognition. He won an award for Best Actor from the National Board of Review,[54] he was nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics' Choice Awards) and by the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actor.[55][56] An original song from the film, "Gran Torino", was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song. The music is Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens, with Cullum penning the lyrics, although Eastwood composed and performed the title track to the film.[57] The Art Directors Guild nominated Gran Torino in the contemporary film category.[58]

text: The film, however, was ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 81st Academy Awards when it was not nominated for a single Oscar, which led to heated criticism from many who felt that the Academy had also deliberately snubbed Revolutionary Road, The Dark Knight, WALL-E and Changeling (which Eastwood also directed) from the five major categories.[59][60]

text: In 2010, the film was named Best Foreign Film at the César Awards in France.[61]

text: Derivative works[edit]

text: Mark D. Lee and Cedric N. Lee, two Hmong filmmakers from Detroit, directed a documentary called Gran Torino: Next Door, about how Bee Vang and Ahney Her were chosen for their roles in the film and the Hmong actors' off-set activities. It was released on Blu-ray.[62] Vang acted in a YouTube parody of one scene in Gran Torino, titled "Thao Does Walt: Lost Scenes from Gran Torino."[63] The YouTube parody addresses a scene involving a barbershop, and the views of masculinity in the original scene.[64]


document_title: Second Temple

question_text: the second temple in jerusalem was rebuilt during the reign of

text: Second Temple

text: Biblical narrative[edit]

text: The accession of Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire in 559 BCE made the re-establishment of the city of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple possible.[1][2] According to the closing verses of the second book of Chronicles and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem following a decree from Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1–4, 2 Chron 36:22–23), construction started at the original site of Solomon's Temple. After a relatively brief halt due to opposition from peoples who had filled the vacuum during the Jewish captivity (Ezra 4), work resumed c. 521 BCE under Darius the Great (Ezra 5) and was completed during the sixth year of his reign (c. 516 BCE), with the temple dedication taking place the following year.[citation needed]

text: These events represent the final section in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.[1]

text: The original core of the book of Nehemiah, the first-person memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Ezra around 400 BCE. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era.[3]

text: The book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of the province Yehud Medinata and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel's enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Jewish wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law.

text: Based on the biblical account, after the return from Babylonian captivity, arrangements were immediately made to reorganize the desolated Yehud Province after the demise of the Kingdom of Judah seventy years earlier. The body of pilgrims, forming a band of 42,360,[4] having completed the long and dreary journey of some four months, from the banks of the Euphrates to Jerusalem, were animated in all their proceedings by a strong religious impulse, and therefore one of their first concerns was to restore their ancient house of worship by rebuilding their destroyed Temple[5] and reinstituting the sacrificial rituals known as the korbanot.

text: On the invitation of Zerubbabel, the governor, who showed them a remarkable example of liberality by contributing personally 1,000 golden darics, besides other gifts, the people poured their gifts into the sacred treasury with great enthusiasm.[6] First they erected and dedicated the altar of God on the exact spot where it had formerly stood, and they then cleared away the charred heaps of debris which occupied the site of the old temple; and in the second month of the second year (535 BCE), amid great public excitement and rejoicing, the foundations of the Second Temple were laid. A wide interest was felt in this great movement, although it was regarded with mixed feelings by the spectators (Haggai 2:3, Zechariah 4:10).[5]

text: The Samaritans made proposals for co-operation in the work. Zerubbabel and the elders, however, declined all such cooperation, feeling that the Jews must build the Temple without help. Immediately evil reports were spread regarding the Jews. According to Ezra 4:5, the Samaritans sought to "frustrate their purpose" and sent messengers to Ecbatana and Susa, with the result that the work was suspended.[5]

