Early life.

Mani Ratnam was born on 2 June 1956 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu as the second child of an Iyer family that was closely associated with film production. His father S. Gopala Ratnam was a film distributor who worked for Venus Pictures, and his uncle "Venus" Krishnamurthy was a film producer. His elder brother G. Venkateswaran would go on to produce some of Mani's films. His younger brother is G. Srinivasan, who like Venkateswaran would also co-produced some of his films. Mani Ratnam grew up in Madras (now Chennai), along with his siblings and cousins. Despite being a film family, the children were not allowed to watch films as the elders considered them taboo. "As a youngster, films seemed like a waste of time", he claimed in a 1994 interview; however, he started watching films more actively when he was studying in the Besant Theosophical School. During this time, he developed an admiration towards actors like Sivaji Ganesan and Nagesh; watching all their films. When he discovered the director K. Balachander, he became his fan. Upon completing his schooling, he graduated with a degree in commerce from the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, affiliated to the Madras University. Later, he did his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Bombay. After finishing his post-graduation in 1977, he was employed in a firm in Madras as a management consultant, and continued to work there for sometime.

Personal life.

Ratnam is married to Suhasini, an established actress in South Indian cinema. The marriage took place in the year 1988. The couple have a son Nandhan who was born in 1992. The family resides in Alwarpet, Chennai, where he runs his production company, Madras Talkies.

Film career.

Beginnings: 1977–1983.

Mani Ratnam was not satisfied with his job as a consultant as he found it to be a mere extension of his academics. During this time his friend Ravi Shankar, son of director B. R. Panthulu, was in the process of making his first film. Mani Ratnam, Ravi Shankar and another friend, Raman son of filmmaker S. Balachander, worked on the script of the film. Mani Ratnam took a sabbatical from his job in order to ensure his participation in the making of the film. Being inexperienced, the makers were largely dependent upon the "American Cinematographer" magazine. The principal cast included Vishnuvardhan, Srinath, Ambarish, Lakshmi, and Roja Ramani. When the filming was about to begin in Kolar, Karnataka, Mani Ratnam left his consulting job and joined the crew. The film, however, did not take off and was eventually shelved. Nevertheless, he was firm in his idea of becoming a film-maker. Although not impressed with many of the films made in Tamil cinema, he was "amazed" at P. Bharathiraja's "16 Vayathinile" (1977), K.Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal (1975), and J. Mahendran's "Mullum Malarum" (1978) and "Uthiripookkal" (1979). During this time, he befriended a group of people namely P. C. Sreeram, Santhana Bharathi, and P. Vasu, who shared his interest of entering into the film industry.  With a script in hand, Mani Ratnam had an idea to either get a producer for his film or to narrate the script to a "celebrated" film-maker, so that he could get a chance to work along with them and get to know about the various aspects involved in film-making. He chose three directors—Balachander, Bharathiraja, and Mahendran. As the attempts to meet and convince all the three proved to be unsuccessful, he decided to look out for a producer. In the process, he along with P. C. Sreeram—who would collaborate with him in most of his future projects—met around 20 people; however, all the efforts turned out to be unsuccessful.

Early years and struggle: 1983–1986.

Mani Ratnam developed a script—originally written in English—into a film and named it "Pallavi Anu Pallavi". His uncle Krishnamurthy agreed to produce the film but imposed a condition that it should be made under a limited budget in Kannada, to which he agreed. He persuaded Balu Mahendra to do the cinematography as he found the latter's work to be very impressive. He managed to get other crew members B. Lenin (for editing), Thota Tharani (for art direction) and Ilaiyaraaja (for music composer music), all leading craftsmen in their respective fields. For the male lead, he cast Anil Kapoor after watching his performance in the Telugu film "Vamsa Vruksham" (1980). Lakshmi was signed up as the female lead. The film explored the relationship between a young man and an older woman. Although an average grosser at the box-office, the film fetched Mani Ratnam the Best Screenplay Award from the Karnataka State Government for the year 1983. After watching "Pallavi Anu Pallavi", N. G. John offered him a chance to direct a film in Malayalam. Scripted by T. Damodaran, "Unaru" was about the corruption in labour unions of Kerala. The film was completed within two months and released in April 1984. Mani Ratnam attributed the failure of the film to the conflict of interests that he and the producer had. Following this, he entered Tamil cinema when G. Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films offered him a chance to direct "Pagal Nilavu" (1985). The film had Murali and Revathi playing lead roles. It was different from his previous two films in that it included dance sequences and a "comedy track". The same year, he directed another Tamil film "Idaya Kovil", a romantic drama. He remodeled a ready made script on the lines of Charlie Chaplin's "Limelight" (1952). Despite being unsatisfied with the final product, the film was a major box-office success. The phase between 1983 and 1986 was the toughest of his career with only "Pallavi Anupallavi" feeling satisfactory; the other three completed with a lot of "compromises".

Breakthrough: 1986–1991.

