title: Tender Mercies

text: The story was inspired partially by Foote's nephew, who struggled to succeed in the country music business. Foote was initially interested in writing a film based on his nephew's efforts to organise a band, which he saw as paralleling his own youthful attempts to find work as an actor. During his research, however, he met an experienced musician who had offered to help his nephew's band, and Foote found himself growing more interested in a story about him, rather than the band itself. Foote said, "This older man had been through it all. As I thought about a storyline, I got very interested in that type of character." The moment in the film where a woman asks, "Were you really Mac Sledge?" and he responds, "Yes ma'am, I guess I was," was based on an exchange that Foote overheard between a washed-up star and a fan. Foote said the entire film pivots on that statement, which he believed spoke volumes about Mac's personality and former status.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Foote based Sledge's victory over alcoholism on his observations of theatre people struggling with the problem. He sought to avoid a melodramatic slant in telling that aspect of the story. Foote described his protagonist as "a very hurt, damaged man ... silence was his weapon". He chose the title "Tender Mercies", from the Book of Psalms, for its relation to the Rosa Lee character, who he said seeks only "certain moments of gentleness or respite, [not] grandness or largeness". Foote sought to portray each character as realistic and flawed, but not unsympathetic. Although the script conveyed a strong spiritual message with religious undertones, Foote felt it was important to balance those religious elements with a focus on the practical challenges of everyday life.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Film historian Gary Edgerton said the "Tender Mercies" script "catapulted Horton Foote into the most active professional period in his life." Film director and producer Alan J. Pakula credited the script with helping define the American independent film movement of the late 1980s by initiating a trend of personal filmmaking that often looks beyond Hollywood conventions.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Duvall, who had appeared in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), which Foote adapted from the Harper Lee novel, was involved in "Tender Mercies" as an actor and co-producer from its earliest stages. He said the script appealed to him because of the basic values it underlined and because the themes were universal even though the story was local. Duvall felt it portrayed people from the central region of the United States without parodying them, as he said many Hollywood films tend to do. Duvall's early involvement led to rumors that he had requested Foote write the script for him, something that both men denied.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Foote took the script to Philip and Mary Ann Hobel, a married couple who ran Antron Media Production and had produced more than 200 documentaries between them. Foote felt their background in documentaries would lend "Tender Mercies" the authenticity he and Duvall were seeking. The Hobels agreed to produce it after reading and liking the script; it would become their feature film debut as producers. The Hobels approached EMI Films, a British film and television production company, which agreed to provide financing for "Tender Mercies" as long as Duvall remained involved, and under the condition the Hobels find a good director. The script was rejected by many American directors, creating concerns for Foote and the producers that the film would never be made. Foote later said, "This film was turned down by every American director on the face of the globe." The Hobels eventually mailed the script to Australian director Bruce Beresford because they were impressed by his 1980 film "Breaker Morant". Philip Hobel said, "What we saw in "Breaker Morant" is what we like as filmmakers ourselves — an attention to the environment, a straightforward presentation; it's almost a documentary approach."


title: Tender Mercies

text: Beresford was attracted to the idea of making a Hollywood film with a big budget and powerful distribution. Following his success with "Breaker Morant", Beresford received about 150 Hollywood scripts as potential projects; although he went weeks before reading many of them, Beresford read "Tender Mercies" right away. It immediately appealed to him, in part because it dealt with aspects of American rural life he had seldom encountered in film scripts. Several of those involved with "Tender Mercies" had reservations about an Australian directing a film about a country music star. Beresford also found the decision strange, but kept his thoughts to himself because of his desire to direct the film. He contacted EMI Films and asked for one month to visit Texas and familiarize himself with the state before committing to direct, to which the company agreed. Beresford said of the trip, "I want to come over and see if this is all true, because if it's not really a true picture of what it's all like, it wouldn't be right to make it." During his visit to Texas, he saw parallels between the state and his homeland: the terrain reminded him of the Australian bush country, and the Texans he met in the isolated areas reminded him of residents of the Outback. He met Foote and discussed the script with him. The screenwriter, who gave Beresford tours of small Texas towns, felt the director's Australian background made him sensitive to the story's rural characters and would help him achieve the sought-for authenticity. Beresford agreed to direct and was hired after receiving final approval from Duvall (the actor had a clause in his contract allowing him such approval, the first time he had this power on a film).


title: Tender Mercies

text: The film was given a budget of $4.5 million ($ in dollars), modest by Hollywood standards at the time. Philip Hobel said it took about a year to secure the financing from EMI Films, whose major 1981 release, "Honky Tonk Freeway", had done poor box office. For the primary location, Rosa Lee's home and motel/gas station business, Beresford imposed one requirement: that no other buildings or large manmade structures be visible from it. The filmmakers eventually decided on a property that had been sitting abandoned by a Waxahachie highway. Mary Ann Hobel said the owner, when approached about its availability, immediately handed over the keys: "We said, 'Don't you want a contract, something in writing?' And he said, 'We don't do things that way here.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Beresford, known for carefully planning every shot in his films, drew his own storyboards as well as detailed drawings of how he envisioned the sets. Jeannine Oppewall was hired as art director. Beresford praised her as "absolutely brilliant", especially for her attention to very small details, "going from the curtains to the color of the quilts on the floors." It was Oppewall who named the motel "Mariposa", Spanish for "butterfly", which symbolizes the spiritual resurrection Mac Sledge would experience there. Beresford chose Australian Russell Boyd as cinematographer and Irishman William Anderson, who had worked on all of the director's previous features, as editor. He selected Elizabeth McBride as costume designer. It was her first time in the position on a feature film, and she went on to build a reputation for costuming Texan and other Southern characters.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Duvall had always wanted to play a country singer, and Foote was rumored to have written the role of Mac Sledge specifically for him. Foote denied the claim, claiming he found it too constraining to write roles for specific actors, although he did hope Duvall would be cast in the part. "Tender Mercies" became a very important personal project for Duvall, who contributed a significant number of ideas for his character. In preparing for the role, he spent weeks roaming around Texas, speaking to strangers to find the right accent and mannerisms. He also joined a small country band and continued singing with them every free weekend while the film was being shot. In total, Duvall drove about to research the part, often asking people to speak into his tape recorder so he could practice their inflections and other vocal habits. Upon finding one man with the exact accent he wanted, Duvall had him recite the entire script into the recorder.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Tess Harper was performing on stage in Texas when she attended a casting call for a minor role in the film. Beresford was so impressed with her that he cast her in the lead. He later said that the actresses he had seen before her demonstrated a sophistication and worldliness inappropriate for the part, while she brought a kind of rural quality without coming across as simple or foolish. Beresford said of Harper, "She walked into the room and even before she spoke, I thought, 'That's the girl to play the lead. Harper said she knew she won the role when Beresford appeared on her doorstep with a bottle of champagne in each hand. "Tender Mercies" was Harper's feature film debut, and she was so excited about the role she bit her script to make sure it was real. When filming ended, Duvall gave her a blue cowgirl shirt as a gift with a card that read, "You really "were" Rosa Lee".


title: Tender Mercies

text: Beresford visited several schools and auditioned many children for the role of Sonny before he came across Allan Hubbard in Paris, Texas. Beresford said Hubbard, like Harper, was chosen based on a simple, rural quality he possessed. The boy was able to relate easily to the character because, like Sonny, his father died at an early age; later, some media reports falsely claimed that his father was killed during the Vietnam War, just as Sonny's was in the film's backstory. None of the filmmakers knew Hubbard's father had died until after filming began. Duvall developed a strong, trusting relationship with Hubbard, which Foote felt improved the duo's on-screen chemistry. Hubbard would often play guitar with Duvall during breaks from filming.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Betty Buckley attended a casting session in New York City and was chosen largely based on the quality of her singing voice; Beresford said that few of the actresses who auditioned for the role were able to sing. Buckley was originally from Fort Worth, Texas, near the Grapevine Opry; when her concert scenes were filmed there, her whole family participated as extras. Duvall said he thought Buckley perfectly conveyed the underlying frustration of a country singer and "brought a real zing to [the] part." The actual location of the bar scenes was in Seven Points, Texas, in a club called the Cedar Creek Opry House. Seven Points is just east of Ellis County, across the Trinity River in western Henderson County, Texas. The Opry House as it was known then, was a two-story building that used to be a skating rink in its earlier life. The old rink was upstairs and became the dance floor of the Opry House, where the concert and bar scenes were filmed. One scene of the movie shows the front of the building with its name visible.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Ellen Barkin was cast after impressing Beresford during a New York audition. At the time, she had appeared only in television movies; "Diner", her feature film debut, was not yet in theaters. When filming on "Diner" wrapped, Barkin joked to her agent about future roles, "No more troubled teenagers, unless the movie is with Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall or Robert Redford." Duvall said of Barkin, "She brings a real credibility for that part, plus she was young and attractive and had a certain sense of edge, a danger for her that was good for that part." Some media outlets reported that Duvall and Barkin were involved romantically for a brief time during filming.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Wilford Brimley was cast at the urging of his good friend Duvall, who was not getting along well with Beresford and wanted "somebody down here that's on my side, somebody that I can relate to". Beresford felt Brimley was too old for the part, but eventually agreed to the casting.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Most of "Tender Mercies" was filmed in Waxahachie and Palmer, two towns in Ellis County in north central Texas. Beresford largely avoided the Victorian architecture and other picturesque elements of Waxahachie and instead focused on relatively barren locations more characteristic of West Texas. The town portrayed in the film is never identified by name. Foote said when he wrote the script he did not have the same isolated and lonely vision for the setting Beresford did, but he felt the atmosphere the director captured served the story well.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Principal photography took place between November 2 and December 23, 1981. The plants used in the gardening scenes were brought inside at night to keep them from freezing. Due to the tight schedule, the cast and crew worked seven days a week with very long hours each day. Although the Australian filmmakers and the crew, who were mostly from Dallas, got along very well both on and off the set, Beresford and Duvall were at odds during the production. Beresford, in his usual approach, meticulously planned each scene, and Duvall, who preferred a free-form give-and-take on set, felt restricted by the director's methods. Although Duvall regularly acknowledged his talent as a director, he said of Beresford, "He has this dictatorial way of doing things with me that just doesn't cut it. Man, I have to have my freedom." Although he had no problem with Duvall's acting methodology, the actor's temperament infuriated Beresford. While filming one scene with Harper and Barkin, he became so frustrated during a phone conversation with Duvall that he said, "Well if you want to direct the film, go right ahead," and walked off the set. Beresford flew to New York and reportedly was ready to quit, until Duvall flew out to speak with him. After further arguments, the two made amends and returned to work on the film.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Beresford also clashed on set with Brimley. On the very first day of filming, he asked the actor to "pick up the pace", prompting Brimley to reply, "Hey, I didn't know anybody dropped it." On another occasion, when Beresford tried to advise Brimley on how Harry would behave, Duvall recalled Brimley responding, "Now look, let me tell you something, I'm Harry. Harry's not over there, Harry's not over here. Until you fire me or get another actor, I'm Harry, and whatever I do is fine 'cause I'm Harry." Duvall said he believed the on-set wrangling resulted in a combination of the director's and actors' visions and ultimately improved the picture. Likewise, Beresford said he did not feel the fights negatively affected the film because he and Duvall never disagreed on the interpretation of the Mac Sledge character.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Harper described the extent to which Duvall inhabited his character: "Someone once said to me, 'Well, how's Robert Duvall?' and I said, 'I don't know Robert Duvall. I know Mac Sledge very well. Beresford, too, said the transformation was so believable that he could feel his skin crawling up the back of his neck the first day of filming. Duvall made an effort to help Harper, who was making her film debut. While preparing to shoot a scene in which Mac and Rosa Lee fight, he yelled at a make-up artist in front of Harper to make her angry and fuel her performance; he apologized to the make-up artist after the scene was shot.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Cinematographer Russell Boyd largely used available light to give the movie a natural feel, which Beresford said was crucial to its sense of authenticity. Harper said Boyd was so quiet during filming that he mostly used just three words: Yeah', 'right' and 'sure. Beresford, Foote and Duvall considered the climactic scene to be the one in which Mac, tending the family garden, discusses with Rosa Lee his pain over his daughter's death. Beresford and Boyd filmed the scene in a long take and long shot so it could flow uninterrupted, with the lonely Texas landscape captured in the background. When studio executives received the footage, they contacted Beresford and requested close-up shots be intercut, but he insisted on keeping the long take intact. Duvall said he felt the scene underscored Mac's stoicism in the face of tragedy and loss.