text: Seven years later, Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple, died (2 Chronicles 36:22–23) and was succeeded by his son Cambyses. On his death, the "false Smerdis", an impostor, occupied the throne for some seven or eight months, and then Darius became king (522 BCE). In the second year of his rule the work of rebuilding the temple was resumed and carried forward to its completion (Ezra 5:6–6:15), under the stimulus of the earnest counsels and admonitions of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. It was ready for consecration in the spring of 516 BCE, more than twenty years after the return from captivity. The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, amid great rejoicings on the part of all the people (Ezra 6:15,16), although it was evident that the Jews were no longer an independent people, but were subject to a foreign power. The Book of Haggai includes a prediction that the glory of the second temple would be greater than that of the first (Haggai 2:9).[5]

text: Some of the original artifacts from the Temple of Solomon are not mentioned in the sources after its destruction in 597 BCE, and are presumed lost. The Second Temple lacked the following holy articles:

text:
The Ark of the Covenant[2][5] containing the Tablets of Stone, before which were placed[7] the pot of manna and Aaron's rod[5]
The Urim and Thummim[2][5] (divination objects contained in the Hoshen)
The holy oil[5]
The sacred fire.[2][5]

text: In the Second Temple, the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies) was separated by curtains rather than a wall as in the First Temple. Still, as in the Tabernacle, the Second Temple included:

text:
The Menorah (golden lamp) for the Hekhal
The Table of Showbread
The golden altar of incense, with golden censers.[5]

text: According to the Mishnah (Middot iii. 6), the "Foundation Stone" stood where the Ark used to be, and the High Priest put his censer on it on Yom Kippur.[2]

text: The Second Temple also included many of the original vessels of gold that had been taken by the Babylonians but restored by Cyrus the Great.[5][8] According to the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 22b),[2] however, the Temple lacked the Shekinah, the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, and the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of Holiness, present in the first.

text: Rabbinical literature[edit]

text: Traditional rabbinic literature state that the Second Temple stood for 420 years and based on the 2nd-century work Seder Olam Rabbah, placed construction in 350 BCE (3408 AM), 166 years later than secular estimates, and destruction in 70 CE (3829 AM).[9]

text: Rededication by the Maccabees[edit]

text: Following the conquest of Judea by Alexander the Great, it became part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt until 200 BCE, when King Antiochus III the Great of Syria defeated King Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt at the Battle of Paneion.[10] Judea became at that moment part of the Seleucid empire of Syria. When the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and its religious services stopped, Judaism was effectively outlawed. In 167 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He also banned circumcision and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the Temple.[11]

text: Following the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid empire, the Second Temple was rededicated and became the religious pillar of the Jewish Hasmonean kingdom, as well as culturally associated with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

text: Hasmonean dynasty and Roman conquest[edit]

text: There is some evidence from archaeology that further changes to the structure of the Temple and its surroundings were made during the Hasmonean rule. Salome Alexandra, the queen of Hasmonean Kingdom appointed her elder son Hyrcanus II as the high priest of Judaea. Her younger son Aristobulus II was determined to have the throne, and as soon as she died he seized the throne. Hyrcanus, who was in line to be the king, agreed to be contented with being the high priest. Antipater, the governor of Idumæa, encouraged Hyrcanus not to give up his throne. Eventually Hyrcanus fled to Aretas III, king of the Nabateans, and returned with an army to take back the throne. He defeated Aristobulus and besieged Jerusalem. The Roman general Pompey, who was in Syria fighting against the Armenians in the Third Mithridatic War, sent his lieutenant to investigate the conflict in Judaea. Both Hyrcanus and Aristobulus appealed to him for support. Pompey was not diligent in making a decision about this which caused Aristobulus to march off. He was pursued by Pompey and surrendered but his followers closed Jerusalem to Pompey's forces. The Romans besieged and took the city in 63 BCE. The priests continued with the religious practices inside the Temple during the siege. The temple was not looted or harmed by the Romans. Pompey himself, perhaps inadvertently, went into the Holy of Holies and the next day ordered the priests to repurify the Temple and resume the religious practices.[12]

text: Herod's Temple[edit]

text: Reconstruction of the temple under Herod began with a massive expansion of the Temple Mount. Religious worship and temple rituals continued during the construction process.[13] When the Roman emperor Caligula planned to place his own statue inside the temple, Herod's grandson Agrippa I was able to intervene and convince him against this.