In 1986, Mani directed the Tamil romantic drama "Mouna Ragam", which starred Revathi and Mohan. The film was critically acclaimed for portraying urban Tamils in a "realistic" manner. Specifically, it told the story of the friction between a newly-wed couple. The score by Ilaiyaraaja was appreciated and became popular upon release. "Mouna Raagam" was subsequently dubbed into Telugu under the same title and became a hit in Andhra Pradesh as well. The film elevated Mani's status as a director, and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 34th National Film Awards. He won his first Filmfare Award for directing the film.  In 1987, Mani directed "Nayakan" starring Kamal Haasan, and the film became a huge success and brought him recognition at the national level. Inspired by the 1972 American crime film, "The Godfather", the film was based on the real-life story of underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar, and tells the story of an orphaned slum-dweller and his rise to top of the Bombay underworld hierarchy. It was included in "Time" magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Movies in 2005. Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy and Guru Dutt's "Pyaasa" are the only other Indian films that have appeared in the list. Indian critics dubbed the film as India's answer to "The Godfather". "Nayakan" was both commercially successful and critically acclaimed winning three National Awards—Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction—at the 35th National Film Awards. The film was India's official entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.  Following these two commercial successes, Mani wrote and directed "Agni Natchathiram" in 1988. The film deals with the story of step-brothers played by Prabhu and Karthik and is notable for its use of new techniques in camera framework, especially during the songs. The film had a successful run in the box office.  In 1989, Telugu actor Nagarjuna requested Mani Ratnam to direct a Telugu film with him in the lead role, which Ratnam agreed to after initial reluctance. It remains the only Telugu film directed by Ratnam. The film "Geethanjali" which had Nagarjuna and Girija Shettar in the lead, told the story of an ill-fated couple, both of whom are suffering from terminal diseases. "Geethanjali" was critically acclaimed and won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment in 1990. In addition, it won the Best Director and Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for Mani. Mani maintained a momentum of making emotional stories of under-served people through the film "Anjali" in 1990, which starred Baby Shamili as the central character. The film which also had Raghuvaran and Revathy, told the story of an autistic child who changed the lives of people around her. The film proved to be a commercial success and was nominated as India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 63rd Academy Awards. Following "Anjali's" release, Mani later made another underworld-themed Tamil film, "Thalapathi" (1991), starring Rajinikanth and Mammootty. The film was loosely based on Mahabharata, dealt with the friendship between Karna and Duryodhana portrayed by Rajinikanth and Mammmooty respectively. The film met with both critical acclaim and commercial success upon release. Ilaiyaraaja's musical score and Mani's work were highly appreciated as they both went on to win the Music Director and Best Director awards respectively at the 39th Filmfare Awards.

National acclaim: 1992–99.

With "Thalapathi", Mani ended his long-term association with music director Ilaiyaraaja, bringing in debutant music director A. R. Rahman to score his Tamil classic "Roja" (1992). The venture was successful, earning Mani various awards. "Roja", a romantic film, was about terrorism in the Kashmir region. Starring Arvind Swamy and Madhoo, it was nominated for the Golden St. George Award at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. It became highly popular, gaining an iconic status in Indian cinema and was dubbed into other languages and met similar success in other regions. Mani took a more light-hearted approach with his next film—"Thiruda Thiruda" (1993). Scripted by Ram Gopal Varma, the film was a fun filled caper, which was a departure from Mani's previous style and fared moderately well at the box office. "Thiruda Thiruda" was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1994.  Mani again teamed up with Ram Gopal Varma to provide the screenplay for the latter's Telugu film "Gaayam", a socio-politico film loosely based on "The Godfather". In 1995, Mani returned to Tamil language drama through "Bombay" starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, which told the story of a Hindu-Muslim couple in the midst of the 1993 religious Bombay riots and bombings. It was also the first Indian film to focus on marriage between Hindu and Muslim people. The film met with controversy and censorship upon release. It was subsequently dubbed into Hindi where it gained commercial success and appreciation by critics. It won a number of awards, such as Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, Special Award from the Political Film Society, In the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival and the Gala Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.  Mani produced his wife's directorial debut film, "Indira", and then directed the critically successful "Iruvar" with Mohanlal, Aishwarya Rai, Tabu and Prakash Raj in the lead. "Iruvar" was awarded the Best Film at the "Festival of the Auteur Films" at the FEST film festival held in Belgrade. In 1998 came the third part of his "terrorism trilogy", named "Dil Se.." and starring Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, with the latter fabricating the second collaboration. It showed the relationship between a young man and a dangerous, disturbed woman. Although they fall in love, she is unable to take the romance further due to her bleak past. The soundtrack album, again composed by A. R. Rahman, gained mass appeal and gave Rahman his next Filmfare Award for Best Music Direction in 1999. Unlike his previous two projects, "Dil Se.." opened with little note among film critics and performed poorly in the domestic market, despite being a success overseas. It was screened in many international film festivals, and won the Netpac award (Ex-Aqueo) in the Berlin International Film Festival. The film over the years has achieved cult classic status.  In 2000, Mani directed the romantic drama "Alaipayuthey" that starred R. Madhavan and Shalini. The film focussed on marriage and explored relationships and their consequences, and garnered critical recognition. It was also screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.  Along with Vasanth, he was instrumental in organizing "Netru, Indru, Naalai", a stage musical that marked the first theatre production, with numerous other artistes, to aid The Banyan, an organization that rehabilitates women and children with mental illness.