title: Tender Mercies

text: "Tender Mercies" includes no original film score, and the musical soundtrack is limited to the performances of country songs and the domestic guitar playing that occur as part of the story. A score was composed for the movie, but Beresford had it removed because he felt it was "too sweet" and sounded phony in the context of the film, although he acknowledged it as "very skillful". Duvall sang his own songs, a right he insisted be part of his contract. He commented, "What's the point if you're not going to do your own [singing]? They're just going to dub somebody else? I mean, there's no point to that." The film's financial backers were initially concerned about whether he could sing well enough for the role. Those concerns were allayed after Duvall produced a tape of himself singing a cappella "On the Wings of a Dove", a Bob Ferguson country song featured in the film. Duvall collaborated with Beresford in deciding on the unusual staging of the emotional scene in which Mac sings it after reflecting on the reunion with his daughter. The song is performed with Mac looking out a window with his back to the camera, his face unseen. Horton Foote thought the choice made the scene more moving and called it "an extraordinary moment" in the film. Duvall wrote two of Mac's other songs, "Fool's Waltz" and "I've Decided to Leave Here Forever". Several leading country singers, including Willie Nelson, George Jones and Merle Haggard, were believed to have inspired Mac and Duvall's portrayal of him, but Duvall insisted the character was not based on anyone in particular. Another country star, Waylon Jennings, complimented his performance, saying he had "done the impossible."


title: Tender Mercies

text: Betty Buckley also sang her own songs, one of which, "Over You", written by Austin Roberts and Bobby Hart, was nominated for an Academy Award. Although Buckley performed it in the film, country singer Lane Brody was chosen to record it for radio release, and Mac Davis later sang it at the 1984 Academy Awards ceremony. Other songs in the film include "It Hurts to Face Reality" by Lefty Frizzell, "If You'll Hold the Ladder (I'll Climb to the Top)" by Buzz Rabin and Sara Busby, "The Best Bedroom in Town" and "Champagne Ladies & Barroom Babies" by Charlie Craig, "I'm Drinkin' Canada Dry" by Johnny Cymbal and Austin Roberts, and "You Are What Love Means To Me" by Craig Bickhardt.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Mac Sledge finds redemption largely through his relationship and eventual marriage with Rosa Lee. This is in keeping with the motif of fidelity common in the works of Foote, inspired, said the writer, by his marriage to Lillian Vallish Foote. He told "The New York Times" that she "kept me goin'. She never lost faith, and that's a rare thing. I don't know now how we got through it, but we got through it." The lyrics of "If You'll Hold the Ladder", which Mac performs with his new country band in the second half of the film, suggest what love has done for him. He sings of someone holding the ladder for him as he climbs to the top; this is symbolic of Rosa's love and guidance, which has allowed Sledge to improve himself and build a new life. The desultory romances that defined his past are represented by the more promiscuous lyrics of Dixie Scott's songs, such as those of "The Best Bedroom in Town": "The best part of all / the room at the end of the hall / That's where you and me make everything alright ... We celebrate the happiness we've found / Every night in the best bedroom in town". His storming out of her concert symbolizes his rejection of that earlier life. In contrast, Rosa Lee sings the humble church hymn, "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me". In a related way, the film emphasizes the importance of the woman's role in domestic life - although Mac takes on the role of patriarch in his new family setting, it is only through the support and care of Rosa Lee that he is able to settle into this role. Sociologist Norman K. Denzin points out that "Tender Mercies" embodies many of the ideas of recovery from addiction that are part of the twelve-step program used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Both the film and the support group's program advocate the idea of hitting rock-bottom, making a decision to stop drinking, dealing with the past and adopting a spiritual way of life.


title: Tender Mercies

text: "Tender Mercies" also emphasizes the father–child theme common in the works of Foote, a theme that operates on both transcendent and temporal levels. Mac is reunited not only with his spiritual father through his conversion to Christianity, but also with his biological daughter, Sue Anne, when she pays him a surprise visit. Scholar Rebecca Luttrell Briley suggests that although Mac begins to plant new roots with Rosa Lee and Sonny in earlier scenes, they are not enough to fully satisfy his desire for redemption, as he is nearly driven to leave the family and return to his alcoholic ways. According to Briley, Sue Anne's visit prompts Mac to realize that reconciliation with her and a reformation of their father–daughter relationship is the ingredient that had been lacking in his quest for redemption. This is further demonstrated by Mac's singing "On the Wings of a Dove" to himself after their meeting; the lyrics describe God the Father and God the Holy Spirit's involvement in the baptism of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This connects Sledge's spiritual reconciliation with the divine, to the earthly reconciliation with his own child. However, the death of Sue Anne also demonstrates that, according to Briley, "all relationships cannot be mended, some by choice and some by chance, and the poignancy of missed opportunities between fathers and their children on this earth is underlined in this scene."


title: Tender Mercies

text: The relationship between Mac and Sonny, whose name derives from "son", is central to the film's exploration of the father–child theme. Sonny tries to conjure an image of his biological father, whom he never had the chance to know, through old photographs, his mother's memories and visits to his father's grave. Sonny finds a father figure in Mac. When another young boy asks Sonny if he likes Mac more than his real father, Sonny says that he does, because he never knew the other man; Briley says that this "emphasizes the distinction between companionship and blood relationship Foote has pointed out before." The final scene, in which Mac and Sonny play catch with a football Mac bought him as a gift, symbolizes the fact that, although Mac has lost the chance to reconcile with his daughter, he now has a second chance at establishing a father–child relationship with Sonny. The father–child theme also plays out through Mac's relationship with the young band members, who say that he has been an inspiration to them, playing a paternal role in their lives before they even met him. Sledge eventually teams up with the musicians, offering them fatherly counsel in a much more direct way.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Mac's redemption and self-improvement run parallel with his conversion to Christianity. Briley argues that "the emphasis on the Christian family is stronger in this script than in any other Foote piece to this point." At the urging of Rosa Lee, Mac begins to attend church regularly and is eventually baptized for the first time, along with Sonny. During a church scene, he also sings the hymn "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me", which serves as a symbol for his new direction in life. After they are baptized, Sonny asks Mac whether he feels any different, to which Mac responds, "Not yet." According to scholars, this response indicates Mac's belief that his reunion with God will lead to meaningful changes in his life. It is after this moment, Briley points out, that Mac is able to forge other relationships, such as those with his young bandmates, and "develop his own potential for success as a man." Briley also proposes that Mac's response — "Yes, ma'am, I guess I was" — to a fan who asks if he was really Mac Sledge suggests that he has washed away his old self through baptism.