text: Construction[edit]

text: Herod's Temple was one of the larger construction projects of the 1st century BCE.[14] Josephus records that Herod was interested in perpetuating his name through building projects, that his construction programs were extensive and paid for by heavy taxes, but that his masterpiece was the Temple of Jerusalem.[14]

text: The old temple built by Zerubbabel was replaced by a magnificent edifice. An agreement was made between Herod and the Jewish religious authorities: the sacrificial rituals, called offerings, were to be continued unabated for the entire time of construction, and the Temple itself would be constructed by the priests. Later the Exodus 30:13 sanctuary shekel was reinstituted to support the temple as the temple tax.

text: Platform[edit]

text: Mt. Moriah had a plateau at the northern end, and steeply declined on the southern slope. It was Herod's plan that the entire mountain be turned into a giant square platform. The Temple Mount was originally intended to be 1600 feet wide by 900 feet broad by 9 stories high, with walls up to 16 feet thick, but had never been finished. To complete it, a trench was dug around the mountain, and huge stone "bricks" were laid. Some of these weighed well over 100 tons, the largest measuring 44.6 feet by 11 feet by 16.5 feet and weighing approximately 567 to 628 tons,[15][16] while most were in the range of 2.5 by 3.5 by 15 feet (approximately 28 tons). King Herod had architects from Greece, Rome and Egypt plan the construction. The blocks were presumably quarried by using pickaxes to create channels. Then they hammered in wooden beams and flushed them with water to force them out. Once they were removed, they were carved into precise squares and numbered at the quarry to show where they would be installed. The final carving would have been done by using harder stones to grind or chisel them to create precise joints. They would have been transported using oxen and specialized carts. Since the quarry was uphill from the temple they had gravity on their side but care needed to be taken to control the descent. Final installation would have been done using pulleys or cranes. Roman pulleys and cranes weren't strong enough to lift the blocks alone so they may have used multiple cranes and levers to position them.[17] As the mountainside began to rise, the western side was carved away to a vertical wall and bricks were carved to create a virtual continuation of the brick face, which was continued for a while until the northern slope reached ground level. Part of the Antonian hill to the north of Moriah was annexed to the complex and the area between was filled up with landfill.

text: The project began with the building of giant underground vaults upon which the temple would be built so it could be larger than the small flat area on top of Mount Moriah. Ground level at the time was at least 20 ft. (6m) below the current level, as can be seen by walking the Western Wall tunnels. Legend has it that the construction of the entire complex lasted only three years, but other sources such as Josephus say that it took far longer, although the Temple itself may have taken that long. During a Passover visit by Jesus the Jews replied that it had been under construction for 46 years.[18] It is possible that the complex was only a few years completed when the future Emperor Titus destroyed the Temple in 70 CE.

text: Court of the Gentiles[edit]

text: This area was primarily a bazaar, with vendors selling souvenirs, sacrificial animals, food, as well as currency changers, exchanging Roman for Tyrian money because the Jews were not allowed to coin their own money and they viewed Roman currency as an abomination to the Lord,[19] as also mentioned in the New Testament account of Jesus and the Money Changers when Jerusalem was packed with Jews who had come for Passover, perhaps numbering 300,000 to 400,000 pilgrims.[20][21] Guides that provided tours of the premises were also available. Jewish males had the unique opportunity to be shown inside the temple itself.

text: The priests, in their white linen robes and tubular hats, were everywhere, directing pilgrims and advising them on what kinds of sacrifices were to be performed.