"Kannathil Muthamittal" and onwards: 2002–2013.

Mani's next film, "Kannathil Muthamittal", dealt with the story of a child of Sri Lankan Tamil parentage adopted by Indian parents, who wishes to meet her biological mother during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The film was critically acclaimed and commercially successful, winning six National Film Awards, Filmfare Award for Best Direction in Tamil, In the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and an award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. In 2004, he made "Aayutha Ezhuthu", which tells the story of how one incident sends the lives of three youths on a collision course and received positive reviews. Mani made the film simultaneously in Hindi as "Yuva", his second venture into Bollywood. Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, and Vivek Oberoi replaced Surya Sivakumar, R. Madhavan, and Siddharth, respectively in the Hindi version. Unlike "Yuva", "Aayutha Ezhuthu" was appreciated by critics. Mani suffered his first heart attack while shooting "Aayutha Ezhuthu".  In 2007, Mani made "Guru", a biographical film based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, a business magnate from India. The film starred Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. The film, set in the early 1950s, became a box office success and received critical acclaim. Guru was screened at the Tous Les Cinemas du Monde (World Cinema) section of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, Mani worked on a bilingual film, titled "Raavanan" in Tamil where in the film look was unveiled at 2010 Cannes Film Festival, as part of its marketing campaign. and "Raavan" in Hindi. The Tamil version was dubbed into Telugu and titled "Villain". The film was released worldwide on 18 June 2010.  The film is loosely based on the Hindu epic Ramayana; its narrative occurs over 14 days when a revolutionist named Veera, who lives in a forest, kidnaps a policeman's wife to avenge his sister's death. The Tamil version received positive reviews from the critics compared to its other versions. The "New York Times" called the movie a "critics' pick". However, the reviewers of the Hindi version panned the film; Rajeev Masand said it was "a crushing bore of a film, a disappointment on virtually every count" The Tamil version was declared a box office success.  Mani's film, "Kadal" was released worldwide on 1 February 2013 to mixed reviews from critics and became a box office failure. Later the distributor of the film filed a police complaint against Mani on account of the huge losses suffered by him.

Comeback: 2015–present.

His next film, romantic drama "O Kadhal Kanmani" starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen as the lead pair, was released in April 2015. The cinematography and editing of the film was handled by P.C. Sreeram and A. Sreekar Prasad respectively, while music was scored by A. R. Rahman. The film depicted the life of a young couple in a live-in relationship in Mumbai, and was said to be a "reflection of the modern mindset of urban India", dealing with issues such as marriage and traditional values. Made at a small budget of 6 crores, the film achieved widespread critical acclaim and commercial success.  His next was "Kaatru Veliyidai", starring Karthi, Aditi Rao Hydari and RJ Balaji. The film, set in 1999 during the Kargil War, followed a pilot who, during his time as a prisoner of war, reflects on his failed love life. Kaatru Veliyidai was released on April 2017 to mixed reviews and received an average box office return.  After "Kattru Veliyadai", Ratnam's next film was the crime thriller "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam", starring Arvind Swami, Silambarasan, Arun Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi as the lead actors, while Jyothika, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aditi Rao Hydari and Dayana Erappa, Prakash Raj, Thiagarajan, and Mansoor Ali Khan rounded out the supporting cast. The film followed three children as they battled for complete power of their crime family following their father's unexpected demise. "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam" opened in September 2018 to positive reviews and was a box office success. His next project is confirmed to be "Ponniyin Selvan", based on the Indian epic written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The film thus far has an ensemble cast consisting of Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Aishwarya Rai, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Lal, and Ashwin Kakumanu, with Prabhu, Trisha and Sobhita Dhulipala also having reportedly signed on as well. The venture is jointly produced by Mani Ratnam and Subaskaran under their banners Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, the music is composed by A. R. Rahman, while Ravi Varman is the cinematographer and Sreekar Prasad is the editor."Ponniyin Selvan" is rumored to be a two-part film, with part one being released in 2021, while filming is set to commence in early 2020.

Craft, style, and technical collaborations.