title: Tender Mercies

text: During one scene, Rosa Lee tells Mac, "I say my prayers for you and when I thank the Lord for his tender mercies, you're at the head of the list." Scholar Robert Jewett compares this line to the first verse of Romans 12, in which Paul the Apostle appeals to Christians to live out their lives in service to others "through the mercies of God". Many of the elements of Mac's redemption, conversion to Christianity and budding relationship with Rosa Lee occur off-camera, including their wedding. Jewett writes, "This is perfectly congruent with the theme of faith in the hidden mercies of God, the secret plot of the life of faith in Romans. ... It is a matter of faith, elusive and intangible." Jewett compares Mac's story to that of Abraham, because "just like Sledge's story, [it] centers on the provision of a future through the tender mercies of God". As told in Romans 4, Abraham and his wife Sarah are too old to produce a son, but Abraham develops the faith that God will provide them an heir, which is exactly what occurs, though — as Paul describes — Abraham did nothing practical to guarantee or deserve such a miracle. Jewett describes Mac as similarly undeserving of redemption, based on his selfish and abusive past, typified by his condition in his first encounter with Rosa Lee: in a drunken stupor following a motel room fight. She takes him in and eventually falls in love with him, despite his having done nothing to deserve her care or his redemption: "It is an undeserved grace, a gift of providence from a simple woman who continues to pray for him and to be grateful for him."


title: Tender Mercies

text: However, in the face of the loss of his daughter, Mac learns, in Briley's words, that "his life as a Christian is no more sheltered from this world's tragedies than it was before." Before finding redemption, Sledge questions why God has allowed his life to take the path it has and, in particular, why his daughter was killed instead of him. Commentators have described this as a prime example of theodicy, the question of why evil exists that is commonly faced by Christians. Scholar Richard Leonard writes, "For all believers, the meaning of suffering is the universal question. ... No answer is completely satisfying, least of all the idea that God sends bad events to teach us something." Following the death of his daughter, Mac moves forward with uncertainty as the film ends. Jewett writes of this conclusion, "The message of this film is that we have no final assurances, any more than Abraham did. But we can respond in faith to the tender mercies we have received."


title: Tender Mercies

text: Mac experiences his spiritual resurrection even as he wrestles with death, in both the past — Sonny's father in the Vietnam War — and present — his own daughter in a car accident. The latter threatens to derail Mac's new life, captured in the moment when he learns of it and turns off the radio that is playing his new song. Leonard writes of this resurrection, "Depression hangs like a pall over "Tender Mercies", [but] what makes this film inspiring is that it is also about the joy of being found. ... Mac finds the way, the truth, and the life he wants." In a climactic scene, Mac tells Rosa Lee that he was once nearly killed in a car crash himself, which forces him to address the question of why he was allowed to live while others have died. Jewett writes of this scene, "Mac Sledge can't trust happiness because it remains inexplicable. But he does trust the tender mercies that mysteriously led him from death to life."


title: Tender Mercies

text: Mac is portrayed as near death at the beginning of the film, having woken up in a drunken stupor in a boundless, empty flatland with nothing in his possession, a shot that scholar Roy M. Anker said "pointedly reflects the condition of his own soul". The dialogue in other scenes suggests the threat of mortality, including a moment when Mac has trouble singing due to his bad voice and says, "Don't feel sorry for me, Rosa Lee, I'm not dead yet." In several lasting shots, the vast sky dwarfs Mac, Rosa Lee and Sonny, starkly symbolizing their isolation, as well as the fragility of human existence. The fact that Mac sustains his newfound life with Rosa Lee and Sonny after his daughter's death, rather than reverting to his old pattern of alcoholism and abuse, is consistent with a recurring theme in Foote's works of characters overcoming tragedy and finding in it an opportunity for growth and maturation.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Philip and Mary Ann Hobel spent a long time seeking a distributor for "Tender Mercies" without any success. Duvall, who began to doubt the film would be widely released, was unable to help the Hobels because he was busy trying to find a distributor for "Angelo My Love", a film he had written, directed and produced. Eventually, Universal Pictures agreed to distribute "Tender Mercies". Test screenings for the film were held, which Beresford described as the most unusual he had ever experienced. The director said that the preview audiences appeared to be very engaged with the picture, to the point the theaters were so silent, "if you flicked a piece of paper on the floor, you could hear it fall." However, the post-screening feedback was, in Beresford's words, "absolutely disastrous." As a result, Universal executives lost faith in the film and made little effort to promote it. Foote said of the studio, "I don't know that they disliked the film, I just think they thought it was inconsequential and of no consequence at all. I guess they thought it would just get lost in the shuffle." Others in the film industry were equally dismissive; one Paramount Pictures representative described the picture as "like watching paint dry".


title: Tender Mercies

text: "Tender Mercies" was released on March 4, 1983, in only three theaters: one in New York City, one in Los Angeles, and one in Chicago. "New York Times" critic Vincent Canby observed that it was released during "the time of year when distributors usually get rid of all of those movies they don't think are worth releasing in the prime moviegoing times of Christmas and the midsummer months". The simultaneous release of "Angelo My Love" led to some more publicity for Duvall himself, but was of no help to "Tender Mercies". Duvall also believed that Universal's lack of familiarity and comfort with southern culture and the country music genre further reduced their faith in the film. When country star Willie Nelson offered to help publicize it, a studio executive told Duvall she did not understand how the singer could contribute to the promotion, which Duvall said was indicative of the studio's failure to understand both the film and the country music genre.


title: Tender Mercies

text: "Tender Mercies" was shown in competition at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, where it was described as a relatively optimistic alternative to darker, more violent entries like "One Deadly Summer", "Moon in the Gutter" and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence". It was also shown at the 1983 International Film Festival of India in New Delhi. A jury headed by director Lindsay Anderson determined that none of the films in contention, including "Tender Mercies", were good enough to win the Golden Peacock, the festival's top prize. Film critic Jugu Abraham said the jury's standards were higher than those of the Academy Awards, and that "Tender Mercies" lack of success at the festival was a "clear example of what is good cinema for some, not being so good for others".


title: Tender Mercies

text: Following its brief theatrical run, Universal Studios quickly sold the film's rights to cable companies, allowing "Tender Mercies" to be shown on television. When the film unexpectedly received five Academy Award nominations nearly a year after its original release, the studio attempted to redistribute the film to theaters; however, the cable companies began televising the film about a week before the Oscar ceremony, which essentially halted any attempts at a theatrical re-release. When the film first played on HBO in March 1984, it surpassed the three major networks in ratings for homes with cable televisions. "Tender Mercies" was released on VHS some time later, and was first released on DVD on June 22, 1999.


title: Tender Mercies

text: "Tender Mercies" was not considered a box office success. In its first three days, March 4–6, the film grossed $46,977 from exclusive engagements at the Tower East Theater in New York ($21,183), the Fine Arts Theater in Los Angeles ($18,254) and the Carnegie Theater in Chicago ($7,540). "Tender Mercies" eventually played at a total of 37 theaters and grossed $8,443,124.


title: Tender Mercies

text: "Tender Mercies" received mostly positive reviews. Richard Corliss of "Time" declared it the "best American movie of the new year". Carol Olten of "The San Diego Union-Tribune" declared "Tender Mercies" the best movie of 1983, and "the most poignant, but forthright, film of the year, with a brilliant performance by Robert Duvall". Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote, "This is a small, lovely and somewhat overloaded film about small-town life, loneliness, country music, marriage, divorce and parental love, and it deals with all of these things in equal measure. Still, the absence of a single, sharply dramatic story line is a relatively small price to pay for the plainness and clarity with which these other issues are defined." She also praised Beresford's direction, which she said lent the movie a light touch. The "Times" Canby wrote, "In all respects "Tender Mercies" is so good that it has the effect of rediscovering a kind of film fiction that has been debased over the decades by hack moviemakers, working according to accepted formulas, frequently to the applause of the critics as well as the public." Leonard Maltin gave it three out of four stars, applauding Duvall in particular and describing it as a "winning but extremely low-key film", though he characterized Foote's screenplay as "not so much a story as a series of vignettes". David Sterritt of "The Christian Science Monitor" praised the film for its values, for underscoring the good in people and for avoiding flashiness and quick cuts in favor of a subtle and deliberately paced story, while maintaining a PG rating and omitting sex, drugs and violence. He also felt, however, that it tended toward melodrama on a few occasions and that the soundtrack had "a bit of syrupy music ... especially at the end".


title: Tender Mercies

text: Some reviews were less favorable. David Ansen of "Newsweek" said, "While one respects the filmmaker's small-is-beautiful philosophy, this story may indeed be too small for its britches. ... Beresford's nice little movie seems so afraid to make a false move that it runs the danger of not moving at all." Linda Beath of "The Globe and Mail" said Duvall's performance was "fabulous," but that the film was "very slight" compared to Beresford's Australian pictures. Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" panned the film, criticizing its mood and tempo and describing Buckley as its only true asset: ""Tender Mercies" fails because of an apparent dimness of perception that frequently overcomes dramatists: they don't always know when they've got ahold of the wrong end of the story they want to tell."


title: Tender Mercies

text: Many critics specifically praised Duvall's performance. Sterritt called it "one of the most finely wrought achievements to reach the screen in recent memory." In Corliss's description, "Duvall's aging face, a road map of dead ends and dry gulches, can accommodate rage or innocence or any ironic shade in between. As Mac he avoids both melodrama and condescension, finding climaxes in each small step toward rehabilitation, each new responsibility shouldered." Ansen said, "Robert Duvall does another of his extraordinary disappearing acts. He vanishes totally inside the character of Mac Sledge." Maslin said he "so thoroughly transformed into Mac that he even walks with a Texan's rolling gait"; she also complimented the performances of the supporting cast. According to a review in "People", "Duvall gives it everything he has, which is saying a great deal. His beery singing voice is a revelation, and his unfussy, brightly burnished acting is the kind for which awards were invented." The review also described Betty Buckley as "bitchy and brilliant". Duvall was praised as well for pulling off his first true romantic role; the actor said of the response, "This is the only film where I've heard people say I'm sexy. It's real romantic. Rural romantic. I love that part almost more than anything."