text: Behind them, as they entered the Court of the Gentiles from the south through the Huldah Gates, was the Royal Porch, which contained a marketplace, administrative quarters, and a synagogue. On the upper floors, the great Jewish sages held court, priests and Levites performed various chores, and from there, tourists were able to observe the events. The Royal Porch is widely accepted to be part of Herod's work; however, recent archaeological finds in the Western Wall tunnels suggest that it was built in the first century during the reign of Agripas, as opposed to the first century BCE,[22] while the theory that Herod began the extension and the Royal Porch is based mainly on Josephus's possibly politically motivated claim. During Herod's reign the porch was not yet open to the public)

text: To the east of the court was Solomon's Porch, and to the north, the soreg, the "middle wall of separation",[23] a stone wall separating the public area from the inner sanctuary where only Jews could enter, described as being 3 cubits high by Josephus (Wars 5.5.2 [3b] 6.2.4).

text: Pinnacle[edit]

text: The accounts of Jesus' temptations in Matthew's and Luke's gospels both suggest that the Second Temple had one or more pinnacles (Greek: το πτερυγιον του ιερου):

text: Then he [Satan] brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here."[24]

text: The Greek word used here is pterugion, which literally means a little wing, or by extension anything like a wing such as a battlement or parapet.[25] The archaeologist Benjamin Mazar thought it referred to the southeast corner of the Temple overlooking the Kidron Valley.[26]

text: Inside the Soreg[edit]

text: According to Josephus, there were ten entrances into the inner courts, four on the south, four on the north, one on the east and one leading east to west from the Court of Women to the court of the Israelites, named the Nicanor Gate.[27] The gates were: On the south side (going from west to east) the Fuel Gate, the Firstling Gate, the Water Gate. On the north side, from west to east, are the Jeconiah Gate, the Offering Gate, the Women's Gate and the Song Gate. On the Eastern side, the Nicanor gate, which is where most Jewish visitors entered. A few pieces of the Soreg have survived to the present day.

text: Within this area was the Court of the Women, open to all Jews, male and female. Even a ritually unclean Cohen could enter to perform various housekeeping duties. There was also a place for lepers (considered ritually unclean), as well as a ritual barbershop for Nazirites. In this, the largest of the temple courts, one could see constant dancing, singing and music.

text: Only men were allowed to enter the Court of the Israelites, where they could observe sacrifices of the high priest in the Court of the Priests. The Court of the Priests was reserved for Levite priests.

text: Temple sanctuary[edit]

text: Between the entrance of the building and the curtain veiling the Holy of Holies were the famous vessels of the temple: the menorah, the incense-burning altar, and various other implements.

text: Pilgrimages[edit]

text: Jews from distant parts of the Roman Empire would arrive by boat at the port of Jaffa (now part of Tel Aviv), where they would join a caravan for the three-day trek to the Holy City and would then find lodgings in one of the many hotels or hostelries. Then they changed some of their money from the profane standard Greek and Roman currency for Jewish and Tyrian money, the latter two considered religious.[28][29] The pilgrims would purchase sacrificial animals, usually a pigeon or a lamb, in preparation for the following day's events.

text: The first thing pilgrims would do would be to approach the public entrance on the south side of the Temple Mount complex. They would check their animals, then visit a mikveh, where they would ritually cleanse and purify themselves. The pilgrims would then retrieve their sacrificial animals, and head to the Huldah gates. After ascending a staircase three stories in height, and passing through the gate, the pilgrims would find themselves in the Court of the Gentiles.

text: Destruction[edit]

text: In 66 CE the Jewish population rebelled against the Roman Empire. Four years later, in 70 CE, Roman legions under Titus retook and destroyed much of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. The Arch of Titus, located in Rome and built to commemorate Titus' victory in Judea, depicts a Roman victory procession with soldiers carrying spoils from the Temple, including the Menorah. According to an inscription on the Colosseum, Emperor Vespasian built the Colosseum with war spoils in 79 CE—possibly from the spoils of the Second Temple.[30]

text: The sects of Judaism that had their base in the Temple dwindled in importance, including the priesthood and the Sadducees.[31]