Mani Ratnam grew up watching the films of K. Balachander, Guru Dutt and Sivaji Ganesan. He is greatly influenced by the film-making styles of Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Ingmar Bergman and J. Mahendran.  Unlike most of his contemporaries, Mani Ratnam did not assist anybody in film-making prior to entering the industry. A majority of his films are characterized by a string of socio-political themes. Because of his idea of combining art and commercial elements, most of his films garnered both critical acclaim and commercial success. "Nayakan", "Bombay" and "Iruvar" were inspired from real-life incidents, while "Thalapathi" and "Raavan" were based on Indian epics.  Mani Ratnam handled screenplays for a majority of his films. Lauded for his casting in each of his films, he claimed in an interview that "I am not a director who performs and shows. I discuss the role, the scene with my actors and let them bring life to it". Right from the beginning of his career, his works were noted for their technical expertise in areas such as cinematography, art direction, editing and background score. For his debut film, he managed to handpick Balu Mahendra, Thotta Tharani, B. Lenin, and Ilaiyaraaja, leading craftsmen in their respective fields. As his career progressed, he worked with his childhood friend P. C. Sreeram and continued his collaborations with him until "Geethanjali". In 1991 for his film "Thalapathi", he chose Santosh Sivan and Suresh Urs—both newcomers to the Tamil film industry—to do cinematography and editing respectively. Both would later go onto become a part of his regular crew. While working on "Raavan", Santosh Sivan noted "any cameraman can hone his skills just working with [Mani]" and described Mani Ratnam's films as difficult to film. From his debut project till "Thalapathi", Ilaiyaraaja was his regular composer. For his next film "Roja" (1992), he collaborated with debutant A. R. Rahman, who has been his regular composer for all his films till date. Among cinematographers, he has also worked with Madhu Ambat, Rajiv Menon, Ravi K. Chandran, V. Manikandan and Ravi Varman while switching between Sreeram and Santosh Sivan otherwise. Since "Alaipayuthey", Sreekar Prasad has been his regular film editor.

Awards and honours.

Mani is well recognized outside India with a retrospective of his films held at various film festivals around the world such as Toronto International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, Tokyo Filmex and Birmingham International Film Festival. His films are being screened regularly at many film festivals such as Venice Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Montreal Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.  The Government of India honoured Mani with Padma Shri in 2002. He has won several National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Awards South and state awards. Apart from these awards, many of his films have been screened at various film festivals and have won numerous accolades. "Geethanjali", directed by him won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film at the 37th National Film Awards. Other films like "Mouna Ragam", "Anjali", and "Kannathil Muthamittal" have won the Best Regional Film awards at the National Film Awards. Two of his films, "Roja" and "Bombay" have won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. The former was also nominated for Best Film category at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2010, Mani was honoured with Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. In July 2015, he was honoured with the Sun Mark Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival for his esteemed contribution to international cinema. Around the same time, the Museum of the Moving Image, New York City, paid a special tribute to Mani. His films "Roja", "Bombay", and "Dil Se" were screened at the museum as a retrospective.

Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), commonly known by his screen name Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Ratnam has won six National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.

Mani Ratnam, de son vrai nom Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam, né le à Madurai (Tamil Nadu), est un réalisateur, scénariste et producteur indien. Le choix de ses sujets, souvent ancrés dans la réalité sociale ou politique, et la qualité de ses réalisations alliés au respect des conventions du cinéma populaire, lui valurent la reconnaissance du grand public, des critiques et des plus grandes stars qui tournent volontiers avec lui. Sa façon de filmer, avec un esthétisme qui lui est propre, influence profondément le cinéma indien.


Plot.

Frustrated writer Max de Mirecourt (Albert Préjean) goes to Tunisia in search of inspiration for his next novel and meets a local girl named Alwina (Josephine Baker) whose personality intrigues him so greatly that he invents a character based on her for his newest (and'most exciting') novel. His relation with Alwina serves a dual purpose in that it also angers (or at least highly annoys) his wife Lucie (Germaine Aussey) who has been flirting with the Maharaja of Datane (Jean Galland) back in Paris. Max takes Alwina under his wing and teaches her the manners and social graces of a high-society princess. He then whisks her away to Paris and presents her as Princess Tam Tam from faraway Africa.  Lucie is further enraged by all the attention that Alwina receives, and after a friend sees Alwina dance provocatively in the sailors' bar, Lucie calls upon her Maharaja to craft a plan which will destroy her husband's relation with "the princess." The Maharaja throws a grand party, inviting the upper crust of Parisian society. Alwina is unable to resist the exotic music, and promptly joins the large, staged dance number, embarrassing Max – until he realizes that the entire audience is on their feet, applauding Alwina. Lucie is furious.  Lucie and Max forgive each other in the end and fall in love again, Alwina returns to Tunisia after the frustrating realization that, as the Maharaja puts it, "Some windows face to the West, and the others to the East." Ultimately, however, the entire European affair is revealed to be little more than an enactment of Max's novel-in-progress. Alwina never does go to Europe, and the primary events of the film are simply a staging of how Max has imagined them. Alwina is given Max's Tunisian estate, and Max's new novel is a success. The title of his new work is "Civilisation." When asked about Alwina while back in Europe, Max states that she is "better where she is."  The film closes with a scene of Alwina and Dar back in Tunisia with their newborn child, with farm animals strewn about Max's mansion. In the final shot, a donkey eats the title page of "Civilisation" off Max's (now Alwina's) floor.

Cast.

Cast note:

Production.

The African scenes in "Princess Tam Tam" were filmed on location in Tunisia. The Eastman House restored the film in 1989.