title: Tender Mercies

text: Reflecting on the film a decade after it came out, critic Danny Peary said he found Duvall's restrained portrayal "extremely irritating" and criticized the entire cast, save for Buckley, for their "subdued, emotions-in-check, phony 'honest' performances. You just wish the whole lot of them would start tickling each other." In his book "Alternate Oscars", listing his personal opinions of who should have won the Academy Awards each year, Peary excluded "Tender Mercies" from all the categories, and chose Michael Caine as deserving of the Best Actor honor for "Educating Rita". In June 2009, critic Roger Ebert included "Tender Mercies" in "The Great Movies", his series of reviews celebrating what he considers the most important films of all time. He praised what he called one of Duvall's most understated performances, as well as Foote's minimalist storytelling and the restraint and patience of Beresford's direction. Ebert said of Foote's screenplay, "The down-to-earth quality of his characters drew attention away from his minimalist storytelling; all the frills were stripped away. ... Rarely does a movie elaborate less and explain more than "Tender Mercies"."


title: Tender Mercies

text: The 56th Academy Award nominations were announced about ten months after "Tender Mercies" was released. Little had been done to promote its candidacy: only four Oscar campaign advertisements were purchased; all of them appeared in the trade journal "Variety", and Duvall had declined to campaign for himself or the film. Beresford and studio executives were surprised when the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Harper was believed by some to be a strong contender for either Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress, but ultimately she was nominated in neither category.


title: Tender Mercies

text: Duvall was the only American actor nominated for the Best Actor Oscar; his competition were Britons Michael Caine (who had co-starred with Duvall in the 1976 "The Eagle Has Landed"), Tom Conti, Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney. During an interview before the Oscar ceremony, Duvall offended some Britons by complaining about "the Limey syndrome," claiming "the attitude with a lot of people in Hollywood is that what they do in England is somehow better than what we do here." Duvall, who was presented with the Oscar by country music star, Dolly Parton, said of winning the award, "It was a nice feeling, knowing I was the home-crowd favorite." In a "New York Times" profile of Duvall that appeared six years after "Tender Mercies" release, Nan C. Robertson wrote that, despite four previous Academy Award nominations, "it was not until he won as Best Actor in 1983 ... that moviegoers woke up in droves to this great natural resource. The reason was that they rarely recognized Mr. Duvall from one part to another, so effortlessly did he vanish into each celluloid persona." Foote, who was so certain he would not win the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for "To Kill a Mockingbird" he had not attended the 1963 ceremony, made sure he was present to collect his award for Best Original Screenplay. The critical success of the film allowed Foote to exercise considerable control over his future film projects, including final veto power over major decisions; when such power was denied, Foote would simply refuse to do the film.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta () and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The city is the provincial capital of Samsun Province which has a population of 1,356,079. The city is home to Ondokuz Mayıs University, several hospitals, three large shopping malls, Samsunspor football club, an opera and a large and modern manufacturing district. A former Greek settlement, the city is best known as the place where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk began the Turkish War of Independence in 1919.


title: Samsun

text: The present name of the city is believed to have come from its former Greek name of () by a reinterpretation of (meaning "to Amisós") and (Greek suffix for place names) to (: ) and then Samsun ().


title: Samsun

text: The early Greek historian Hecataeus wrote that Amisos was formerly called "Enete", the place mentioned in Homer's "Iliad". In Book II, Homer says that the "ἐνετοί" (Enetoi) inhabited Paphlagonia on the southern coast of the Black Sea in the time of the Trojan War (c. 1200 BC). The Paphlagonians are listed among the allies of the Trojans in the war, where their king Pylaemenes and his son Harpalion perished. Strabo mentioned that the inhabitants had disappeared by his time.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun has also been known as "Peiraieos" by Athenian settlers and even briefly as "Pompeiopolis" by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.


title: Samsun

text: The city was called "Simisso" by the Genoese. It was during the Ottoman Empire, that its present name was written as ("Ṣāmsūn"). The city has been known as Samsun since the formation of the Turkey in 1923.


title: Samsun

text: The earliest layer excavated of the höyük of Dündartepe revealed a Chalcolithic settlement. Early Bronze Age and Hittite settlements were also found there and at Tekkeköy.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun (then known as Amisos, Greek Αμισός, alternative spelling "Amisus") was settled in about 760–750 BC by Ionians from Miletus, who established a flourishing trade relationship with the ancient peoples of Anatolia. The city's ideal combination of fertile ground and shallow waters attracted numerous traders.


title: Samsun

text: Amisus was settled by the Ionian Milesians in the 6th century BC, it is believed that there was significant Greek activity along the coast of the Black Sea, although the archaeological evidence for this is very fragmentary. The only archaeological evidence we have as early as the 6th century is a fragment of Wild Goat style Greek pottery, in the Louvre.


title: Samsun

text: The city was captured by the Persians in 550 BC and became part of Cappadocia (satrapy). In the 5th century BC, Amisus became a free state and one of the members of the Delian League led by the Athenians; it was then renamed Peiraeus under Pericles. Starting the 3rd century BC the city came under the control of Mithridates I, later founder of the Kingdom of Pontus. The Amisos treasure may have belonged to one of the kings.


title: Samsun

text: Tumuli, containing tombs dated between 300 BC and 30 BC, can be seen at Amisos Hill but unfortunately Toraman Tepe was mostly flattened during construction of the 20th century radar base.


title: Samsun

text: The Romans conquered Amisus in 71 BC during the Third Mithridatic War. and Amisus became part of Bithynia et Pontus province. Around 46 BC, during the reign of Julius Caesar, Amisus became the capital of Roman Pontus. From the period of the Second Triumvirate up to Nero, Pontus was ruled by several client kings, as well as one client queen, Pythodorida of Pontus, a granddaughter of Marcus Antonius. From 62 CE it was directly ruled by Roman governors, most famously by Trajan's appointee Pliny. Pliny the Younger's address to the Emperor Trajan in the 1st century CE "By your indulgence, sir, they have the benefit of their own laws," is interpreted by John Boyle Orrery to indicate that the freedoms won for those in Pontus by the Romans was not pure freedom and depended on the generosity of the Roman emperor.


title: Samsun

text: The estimated population of the city around 150 AD is between 20,000 and 25,000 people, classifying it as a relatively large city for that time. The city functioned as the commercial capital for the province of Pontus; beating its rival Sinope (now Sinop) due to its position at the head of the trans-Anatolia highway.


title: Samsun

text: In Late Antiquity, the city became part of the Dioecesis Pontica within the eastern Roman Empire; later still it was part of the Armeniac Theme.


title: Samsun

text: Though the roots of the city are Hellenistic, it was also one of the centers of an early Christian congregation. Its function as a commercial metropolis in northern Asia Minor was a contributing factor to enable the spread of Christian influence. As a large port city – the commercial capital of Pontus – travel to and from Christian hotbeds like Jerusalem was not uncommon. According to Josephus, there was large Jewish diaspora in Asia Minor. Given that the early evangelist Christians focused on Jewish diaspora communities, and that the Jewish diaspora in Amisus was a geographically accessible group with a mixed heritage group, it is not surprising that Amisus would be an appealing site for evangelist work. The author of 1 Peter 1:1 addresses the Jewish diaspora of the province of Pontus, along with four other provinces: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia." (Peter 1:1) As Amisus would have been the largest commercial port-city in the province, it is believed certain that the spread of Christianity in the region would have begun there. In the 1st century Pliny the Younger documents accounts of Christians in and around the cities of Pontus. His accounts center on his conflicts with the Christians when he served under the Emperor Trajan and describe early Christian communities, his condemnation of their refusal to renounce their religion, but also describes his tolerance for some Christian practices like Christian charitable societies. Many great early Christian figures had connections to Amisus, including Caesarea Mazaca, Gregory the Illuminator (raised as a Christian from 257 CE when he was brought to Amisus) and Basil the Great (Bishop of the city 330–379 CE).


title: Samsun

text: Christian bishops of Amisus include Antonius, who took part in the Council of Chalcedon in 451; Erythraeus, a signatory of the letter that the bishops of Helenopontus wrote to Emperor Leo I the Thracian after the killing of Patriarch Proterius of Alexandria; the late 6th-century bishop Florus, venerated as a saint in the Greek menologion; and Tiberius, who attended the Third Council of Constantinople (680), Leo, the Second Council of Nicaea (787), and Basilius, the Council of Constantinople of 879. The diocese is no longer mentioned in the Greek Notitiae Episcopatuum after the 15th century and thereafter the city was considered part of the see of Amasea. However, some Greek bishops of the 18th and 19th centuries bore the title of Amisus as titular bishops. In the 13th century the Franciscans had a convent at Amisus, which became a Latin bishopric some time before 1345, when its bishop Paulus was transferred to the recently conquered city of Smyrna and was replaced by the Dominican Benedict, who was followed by an Italian Armenian called Thomas. No longer a residential diocese, it is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun was part of the Seljuk Empire, the Sultanate of Rum, the Empire of Trebizond, and was one of the Genoese colonies. After the breakup of the Seljuk Empire into small principalities (beyliks) in the late 13th century, the city was ruled by one of them, the Isfendiyarids. It was captured from the Isfendiyarids at the end of the 14th century by the rival Ottoman beylik (later the Ottoman Empire) under sultan Bayezid I, but was lost again shortly afterwards.


title: Samsun

text: In the later Ottoman period, it became part of the Sanjak of Canik (), which was at first part of the Rûm Eyalet. The land around the town mainly produced tobacco, with its own type being grown in Samsun, the Samsun-Bafra, which the British described as having "small but very aromatic leaves", and commanding a "high price." The town was connected to the railway system in the second half of the 19th century, and tobacco trade boomed. There was a British consulate in the town from 1837 to 1863.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun, then home to an Armenian community numbering over 5,000, was heavily affected during the Armenian genocide of 1915, the last Armenian Zoroastrians – the "Arewordik", or children of the sun, lived there. According to local eyewitnesses, such as Hafiz Mehmet, many of the Samsun Armenians were drowned in the Black Sea. Others were deported from Samsun and ultimately massacred in provinces further south. After the Armenian Genocide, there remained eleven Islamized Armenians and two Armenian physicians. Armenian orphans who had survived were given to Turkish families. The depopulation of the region of its Armenian residents caused significant economic harm.