text: The destruction date according to the Hebrew calendar was the 9th of Av, also known as Tisha B'Av.[32] The Temple itself was located on the site of what today is the Dome of the Rock. The gates let out close to Al-Aqsa Mosque (which came much later).[13] Although Jews continued to inhabit the destroyed city, Emperor Hadrian established a new city called Aelia Capitolina. At the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, many of the Jewish communities were massacred and Jews were banned from living inside Jerusalem. A pagan Roman temple was set up on the former site of Herod's Temple.[12]

text: Archaeology[edit]

text: In 1871, a hewn stone measuring 60 × 90 cm. and engraved with Greek uncials was discovered near a court on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and identified by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau as being the Temple Warning inscription. The stone inscription outlined the prohibition extended unto those who were not of the Jewish nation to proceed beyond the soreg separating the larger Court of the Gentiles and the inner courts. The inscription read in seven lines:

text:
ΜΗΟΕΝΑΑΛΛΟΓΕΝΗΕΙΣΠΟ
ΡΕΥΕΣΟΑΙΕΝΤΟΣΤΟΥΠΕ
ΡΙΤΟΙΕΡΟΝΤΡΥΦΑΚΤΟΥΚΑΙ
ΠΕΡΙΒΟΛΟΥΟΣΔΑΝΛΗ
ΦΘΗΕΑΥΤΩΙΑΙΤΙΟΣΕΣ
ΤΑΙΔΙΑΤΟΕΞΑΚΟΛΟΥ
ΘΕΙΝΘΑΝΑΤΟΝ

text: Translation: "Let no foreigner enter within the parapet and the partition which surrounds the Temple precincts. Anyone caught [violating] will be held accountable for his ensuing death." Today, the stone is preserved in Istanbul's Museum of Antiquities.

text: In 1936 a fragment of a similar Temple warning inscription was found. After 1967, archaeologists found that the wall extended all the way around the Temple Mount and is part of the city wall near the Lions' Gate. Thus, the Western Wall is not the only remaining part of the Temple Mount. Currently, Robinson's Arch (named after American Edward Robinson) remains as the beginning of an arch that spanned the gap between the top of the platform and the higher ground farther away. This had been used by the priests as an entrance. Commoners had entered through the still-extant, but now plugged, gates on the southern side which led through colonnades to the top of the platform. One of these colonnades is still extant and reachable through the Temple Mount. The Southern wall was designed as a grand entrance. Recent archeological digs have found thousands of mikvehs (ceremonial bathtubs) for the ritual purification of the worshipers, as well as a grand stairway leading to the now blocked entrance. Inside the walls, the platform was supported by a series of vaulted archways, now called Solomon's Stables, which still exist and whose current renovation by the Waqf is extremely controversial. The temple itself was constructed of imported white marble that gleamed in the daylight.

text: On September 25, 2007, Yuval Baruch, archaeologist with the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a quarry compound which may have provided King Herod with the stones to build his Temple on the Temple Mount. Coins, pottery and an iron stake found proved the date of the quarrying to be about 19 BCE. Archaeologist Ehud Netzer confirmed that the large outlines of the stone cuts is evidence that it was a massive public project worked by hundreds of slaves.[33]

text: The Magdala stone is thought to be a representation of the Second Temple carved before its destruction in the year 70.[34]

text:
Magdala Stone

Bar Kokhba tetradracm showing the Jerusalem Temple façade 132–135 CE

Arch of Titus showing spoils of Jerusalem Temple

The upper corner of Herod's temple colonnade with ancient Hebrew inscription

text:
The Warning Inscription found in 1871

A copy of the inscription found in 1871

Fragment of Second Temple Warning

The Trumpeting Place inscription, a stone (2.43 × 1 m) with Hebrew inscription "To the Trumpeting Place" excavated by Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the Second Temple.

text: Second Temple Judaism[edit]

text: The period between the construction of the Second Temple in 515 BCE and its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE witnessed major historical upheavals and significant religious changes that would affect most subsequent Abrahamic religions. The origins of the authority of scripture, of the centrality of law and morality in religion, of the synagogue and of apocalyptic expectations for the future all developed in the Judaism of this period.