Reception.

Although the film had a premiere in New York City, the Hollywood censors of the Hays Office refused to pass the film, which prevented it from being shown in the most theatres in rest of the country, although it did play independent theatres which catered to African-American audiences.

Poster.

On 4 February 2010, Swann Galleries set an auction record for Svend Koppel's poster for the film at $9,000. The image, "Josephine Baker / Prinsesse Tam-Tam", from 1935, was later used by the United States Postal Service on a postage stamp.

Princess Tam Tam is a 1935 French black-and-white film which stars Josephine Baker as a local Tunisian girl who is educated and then introduced to Parisian high society. Baker sings two songs, "Dream Ship" and "Neath the Tropical Blue Skies", in the film, and dances a number of times.

Princesse Tam Tam est un film français en noir et blanc réalisé par Edmond T. Gréville, sorti en 1935. Dans le rôle principal, Joséphine Baker joue une jeune fille tunisienne introduite dans la bonne société parisienne. Elle chante deux chansons dans ce film co écrit par son compagnon et mentor, Pepito Abattino, qui s'inspire du thème de Pygmalion et Galatée.


Films.

Born in Shanghai, Lou was educated at the Beijing Film Academy. In 1993, he made his first film "Weekend Lover", but it was not released until two years later, having its world premiere at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg where it received the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Award. Between completion and premiere of "Weekend Lover" he made and released "Don't Be Young", a thriller about a girl who takes her nightmares as real, in 1994. Lou, however, did not gain international prominence until his third film, the neo-noir "Suzhou River". That film dealt with questions of identity and proved quite controversial upon its release in China. Upon its release, international audiences praised "Suzhou River", which several critics felt evoked Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo", particularly in how both films focus on a man obsessed with a mysterious woman.  In 2003 Lou released "Purple Butterfly" starring Zhang Ziyi. The film is a tale of revenge and betrayal taking place during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, with a complex narrative structure borrowing heavily from film noir traditions.  Lou's next film, "Summer Palace" (2006), a story of two lovers in the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, again brought Lou into conflict with Chinese authorities, resulting in a five-year ban for both him and his producer. In order to circumvent the ban, his next film, "Spring Fever", was shot surreptitiously in Nanjing and registered as a Hong Kong-French coproduction to avoid censors. The film was shown in competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival where writer Mei Feng won the Best Screenplay award.  In 1998, Lou, along with actress Nai An (who had starred in his first two films, and would go on to star in "Suzhou River") started the production company Dream Factory, which would go on to produce all of Lou's films.

Censorship Issues.

Lou Ye's films have proven controversial in their content, and often deal with issues of sexuality, gender, and obsession. Government censors banned his first film "Weekend Lover" for two years, while his breakout film "Suzhou River" is still banned (with Lou receiving a 2-year ban from filmmaking).  Later, after Lou submitted "Summer Palace" to the 2006 Cannes Film Festival without approval from Chinese censors, he was banned from film-making again, this time for five years. The film itself was also banned, though according to Lou this was because it was not up to the SARFT's standards for picture and sound quality.  In 2016, Lou's "The Shadow Play" wrapped the shooting. The film deals with Forced evictions, demonstration by residents and violent scenes, e.g., killing and body burning. Hong Kong actor Edison Chen also performed in this film. Therefore, the film couldn't get permission for screening for more than two years. In 2018, the film finally made its world premiere in Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival.

Lou Ye (), born 1965, is a Chinese screenwriter-director who is commonly grouped with the "Sixth Generation" directors of Chinese cinema.

Lou Ye (chinois simplifié : ; chinois traditionnel : ; pinyin : Lóu Yè), né à Shanghai en 1965, est un réalisateur, scénariste et producteur chinois. Il fait partie de la « sixième génération » de réalisateur chinois (avec Jia Zhangke, Wang Chao, Zhang Yuan, Wang Xiaoshuai)


Club career.

Addo started his career in 1991 in Hamburg, but failed to make an impression there. He then moved to Hannover 96 in the "Regionalliga Nord" (third German league). He made a big impression in a squad that featured stars-to-be Gerald Asamoah and Fabian Ernst. That team ripped through the season scoring more than 100 goals, but succumbed to Energie Cottbus in the 1997 promotion playoffs.  In 1998, Hannover finally promoted to the Second Bundesliga. In his first season, he scored seven goals in 30 games and was acknowledged as one of the elite players of the league. He then transferred to Borussia Dortmund in 1999 and played more than 75 times for the team, becoming German champion in 2002. However, he was also hampered by great injury troubles, as he tore his cruciate ligaments three times in this time, the first coming after a German Cup match against SC Freiburg on 15 July 2001. The player had an MRI scan which showed he had torn knee ligaments and underwent surgery on his right knee on 22 July at the Vail, Colorado clinic of world-renowned knee specialist surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman. He healed completely after that, and came back to play the 2002 UEFA Cup Final for Dortmund against Feyenoord Rotterdam on 8 May 2002, which Dortmund lost 3–2 at the Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam. On 7 September 2002, Addo tore right knee ligaments for the second time, in a 2004 African Cup of Nations qualifier versus Uganda in Kampala.  On 24 September 2003, Addo's career was under threat after he re-injured his troublesome right knee for the third time in Dortmund's 2–1 UEFA Cup victory over Austria Vienna. He started the match, but was replaced after just 38 minutes.  After sitting out the whole of 2004, Addo returned to action as a substitute in Dortmund's 1–1 league home draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the last weekend of January 2005. At the beginning of the 2005–06 season he transferred to FSV Mainz 05, for whom he did not make an initial impact. However, he played well enough to earn a nomination for the Ghanaian squad who appeared at the 2006 World Cup.  On 9 August 2007, Addo signed a three-year contract with hometown Hamburger SV, initially alternating with the reserves and the first team. While at Hamburg, Addo revealed his Hamburger goals in an interview with HSVLIVE, also addressing other topics.