title: Samsun

text: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Turkish national movement against the Allies in Samsun on May 19, 1919, the date which traditionally marks the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence. Atatürk, appointed by the Ottoman government as Inspector of the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate of the Empire in eastern Anatolia, left Constantinople aboard the now-famous on May 16 for Samsun. Instead of obeying the orders of the Ottoman government, then under the control of the occupying Allies, he and a number of colleagues declared the beginning of the Turkish national movement. As a result of this, the Greek population of Samsun was subject to looting, massacre, and deportation by Turkish irregular groups, as noted by representatives of the American Near East Relief. However these groups could not operate freely in Samsun as they did in adjacent region of Merzifon and Bafra due to the presence of the Allied fleet. The Turkish National Movement became alarmed due to the presence of Greek warships in the vicinity of Samsun and undertook the deportation which entailed the deportation of 21,000 local Greeks to the interior of Anatolia. Later, in early June 1922, the city was bombarded by the Allied navy. By 1920, Samsun's population totaled about 36,000, though this figure declined due to the impacts of war and deportations.


title: Samsun

text: After the establishment of the Republic, Samsun was declared a province with five districts Bafra, Çarşamba, Havza, Terme and Vezirköprü. Samsun added additional districts in later years. In 1928, Ladik was established as a district. In 1934, district was Kavak was established followed by Alaçam in 1944 which brought the number of districts in Samsun Province to eight. With the law number 3392 adopted on 19 June 1983 Salıpazarı, Asarcık, Ondokuzmayıs and Tekkeköy districts were established. With the law number 3644 adopted on 9 May 1990, Ayvacık and Yakakent two more districts were established. Samsun entered into a period of economic and population recovery in the years after the establishment of the Republic and quickly restored its status as a vital Black Sea port for Turkey.


title: Samsun

text: Reconstruction of Samsun began quickly after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. In 1929, the region's first electric power plant began operations. Railway access to the city was established in the early 1950s with service to Sivas and Ankara. Major investments in the regions road network were made beginning in the 1960s. In 1975, per law No. 1873, Ondokuz Mayıs University was established in neighboring Atakum. The construction of the university was a major development to the region, bringing a highly regarded and well-funded educational institution and state hospital to Samsun. The region was connect by air in 1998 with the construction of Samsun-Çarşamba Airport 23 km east of the city center. The airport is primarily serviced by Turkish Airlines with service to Istanbul Airport and Ankara Esenboğa Airport but also has international service to Germany and Iraq. In 2008, the Metropolitan Municipality opened the 36.5 km Samsun Tram network which connects Ondokuz Mayıs University to Samsun Stadium.


title: Samsun

text: In 1993, Samsun was established as a metropolitan municipality by decree of the national government in Ankara. The decree further enhanced Samsun's status as one of Turkey's largest and most important cities. As Samsun grew, as did its environs. Neighboring Atakum, a suburb to the west of the city center was established in 2008 with the merger of Atakent, Kurupelit, Altınkum, Çatalçam and Taflan towns into one municipality. Atakum in recent years has become a bedroom community to Samsun and home to much of the region's professional class.


title: Samsun

text: Multiple other large developments have further established Samsun as a major urban center. In 2013, Piazza Samsun a 160 store shopping mall, the largest in the Central Black Sea region, opened in the city center. The opening of the mall was followed by the construction of 115 m tall Sheraton Hotel Samsun. Now the second tallest building in the region, the hotel at the time was the first building in Samsun's history to stand more than 100 m. In 2017, Samsunspor opened a new 30,000 person stadium in Tekkeköy. Gökdelen Towers is now the tallest building in the Samsun region and representative of a recent trend towards high-rise residential housing.


title: Samsun

text: Under the leadership of Metropolitan Mayor Mustafa Demir, the Samsun regional government has undertaken several major transportation and housing development projects in the city center. Projects include the restoration of the Mert River, the construction of the new National Garden, the restoration of Tarihi Şifa Hamamı and the construction of Samsun Saathane Square.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun is a long city which extends along the coast between two river deltas which jut into the Black Sea. It is located at the end of an ancient route from Cappadocia: the "Amisos" of antiquity lay on the headland northwest of the modern city center.


title: Samsun

text: The city is growing fast: land has been reclaimed from the sea and many more apartment blocks and shopping malls are currently being built. Industry is tending to move (or be moved) east, further away from the city center and towards the airport.


title: Samsun

text: To Samsun's west, lies the Kızılırmak ("Red River", the "Halys" of antiquity), one of the longest rivers in Anatolia and its fertile delta. To the east, lie the Yeşilırmak ("Green River", the "Iris" of antiquity) and its delta. The River Mert reaches the sea at the city.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: "Cfa," Trewartha": Cf"), typical for the region, but Samsun is nevertheless drier during summer and milder during winter than most of the southern Black Sea coast.


title: Samsun

text: Summers are warm, the average maximum temperature is around in August. Winters are cool to mild and wet, the lowest average minimum temperature is around in January.


title: Samsun

text: Precipitation is heaviest in late autumn and early winter. Snow sometimes occurs between the months of December and March, but temperatures below the freezing point rarely last more than a couple of days.


title: Samsun

text: During the Tanzimat period and the subsequent wars, Ottoman Muslims were exiled from the Balkans and Circassians were expelled from the Caucasus region. Many of the present inhabitants trace their origins from further west or east on the Black Sea coast. The overwhelming majority of people are Muslim. Due to depressed economic conditions, Samsun saw slow but gradual population growth until 1990. Beginning with the economic liberalization Turkey, the city's population began to rapidly increase. In 1990, the city reported a population of 322,982. That figure grew to 388,509 by 2000, 461,640 in 2008, to 511,601 in 2015. In 2020, the city had an estimated population of 710,000.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun holds an important historical role in the political development of the Republic of Turkey. The city is where the first branch of the Free Republican Party and the first provincial branch of the Democrat Party were opened. For that reason, the city occupies an important place in the history of politics in Turkey. Samsun has traditionally voted for right-wing and nationalistic parties both in local and national elections. In this respect, in Samsun, which is described as the "vote depot of the right". Until the 2018, nearly 80% of the populace voted for right-wing parties while the membership rate to political parties is around 20%. The majority of the deputies have been from the right in all general elections since 1950. Only in 1989 and 1994 did a candidate from a left-wing party, Muzaffer Önder was elected mayor.


title: Samsun

text: Today, 6 of the 9 deputies of Samsun's delegation to the Turkish Grand National Assembly are members of right-wing parties with the exception of those from Atakum. The mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality Mustafa Demir is a member of the Justice and Development Party. Of the members of parliament from Samsun, Ahmet Demircan, Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz, Çiğdem Karaaslan, Fuat Köktaş and Orhan Kırcalı are from the Justice and Development Party, while two are from the Republican People's Party, one from Good Party and one from the Nationalist Movement Party.


title: Samsun

text: Air pollution is a problem in some parts of the city, especially in winter when free coal is supplied to poor families by the government. NOx levels on Yüzüncüyıl Boulevard are among the highest in the country.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun like many Ottoman Empire cities was composed of stone mosques, baths, markets and government buildings while the residential vernacular was almost exclusively wood. The city was populated with wooden konak style homes with more elaborate yali (residence) style homes for the wealthy. Beginning in the 1950s as the city's population grew many of these older wooden structures burned down or torn down and replaced with concrete frame apartment buildings which are now the predominant form of construction in the city center. The city's explosive population growth outpaced its ability to formally build housing for its new residents leading to the construction of vast areas of gecekondu on the city's suburban periphery. As the region has modernized, the Turkish government has made a full force effort to replace gecekondu with formally designed and built housing. TOKİ, the state agency tasked with housing development has invested heavily in Samsun, building several large social housing developments for the city's growing population.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun used to have several Greek Orthodox churches however most were destroyed or converted to mosques following the Turkish War of Independence.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun's tallest building is Gökdelen Towers Tower 1 at 115 m followed by the Sheraton Hotel Samsun at 115 m. In recent years dozens of mid-rise residential and commercial buildings have come to populate the city's formerly low-rise skyline.


title: Samsun

text: Long distance buses the bus station is outside the city centre, but most bus companies provide a free transfer there if you have a ticket. Passenger and freight trains run to Sivas via Amasya. The train station is in the city center. Freight trains are taken by ferry to railways at Kavkaz in Russia, and will later see service to the port of Varna in Bulgaria and Poti in Georgia.


title: Samsun

text: The Samsun Tram operates between the eastern district of Tekkeköy and Ondokuz Mayıs University. There is a plan to run electrically powered bus rapid transit between the railway station and Tekkekoy. City buses carry passengers actively. "Dolmuş", the routes are numbered 1 to 4 and each route has different color minibuses. The long Samsun Amisos Hill Gondola serves from Batıpark the archaeological area on the Amisos Hill, where ancient tombs in tumuli were discovered.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun-Çarşamba Airport is east of the city center. It is possible to reach the airport by Havas service buses: they depart from the coach park close to Kultur Sarayi in the city center. Horse-drawn carriages, (Turkish: fayton) run along the seafront. There was automated bike rental along the seafront, but it is not currently operational.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun is a port city. In the early 20th century, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey funded the building of a harbor. Before the building of the harbor, ships had to anchor to deliver goods, approximately 1 mile or more from shore. Trade and transportation was focused around a road to and from Sivas. The privately operated port fronting the city centre handles freight, including RORO ferries to Novorossiysk, whereas fishing boats land their catches in a separate harbour slightly further east. A ship building yard is under construction at the eastern city limit. Road and rail freight connections with central Anatolia can be used to send inland both the agricultural produce of the surrounding well rained upon and fertile land, and also imports from overseas.