International career.

Although born in Germany, Addo played for Ghana for seven years commencing 1999, his debut being a 5–0 rout of Eritrea on 28 February 1999, and he achieved international prominence when he led the nation in the 2000 African Cup of Nations. Along with Hans Sarpei from VfL Wolfsburg, he is one of two Ghanaians with German roots to have played for the African side. He started for Ghana as right midfielder in the 2006 FIFA World Cup game against the Czech Republic on 17 June 2006 at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, which Ghana won 2–0. In 2006 he played in Ghana's 2–1 win over the United States at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg.

Coaching career.

In December 2013, Addo was appointed as the head scout of the Ghana national football team and prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, succeeding Ibrahim Tanko following the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.  In April 2019, it was announced that Addo would work for former club Borussia Dortmund as a 'talent coach', having previously held a similar role at Borussia Mönchengladbach since 2017.

Playing style.

Addo was strong in one-on-one situations, physical, creative, and versatile enough to play on both wings, on the inside and also in the central position, although his main skill was his ability to dribble the ball.

Honours.

Club.

Borussia Dortmund

Otto Addo (born 9 June 1975 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a scout and manager, and a retired Ghanaian-German footballer who played for Ghana internationally. He is currently the assistant manager of Borussia Dortmund.

Otto Addo, né le à Hambourg (Allemagne), est un footballeur ghanéen. Il jouait au poste de milieu de terrain avec l'équipe du Ghana. Il mesure.


Background.

Alfred Brian Peckford was born in Whitbourne, Newfoundland on August 27, 1942, and was raised in the communities of Whitbourne, Marystown, and Lewisporte. He earned a Bachelor of Education degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and has completed postgraduate work in English Literature, Education, Psychology, and French Literature. Prior to entering politics, he was a high school teacher in rural Newfoundland.

Politics.

Peckford was the Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate in the district of Green Bay in the 1972 provincial election. The PC Party won a majority government in the election and Peckford was narrowly elected in his district over the Liberal candidate. In 1973 he was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Premier Frank Moores and the following year he was sworn into cabinet as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. In the 1975 general election Peckford won 70 percent of the popular vote in his district, defeating the Liberal and New Democratic Party candidates. The PC Party won its second majority government under the leadership of Moores and Peckford remained the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The following year Moores shuffled his cabinet and Peckford was appointed Minister of Mines and Energy; and Rural and Northern Development.

Mines and Energy Minister.

Peckford was appointed Minister of Mines and Energy on September 9, 1976, replacing John Crosbie who was leaving provincial politics to run federally. The offshore oil industry was seen as a bright spot in the economic outlook for the province. As the minister responsible Peckford fought hard for provincial control over the emerging industry. Oil companies suspended offshore drilling in 1977 in protest, but after some compromises were made the oil companies eventually accepted the Newfoundland terms, which aimed to maximize local economic benefits and minimize social and environmental disruption. Oil companies would start drilling once again in 1978 under the province's term. One of the terms arranged was that oil companies would be responsible for paying the cost of training local people to work in the industry. The companies had the choice of spending the money themselves on training and researching or paying it into the provincial treasury. Peckford said he pushed for these terms with oil companies after seeing resource give aways in the mining sector as well as the Upper Churchill Falls hydroelectric deal. While Peckford was able to negotiate an agreement with oil companies over drilling in the continental shelf, the province was engaged in ownership dispute with the federal Liberal government over offshore petroleum resources. However, this dispute was not settled until after Peckford became premier.

Premier.