title: Samsun

text: Donbas anthracite, imported via the Russian ports of Azov and Taganrog, is said to be illegally exported Ukrainian coal. In 2019 some crew were rescued but 6 died after a ship sank in the Black Sea.


title: Samsun

text: There is a light industrial zone between the city and the airport. The main manufactured products are medical devices and products, furniture (wood is imported across the Black Sea), tobacco products (although tobacco farming is now limited by the government), chemicals and automobile spare parts.


title: Samsun

text: Provincial government and services (e.g. courts, prisons and hospitals) support the surrounding region. Agricultural research establishments support provincial agriculture and food processing.


title: Samsun

text: Most of the many new shopping malls are purpose built, but the former tobacco factory in the city center has been converted into a mall. Samsun's largest mall is the Piazza Samsun.


title: Samsun

text: Samsun has one of the longest coastlines of the Black Sea Region and this strip stretches from Canik until May 19. 90% of this 35 km long coastline consists of fine sandy beaches suitable for swimming, and alternative sports such as surfing, jet skiing and sailing can be practiced besides swimming. There are a total of 39 beaches in Samsun, with the highest number of beaches in Atakum with 19 of them. After Atakum, Alaçam and Çarşamba come with three beaches each. Bafra, Ilkadım and May 19 each have two beaches, and Canik also has one beach. There are no beaches in Asarcık, Ayvacık, Havza, Kavak and Ladik. As of August 2018, all of the beaches measured by the Environmental Health Department are classified as very clean. In addition, 13 beaches, 10 of which are in Atakum, are awarded the Blue Flag beach.


title: Samsun

text: In Samsun, where activities for winter tourism can be carried out in addition to beach tourism, Akdağ Winter Sports and Ski Center, especially in Ladik, is the most important investment in this area with its 1675 m ski track and 1300 m chair lift, attracting tourists from the surrounding cities. Akdağ also stands out as a paragliding, mountaineering and highland tourism center together with Kocadağ; Nebiyan Mountain is visited by mountaineers, and Kunduz Mountains are visited by transhumance. In addition to natural areas such as Asarağaç Hill, Gölalan Waterfalls and Kabaceviz Waterfall, Çamgölü, Sarıgazel, Vezirköprü nature parks and Çakkır and Hasköy recreation areas have also been brought into tourism in recent years. The Çarşamba Plain and the Galeriç Floodplain, especially the Kızılırmak Delta, the region, which was included in the World Heritage list in 2016, is frequently visited by bird watchers.


title: Samsun

text: May 25 Thermal Tourism Center in Havza, which has been given the status of a tourism center, is the most important health tourism point in Samsun, and the thermal springs in Havza and Ladik are also among the tourism centers of the city. The waters coming out of the hot springs, which are visited by 200 thousand people a year, have been used in the treatment of diseases such as rheumatic diseases, gynecological diseases, nervous diseases, joint diseases and calcification for two thousand years.


title: Samsun

text: Atatürk Kültür Sarayı (AKM – Palace of Culture). Concerts and other performances are held at the Kultur Sarayi, which is shaped much like a ski jump. "Samsun State Opera and Ballet" performs in The Atatürk Culture Center. Founded in 2009 it is one of the six state opera houses in Turkey. The Samsun Opera have performed "Die Entführung" (W. A. Mozart) in the annual Istanbul Opera Festival. In collaboration with The Pekin Opera, The Samsun Opera performed Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" in the Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival in 2012. Other performances include "La bohème, La traviata, Don Quijote, Giselle." The current musical director is Lorenzo Castriota Skanderbeg.


title: Samsun

text: There are two universities in Samsun: the state run Ondokuz Mayıs University and the private sector Samsun University. There is also a police training college and many small private colleges.


title: Samsun

text: There are several army bases in the city (Esentepe Kışlası, Gökberk Kışlası, 19 Mayis Kışlası and others). Should they become surplus to military requirements in future, for example due to reduced conscription in Turkey, it is currently unclear whether they would become urban open space or be further built on.


title: Samsun

text: In ancient Roman times gladiator sword fighting apparently took place in Amisos, as depicted on a tombstone dating from the 2nd or 3rd century CE.


title: Samsun

text: Football is the most popular sport: in the older districts above the city center children often kick balls around in the evenings in the smallest streets. The city's football club is Samsunspor, which plays its games at the Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium.


title: Samsun

text: Basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, cable skiing (in summer), horse riding, go karting, paintballing, martial arts and many other sports are played. Cycling and jogging are only common along the sea front, where recreational fishing is also popular.


title: Poetry slam

text: A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. Hip-hop music and urban culture are strong influences, and backgrounds of participants tend to be diverse.


title: Poetry slam

text: Poetry slams began in Chicago in 1984, with the first slam competition designed to move poetry recitals from academia to a popular audience. American poet Marc Smith, believing the poetry scene at the time was "too structured and stuffy", began experimenting by attending open-microphone poetry readings, and then turning them into slams by introducing the element of competition.


title: Poetry slam

text: The performances at a poetry slam are judged as much on enthusiasm and style as content, and poets may compete as individuals or in teams. The judging is often handled by a panel of judges, typically five, who are usually selected from the audience. Sometimes the poets are judged by audience response.


title: Poetry slam

text: American poet Marc Smith is credited with starting the poetry slam at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago in November 1984. In July 1986, the original slam moved to its permanent home, the Green Mill Jazz Club. In 1987 the Ann Arbor Poetry Slam was founded by Vince Keuter and eventually made its home at the Heidelberg (moving later 2010, 2013, and 2015 to its new home at Espresso Royale). In August 1988, the first poetry slam held in New York City was hosted by Bob Holman at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. In 1990, the first National Poetry Slam took place at Fort Mason, San Francisco. This slam included teams from Chicago and San Francisco, and an individual poet from New York. Soon afterward, poetry slam increased popularity allowed some poets to make full-time careers in performance and competition, touring the United States and eventually the world.


title: Poetry slam

text: In 1999, National Poetry Slam, held in major cities each year, was in Chicago. The event was covered nationally by "The New York Times" and "60 Minutes" (CBS). "60 Minutes" taped a 20 segment on slam poetry with live poetry scenes at Chopin Theatre.


title: Poetry slam

text: In 2001, the grounding of aircraft following the September 11 attacks left a number of performers stranded in cities they had been performing in. After the attacks, a new wave of poetry slam started within San Francisco.


title: Poetry slam

text: Poetry Slam, Inc. sanctions three major annual poetry competitions (for poets 18+) on a national and international scale: the National Poetry Slam (NPS), the individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS), and the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWPS).


title: Poetry slam

text: In a poetry slam, members of the audience are chosen by a Master of ceremonies or host to act as judges for the event. In the national slam, there are five judges, but smaller slams generally have three. After each poet performs, each judge awards a score to that poem. Scores generally range between zero and ten. The highest and lowest score are dropped, giving each performance a rating between zero and thirty points.


title: Poetry slam

text: Before the competition begins, the host will often bring up a "sacrificial" poet, whom the judges will score in order to calibrate their judging.


title: Poetry slam

text: A single round at a standard slam consists of performances by all eligible poets. Most slams last multiple rounds, and many involve the elimination of lower-scoring poets in successive rounds. An elimination format might run 8-4-2; eight poets in the first round, four in the second, and two in the last. Some slams do not eliminate poets at all. The Green Mill usually runs its slams with 6 poets in the first round. At the end of the slam, the poet with the highest number of points earned is the winner.


title: Poetry slam

text: The Boston Poetry Slam takes a different approach; it uses the 8-4-2 three-round format, but the poets go head-to-head in separate bouts within the round.


title: Poetry slam

text: Props, costumes, and music are forbidden in slams, which differs greatly from its immediate predecessor, performance poetry. Hedwig Gorski, the founder of performance poetry as a distinct genre, saw props, costumes, and music as essential for a complete theatrical experience while also following theorist Jerzy Grotowski's Poor Theater by blurring lines between the real person, actor, and speakers in scripted literary art. Other rules for slams enforce a time limit of three minutes (and a grace period of ten seconds), after which a poet's score may be docked according to how long the poem exceeded the limit. Many youth slams, however, allow the poets up to three and a half minutes on stage.


title: Poetry slam

text: In an "Open Slam", the most common slam type, competition is open to all who wish to compete, given the number of slots available. In an "Invitational Slam", only those invited to do so may compete.


title: Poetry slam

text: In 1998, spoken word poet Emanuel Xavier created the House of Xavier and the Glam Slam, an annual downtown arts event staged at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (and later at the Bowery Poetry Club). The fusion of ball culture and poetry slam competitions featured four open categories such as Best Erotic Poem in Sexy Underwear or Lingerie, Best Verbal Vogue and Best Love Poem in Fire Engine Red (alternately Best Bitter Break Up Poem in Blue). Winners of each category received a trophy and went on to compete for the Grand Prize title of Glam Slam Champion. The annual competition was first held in New York City and then London until 2010.


title: Poetry slam

text: Poetry Slam, Inc. holds several national and international competitions, including the Individual World Poetry Slam, the National Poetry Slam and The Women of the World Poetry Slam. The current (2013) IWPS champion is Ed Mabrey. Ed Mabrey is the only three-time IWPS champion in the history of the event. The current (2013) National Poetry Slam Team champions are Slam New Orleans (SNO), who have won the competition for the second year in a row. The current (2014) Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion is Dominique Christina.


title: Poetry slam

text: From 10–11 December 2016 Salzburg, Austria held a world-record poetry slam competition (28 hours of classic slam poetry) and broke the so-far-record of Nuremberg, Germany (25 hours) by Michl Jakob. The winner of the competition (Friedrich Herrmann) scored one point better in the finals than the second ranked (Darryl Kiermeier). The event was organized by Lukas Wagner (Slamlabor) and took place in the SN-Saal of the Salzburger Nachrichten.