On January 19, 1979, Moores announced he was stepping down as premier of the province and leaving politics. Even before announcing his leadership bid Peckford was mentioned as a likely frontrunner to succeed Moores. 10 people ran for the leadership of the party at its March 17, 1979, convention. Out of those 10, Peckford along with Leo Barry, Walter Carter and William Doody were seen as the candidates who had a serious shot at winning. Peckford was still considered by some media as the frontrunner and had racked up the most cabinet and caucus support. At the convention he led on the first two ballots and was elected leader over Carter and Doody on the third and final ballot.  At 36 years of age Peckford became the youngest first minister in Newfoundland's history and one of the few members of the political elite from a working-class outport background. Liberal leader Bill Rowe challenged Peckford to call an election immediately, however Peckford announced he would wait several months before calling one and would first bring down a budget, introduce new legislation, and overhaul the rules of procedure in the legislature. On May 25, 1979, the legislature was dissolved with an election called for June 18. The election was called after Rowe had announced a Liberal leadership convention for July 6–7, due to party dissension over his leadership. While Rowe had planned on contesting the leadership himself he stepped aside and the Liberals installed Liberal MP Don Jamieson as leader two days after the election was called. Prior to Moores' resignation an opinion poll showed the Liberals leading the Progressive Conservatives, however no formal polls were conducted during the election campaign. On election day Peckford led his party to its third straight majority government, they won 50 percent of the popular vote and 33 of the 52 seats in the House of Assembly. The Liberals won 41 percent of the vote and 19 seats, the NL NDP won 8 percent of the vote but no seats.  Resource management dominated Peckford's ten years as Premier of Newfoundland, particularly offshore oil, the fisheries, and hydroelectric developments. In all three areas, Peckford hoped to wrestle control from outside interests to secure greater revenues for the province. He argued this would end Newfoundland and Labrador's status as the poorest province in the country. His government tried to renegotiate the Upper Churchill contract with Hydro Quebec, which had been signed by Premier Joey Smallwood in 1969. The deal sold cheap power to Hydro Quebec for 65 years with no allowances for inflation or revision. The province launched two legal battles over the deal but the Supreme Court of Canada ruled twice in Quebec's favour, in 1984 and 1988. The Peckford government sought to develop power on the Lower Churchill River, but could not secure a transmission route through Quebec into lucrative American and Canadian markets.  Although the fisheries remained vital to the economy of rural Newfoundland, they fell under federal jurisdiction. Ottawa determined fish quotas, distributed trawler licenses, and set all other aspects of fisheries policy. During the 1982 constitutional negotiations Peckford tried to acquire greater provincial control of the fisheries, but was unable to get enough support from other premiers. Peckford argued the province had a historic and moral right to the fisheries and the government did its best to influence federal fisheries policy. When the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans issued licenses to three factory freezer trawlers in 1985, Peckford declared it a "disaster of monumental proportions." Overfishing continued to be an issue, and decisions made by Peckford's own administration did not help matters. Just three years after he left office cod stocks collapsed and the federal government announced a cod moratorium, which is still in effect in 2012.  After securing deals with oil companies regarding offshore exploration, he battled with Ottawa over ownership of the oil. The Peckford administration had tried to negotiate an agreement with Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government over ownership, but were unsuccessful. With the two governments unable to come to an agreement the dispute was sent to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1982. The Peckford and Trudeau governments were that far apart on their views that Peckford hinted that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians might take a more radical stance, similar to the Quebec separatists, if the courts ruled against them.  During his heated dispute with the federal government Peckford called an election for April 6, 1982, hoping to regain a mandate to continue his tough stance with Ottawa and renegotiate the Upper Churchill contract with Quebec. The Liberals, led by Len Stirling, disagreed with Peckford's aggressive stances and campaigned on a slogan of "Make Work Not War". On election night Peckford led his party to victory again, winning 61 percent of the vote and 44 of the 52 seats in the House of Assembly. Only eight Liberals were elected and Stirling was defeated in his own riding of Bonavista North. During his election victory speech Peckford stated that "I am more convinced than I have any time in the past that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians speak [with] one voice when we all say one day the sun will shine and have-not will be no more", words that went on to become a household phrase in the province.  In March 1984 the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government owned the right to develop minerals on the continental shelf off Canada's coast. Peckford shifted his efforts to gaining joint management and most of the revenues from offshore oil resources and embarked on a cross-Canada tour to drum up support for the province's position. In the September 4, 1984, federal election Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative Party won a large majority government. Prior to the election Mulroney had agreed to a fair deal for the province with regards to offshore energy resources. On February 11, 1985, less than six months since Mulroney's election victory, both levels of government signed the Atlantic Accord. The Accord granted Newfoundland and Labrador significant decision-making powers and financial benefits. It made the federal and provincial governments equal partners in the management of offshore developments through the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board. The Accord was widely hailed as a success for the Peckford administration and a turning point for the provincial economy.  Weeks after signing the Atlantic Accord, Peckford announced that an election would be held on April 2, 1985. He self-proclaimed himself the "Great Negotiator" for the Atlantic Accord but during the election he was hounded by teachers and public service employees who were upset with the two year government-imposed wage freeze. Fraser March, the president of the Newfoundland Public Employees Association, had pledged to campaign against "every Tory in the province". A poll released just days before the vote showed the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals were tied at 41.5 percent outside St. John's, while Peckford's Tories led in the capital city. However, the Progressive Conservatives won 49 per cent of the popular vote on election night, compared to 37 percent for the Liberals and 14 percent for the NDP.  Although resource development dominated Peckford's time as premier his government is responsible for a number of things that have shaped Newfoundland and Labrador. After his party was re-elected in 1979 Peckford appointed Lynn Verge and Hazel Newhook to cabinet, they became the first women to serve as Cabinet Ministers in the province. Peckford also brought in the first pay equity policy, established the first Status of Women Council, and in 1983 appointed Margaret Cameron as the province's first woman Supreme Court justice. In 1980 the new provincial flag, his government is responsible for the Department of Environment, they brought in grade 12 to the high school curriculum, and started construction on the Trans-Labrador Highway. In 1987 the Peckford government partnered with Phillip Sprung to construct a hydroponic greenhouse complex on the St. John's-Mount Pearl border. While the greenhouses were supposed to create jobs, tap into a profitable export market, and supply local consumers with fresh and affordable vegetables year-round, they ended up being an economic disaster. The government poured $22 million into the project and it went bankrupt only two years later. The credibility of Peckford and the Progressive Conservatives had been hurt by the project. On January 21, 1989, he announced he was leaving politics, Tom Rideout was chosen as his successor in March, and the PC Party was defeated in the provincial election the following month by the Liberals.