title: Poetry slam

text: Similar to the House of Xavier's Glam Slam, a "Theme Slam" is one in which all performances must conform to a specified theme, genre, or formal constraint. Themes may include Nerd, Erotica, Queer, Improv, or other conceptual limitations. In theme slams, poets can sometimes be allowed to break "traditional" slam rules. For instance, they sometimes allow performance of work by another poet (e.g. the "Dead Poet Slam", in which all work must be by a deceased poet). They can also allow changes on the restrictions on costumes or props (e.g. the Swedish "Triathlon" slams that allow for a poet, musician, and dancer to all take the stage at the same time), changing the judging structure (e.g. having a specific guest judge), or changing the time limits (e.g. a "1-2-3" slam with three rounds of one minute, two minutes, and three minutes, respectively).


title: Poetry slam

text: Although theme slams may seem restricting in nature, slam venues frequently use them to advocate participation by particular and perhaps underrepresented demographics (which vary from slam to slam), like younger poets and women.


title: Poetry slam

text: Poetry slams can feature a broad range of voices, styles, cultural traditions, and approaches to writing and performance. The originator of performance poetry, Hedwig Gorski, credits slam poetry for carrying on the poetics of ancient oral poetry designed to grab attention in barrooms and public squares.


title: Poetry slam

text: Some poets are closely associated with the vocal delivery style found in hip-hop music and draw heavily on the tradition of dub poetry, a rhythmic and politicized genre belonging to black and particularly West Indian culture. Others employ an unrhyming narrative formula. Some use traditional theatrical devices including shifting voices and tones, while others may recite an entire poem in ironic monotone. Some poets use nothing but their words to deliver a poem, while others stretch the boundaries of the format, tap-dancing or beatboxing or using highly choreographed movements.


title: Poetry slam

text: What is a dominant / successful style one year may not be passed to the next. Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, slam poet and author of "Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam", was quoted in an interview on the Best American Poetry blog as saying:


title: Poetry slam

text: One of the more interesting end products (to me, at least) of this constant shifting is that poets in the slam always worry that something—a style, a project, a poet—will become so dominant that it will kill the scene, but it never does. Ranting hipsters, freestyle rappers, bohemian drifters, proto-comedians, mystical shamans and gothy punks have all had their time at the top of the slam food chain, but in the end, something different always comes along and challenges the poets to try something new.


title: Poetry slam

text: One of the goals of a poetry slam is to challenge the authority of anyone who claims absolute authority over literary value. No poet is beyond critique, as everyone is dependent upon the goodwill of the audience. Since only the poets with the best cumulative scores advance to the final round of the night, the structure assures that the audience gets to choose from whom they will hear more poetry. Audience members furthermore become part of each poem's presence, thus breaking down the barriers between poet/performer, critic, and audience.


title: Poetry slam

text: Bob Holman, a poetry activist and former slammaster of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, once called the movement "the democratization of verse". In 2005, Holman was also quoted as saying: "The spoken word revolution is led a lot by women and by poets of color. It gives a depth to the nation's dialogue that you don't hear on the floor of Congress. I want a floor of Congress to look more like a National Poetry Slam. That would make me happy."


title: Poetry slam

text: At the 1993 National Poetry Slam in San Francisco, a participating team from Canada (Kedrick James, Alex Ferguson and John Sobol) wrote, printed and circulated an instant broadside titled "Like Lambs to the Slammer", that criticized what they perceived as the complacency, conformity, and calculated tear-jerking endemic to the poetry slam scene. Over time, slam poetry has been criticized for lacking depth and for its features, i.e., "slam voice," which may limit the range of emotion it can express.


title: Poetry slam

text: I can't bear these accounts I read in the "Times" and elsewhere of these poetry slams, in which various young men and women in various late-spots are declaiming rant and nonsense at each other. The whole thing is judged by an applause meter which is actually not there, but might as well be. This isn't even silly; it is the death of art.


title: Poetry slam

text: Poet and lead singer of King Missile, John S. Hall, has also long been a vocal opponent, taking issue with such factors as its inherently competitive nature and what he considers its lack of stylistic diversity. He recalls seeing his first slam, at the Nuyorican Poets Café: "...I hated it. And it made me really uncomfortable and ... it was very much like a sport, and I was interested in poetry in large part because it was like the antithesis of sports. ... [I]t seemed to me like a very macho, masculine form of poetry and not at all what I was interested in."


title: Poetry slam

text: The poet Tim Clare offers a "for and against" account of the phenomenon in "Slam: A Poetic Dialogue".


title: Poetry slam

text: Ironically, slam poetry movement founder Marc Smith has been critical of the commercially successful Def Poetry television and Broadway live stage shows produced by Russell Simmons, decrying it as "an exploitive entertainment [program that] diminished the value and aesthetic of performance poetry".


title: Poetry slam

text: At European level, the European Poetry Slam Championship (or European Slampionship) takes place every year.


title: Poetry slam

text: The Poetry Slam World Cup (Coupe du Monde de Slam, organised in France) also takes place every year. In 2022, Italy won the XVI Poetry Slam World Cup for the second time, represented by performance artist, writer, poet, and actor Lorenzo Maragoni, member of the artistic collective WOW - Incendi Spontanei, same as the former world champion Giuliano Logos.


title: Poetry slam

text: As of 2011, four poets who have competed at National Poetry Slam have won National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Fellowships for Literature:


title: Poetry slam

text: As of 2017, one poet who has competed at National Poetry Slam has won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Tyehimba Jess, who competed as a part of Chicago's Green Mill team twice.


title: Poetry slam

text: Henry S. Taylor, winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, competed in the 1997 National Poetry Slam as an individual and placed 75th out of 150.


title: Poetry slam

text: While slam poetry has often been ignored in traditional higher learning institutions, it slowly is finding its way into courses and programs of study. For example, at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, slam poetry is now available as a Minor course of study.


title: Poetry slam

text: Slam poetry has found popularity as a form of self-expression among many teenagers. Young Chicago Authors (YCA) provides workshops, mentoring, and competition opportunities to youth in the Chicago area. Every year YCA presents Louder Than a Bomb, the world's largest team-based youth slam and subject of a documentary by the same name. San Francisco-based a non-profit organization Youth Speaks Inc has also been running the Brave New Voices poetry festival since 1998. The youth poetry slam movement was the focus of a documentary film series produced by HBO and released in 2009. It featured poets from Youth Speaks, Urban Word, Louder than a Bomb and other related youth poetry slam organizations.


title: Poetry slam

text: In a 2005 interview, one of slam's best known poets Saul Williams praised the youth poetry slam movement, explaining:


title: Poetry slam

text: In 2012, more than 12,000 young people took part in an England-wide youth slam "Shake the Dust", organized by Apples and Snakes as part of the London 2012 Festival.


title: Poetry slam

text: An Open Letter to Honey Singh, a rap video featuring Rene Sharanya Verma performing at Delhi Poetry Slam, went viral on YouTube receiving over 1.5 million hits.


title: Poetry slam

text: In 2017 poet Malika Outtara estimated that there were only fifteen African women slam poets in total.


title: Poetry slam

text: One of the most notable figures in the slam scene in Burkina Faso is Malika Outtara. In 2019 she set up the Slamazone Foundation of which she is President, in order to fund raise for social issues in her country.


title: Poetry slam

text: Slam Poetry has been in Egypt since the twentieth century and was introduced by Hussain Shafiq al-Misry. According to al-Misry, having a variety jobs gave him the experience to understand the struggles of Egyptian people in different classes of life. He had good knowledge of Arabic literature, grammar and some commonly used foreign words as well as slang; which he used to form Halamantishi poetry. Muhammad Ragab Bayyoumi in 1986 wrote an article entitled Hussein Shafiq al-Misry: Ustaz la Tilmeeth lah" (Hussein Shafiq al-Misry: A Teacher with No Student of His) in which he introduced al-Misry's poems and explained al-Misry's literary poetry techniques. In Egypt Performance Poetry is new in popularity, the term "Ash-Shi'r al-Mu'adda" was recently introduced as the term for performance poetry. Poets such as  Bayram At-Tunisi, Ahmad Rami, and Kamel Ash-Shennawy paved the way after al-Misry with lyrical slam poems that use a melodic rhythm to attract the audience.


title: Poetry slam

text: In Japan, Katsunori Kusunoki, a professor of communications at Toyo University, found a way to incorporate slam poetry into his students’ lives; allowing them to showcase their competitiveness and love of poetry by putting together “poetry boxing” matches. Kusunoki created annual “poetry boxing” tournaments in order to provide a medium for expression and social interaction . The rules are “16 boxers face off in pairs in competitions of stand-up verse that last for three minutes. Winners compete in series of challenges such as timed presentation and a round of improvised jousting.” A master of ceremonies adds to the event by providing nicknames for the competitors. Kusunoki's goal was to try to get his students to open up by breaking language barriers and expressing themselves.


title: Benzatropine

text: Benzatropine (INN), known as benztropine in the United States and Japan, is a medication used to treat movement disorders like parkinsonism and dystonia, as well as extrapyramidal side effects of antipsychotics, including akathisia. It is not useful for tardive dyskinesia. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein or muscle. Benefits are seen within two hours and last for up to ten hours.


title: Benzatropine

text: Common side effects include dry mouth, blurry vision, nausea, and constipation. Serious side effect may include urinary retention, hallucinations, hyperthermia, and poor coordination. It is unclear if use during pregnancy or breastfeeding is safe. Benzatropine is an anticholinergic which works by blocking the activity of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor.


title: Benzatropine

text: Benzatropine was approved for medical use in the United States in 1954. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 229th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 2million prescriptions. It is sold under the brand name Cogentin among others.


title: Benzatropine

text: Benzatropine is used to reduce extrapyramidal side effects of antipsychotic treatment. Benzatropine is also a second-line drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It improves tremor, and may alleviate rigidity and bradykinesia. Benzatropine is also sometimes used for the treatment of dystonia, a rare disorder that causes abnormal muscle contraction, resulting in twisting postures of limbs, trunk, or face.


title: Benzatropine

text: While some studies suggest that use of anticholinergics increases the risk of tardive dyskinesia (a long-term side effect of antipsychotics), other studies have found no association between anticholinergic exposure and risk of developing tardive dyskinesia, although symptoms may be worsened.


title: Benzatropine

text: Drugs that decrease cholinergic transmission may impair storage of new information into long-term memory. Anticholinergic agents can also impair time perception.


title: Benzatropine

text: Benzatropine is a centrally acting anticholinergic/antihistamine agent. It is a selective M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. Benzatropine partially blocks cholinergic activity in the basal ganglia and has also been shown to increase the availability of dopamine by blocking its reuptake and storage in central sites, and as a result, increasing dopaminergic activity. Animal studies have indicated that anticholinergic activity of benzatropine is approximately one-half that of atropine, while its antihistamine activity approaches that of mepyramine. Its anticholinergic effects have been established as therapeutically significant in the management of Parkinsonism. Benzatropine antagonizes the effect of acetylcholine, decreasing the imbalance between the neurotransmitters acetylcholine and dopamine, which may improve the symptoms of early Parkinson's disease.


title: Benzatropine

text: Benzatropine analogues are atypical dopamine reuptake inhibitors, which might make them useful for people with akathisia secondary to antipsychotic therapy.


title: Benzatropine

text: Benzatropine has been also identified, by a high throughput screening approach, as a potent differentiating agent for oligodendrocytes, possibly working through M1 and M3 muscarinic receptors. In preclinical models for multiple sclerosis, benzatropine decreased clinical symptoms and enhanced re-myelination.


title: Benzatropine

text: Since 1959, benzatropine is the official international nonproprietary name of the medication under the INN scheme, the medication naming system coordinated by the World Health Organization; it is also the British Approved Name (BAN) given in the British Pharmacopoeia, and has been the official nonproprietary name in Australia since 2015. Regional variations of the "a" spelling are also used in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, as well as Latin (all medications are assigned a Latin name by WHO).


title: Benzatropine

text: "Benztropine" is the official United States Adopted Name (USAN), the medication naming system coordinated by the USAN Council, co-sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). It is also the Japanese Accepted Name (JAN) and was used in Australia until 2015, when it was harmonized with the INN.


title: Benzatropine

text: Both names may be modified to account for the methanesulfonate salt as which the medication is formulated: the modified INN (INNm) and BAN (BANM) is "benzatropine mesilate", while the modified USAN is "benztropine mesylate". The modified JAN is a hybrid form, "benztropine mesilate".


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a 2003 action role-playing game developed and published by Konami. It is the third "Castlevania" game for the Game Boy Advance. Producer Koji Igarashi, who had led the production teams for previous "Castlevania" games, led "Aria of Sorrow"s development as well. Michiru Yamane returned to compose the music alongside Takashi Yoshida and Soshiro Hokkai. Director Junichi Murakami was new to the "Castlevania" series.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: "Aria of Sorrow" is set in the year 2035, when Dracula has been sealed away after a battle in 1999. The plot follows the journey of Soma Cruz, a teenager granted occult power as a result of being a potential vessel of Dracula's reincarnation, as he battles dark figures that wish to inherit the undead lord's power. The game incorporates the same combination of elements from platform games and role-playing video games as in a previous game "" (1997). "Aria of Sorrow" introduces several features to the series, such as the "Tactical Soul" system and employs a futuristic storyline in contrast to the medieval setting of other "Castlevania" games.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: "Aria of Sorrow" was released in May 2003. Although it sold poorly in Japan, selling 27,000 units nearly one month after its release, it was commercially successful in the United States, with more than 158,000 units sold in the three months following its release. "Aria of Sorrow" received universal acclaim, with praise for its visuals, gameplay (particularly the Tactical Soul System), music, and level design. Some critics considered it the best "Castlevania" game since "Symphony of the Night".


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: Konami released a sequel, "", in August 2005. It incorporated many elements from its predecessor, including the "Tactical Soul" system. "Aria of Sorrow" was rereleased as part of the Castlevania Advance Collection on September 23, 2021 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows alongside "" (2001), "" (2002), and "" (1995).


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: "Aria of Sorrow" features a 2D side-scrolling style of gameplay where the player controls the onscreen character from a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies. Like previous games in the series and most role-playing video games, characters level up each time they earn a set number of experience points from defeating enemies; each "level" gained increases the character's statistics, thus improving their performance in battle. Statistic examples include hit points, the amount of damage a character can receive; magic points, which determine the number of times a character can use magical attacks; strength, the power of a character's physical attacks; and intelligence, the power of a character's magical spells. Upon encountering an enemy, the player can use a variety of weapons to attack and defeat the enemy. Despite the game being set in 2035, the available weapons are largely medieval, including swords, axes, and spears; though a handgun is available. These weapons differ in their damage output, the range of the weapon, and the speed of the attack. Items and other accessories can be found by defeating enemies or by purchasing items from the game's shop.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: Similar to previous games in the series, "Aria of Sorrow" is set within Dracula's castle, which is divided into several areas that the player traverses. These areas feature different components, such as different enemies, varying terrain characteristics, and a unique piece of theme music. Similar to most platform games, progression between areas is limited by the abilities the player has. While the method in which the player progresses through the game is initially linear, the player's options become more diverse as the number of character abilities increases.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: "Aria of Sorrow" introduces the Tactical Soul ability system to the "Castlevania" series. It involves absorbing the souls of enemies in order to gain additional abilities. Save for a few exceptions, all types of enemies in the game can eventually yield a unique soul that can be absorbed by the player. The rate at which enemies' souls are obtained varies between enemies. Players can trade souls between two "Aria of Sorrow" cartridges using two Game Boy Advance consoles and a link cable.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: Souls provide a variety of effects, and are separated into four categories: Bullet, Guardian, Enchant, and Ability souls. Bullet, Guardian, and Enchant souls are identified with the colors red, blue and yellow respectively, and the player can only have one of each type equipped at any given time. Bullet souls are Soma Cruz's replacement for sub weapons in this game, and enable the player to consume a set number of magic points to use an ability, often some form of projectile. Guardian souls provide continued effects, including transforming into mythical creatures and summoning familiars. Guardian souls continually drain magic points as long as they are active. Enchant souls are continuously active as long as they are equipped, and provide either an increase in statistics, or abilities such as the ability to walk on water. The fourth type, Ability souls, are treated differently from the other three types. They originate from one-of-a-kind enemies in the game, and once obtained, they remain active as long as the player does not specifically disable them, not consuming any magic points.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: "Aria of Sorrow" includes additional modes of play that display elements not seen in the game's primary scenario. The New Game+ option allows a player that has completed the game to replay the game with all equipment, levels and souls the player had acquired in a previous file. Additionally, the player can opt to start the game in Hard Mode, offering the same gameplay at a higher difficulty level.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: Two other modes offer alternatives to the standard gameplay. Boss Rush mode involves the player facing against all of the game's bosses in quick succession, and is unlocked after the player completes the game once. Julius Mode is an additional mode of play unlocked with the same method. The player takes control of , the member of the Belmont clan featured in the game.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: "Aria of Sorrow" takes place in the fictional universe of the "Castlevania" series. The series' premise is the conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. Thirty-six years before the start of "Aria of Sorrow", Dracula was defeated once and for all by the Belmont clan, and his powers sealed into a solar eclipse. Shortly after Dracula's death, a prophecy was made that Dracula's reincarnation would come to his castle in 2035 and inherit all of Dracula's powers. This prophecy acts as the driving force behind the plot of "Aria of Sorrow", and is the primary motivation of the supporting characters to be present. The game takes place in Dracula's castle, the most common setting for the series, with the castle divided into numerous areas that the player traverses over the course of the game.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: The protagonist and primary playable character of "Aria of Sorrow" is Soma Cruz, a transfer student studying in Japan who possesses the "power of dominance", which allows him to absorb the souls of monsters and use their abilities. He is initially accompanied by his childhood friend, Mina Hakuba, the daughter of the priest of the Hakuba shrine. Over the course of the game, Soma meets additional characters that aid him in his quest: Genya Arikado, an enigmatic government agent and disguise for Alucard, the son of Dracula; Yoko Belnades, a witch and member of the Belnades clan; J, an amnesiac man drawn to Dracula's castle; and Hammer, a soldier from the military ordered to investigate the events occurring at Dracula's castle, although he abandons this mission and sets up a shop to sell Soma equipment (potions, weapons and the like). Graham Jones, a missionary who believes he is Dracula's reincarnation, serves as the game's antagonist.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: The characters were designed by Ayami Kojima, who had previously worked on the characters in "Castlevania" games such as "" and "". Due to the game being set in the future, Kojima's designs are notably more contemporary, utilizing modern clothing, in contrast to the medieval attire that characters from previous games wore.


title: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

text: The story begins in the year 2035, when Soma Cruz is visiting Japan as a transfer student and living near the Hakuba shrine. During a solar eclipse, he visits the Hakuba shrine with his childhood friend Mina Hakuba. He and Mina are then drawn into the eclipse, landing in a mysterious castle, where they meet a government agent named Genya Arikado. Arikado reveals that they are in Dracula's castle. After a group of monsters appear and are dispatched by Arikado, one of the monsters' souls is absorbed by Soma. Arikado explains this as the awakening of Soma's "power of dominance". Arikado then directs Soma to enter the castle and seek "the master's chamber".