Post-political life.

Peckford became a business consultant and has sat on numerous boards since leaving politics including the board of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1990s. He relocated to British Columbia in the early 1990s and in 1998 was appointed to lead a one-person inquiry into the state of Fraser River salmon stocks and fishery management.  In 2008, he was appointed chair of a federal government–appointed expert panel to review federal chronic disease policy, especially diabetes, and to present a report to the federal Health minister. He is currently a director of Strongbow Exploration Inc., a public junior mining company. He has also been an advisor to the British Columbia Conservative Party, co-chairing the party's issues management committee. Peckford and his wife currently live in Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island.

Alfred Brian Peckford, PC (born August 27, 1942) is a Canadian politician who served as the third Premier of Newfoundland between March 26, 1979, and March 22, 1989. Peckford was born and raised in Whitbourne; before entering politics he worked as a teacher.

Alfred Brian Peckford (né le ) est un ancien enseignant, homme politique et premier ministre de la province canadienne de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador.


Life.

Born at the Louvre Palace, she was loved by her parents despite their inevitable disappointment that she was not the male heir for which they hoped. She was baptised almost four months later, on 2 February 1573 in Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Despite the religious and political controversy stemming from the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (which had occurred only two months before her birth), one of her godmothers was the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England, who sent William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester as her proxy for the ceremony. Her other godmother and namesake was her maternal grandmother, the Holy Roman Empress, and her godfather was Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy. She was raised under the supervision of her governess, Isabelle de Crissé.  When Marie Elisabeth was less than two years old her father, King Charles IX, died and her uncle became Henry III of France. Hardly a year later, her mother returned to Vienna after Maximilian II repaid her dowry, while Marie Elisabeth, as a Daughter of France, remained behind. She was less than three years old. Mother and daughter said their farewells at the Château d'Amboise on 28 August 1575, never to see each other again.  Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme (whose aunt, Madame Crissé, was Marie Elisabeth's governess) describes the princess in his writings. He reports that she was pretty but also unusually intelligent and eager to learn, at times seeming more like an adult than a child. She memorised the names of her ancestors, both Valois and Habsburg, and would proudly tell everyone that she belonged to both of those great royal houses.  Dynastically, Marie Elisabeth was important because she was the only Valois grandchild of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, despite their having raised four sons to adulthood. Had Marie Elisabeth been male, she would have been heir to the throne of France and, had she lived long enough, might have continued the House of Valois into a new generation, and prevented some of the subsequent wars over the succession and religion. Even as a female ("i.e.", barred by Salic law from inheriting the throne in her own right), as both the representative of the House of Valois and as a member of the House of Habsburg, she might have played a role in alleviating the succession crisis through her own marriage, possibly even becoming Queen consort of France. Thus her early death was an indirect contributory cause of at least some of the strife that followed during her uncle Henry's reign and after his death.  Marie Elisabeth resided firstly in Amboise and Blois, but later she was moved to Paris. Apparently of frail health, she died on 2 April 1578 at the Hôtel d’Anjou, aged only five and a half years. She was deeply mourned by the court, despite her youth, for her kindness, grace, and softness. Eight days later, on 10 April, she was buried in a vault of the Basilica of Saint Denis, next to her father.  On 17 October 1793 her tomb was desecrated by the revolutionaries and her remains were thrown into a common grave. In 1817 she was reinterred in the Basilica's Ossuary.

Marie Elisabeth of France (27 October 1572 – 2 April 1578), was a French princess and member of the House of Valois.

Un Landeshauptmann (au féminin : Landeshauptfrau, au pluriel : Landeshauptleute) est le chef du gouvernement d'un Land autrichien, ainsi que des provinces autonomes italiennes de Bolzano et de Trente.


Structure.

Variations.

The number of dorsal vertebrae to which it is attached varies from four to eight; the number of costal attachments varies; muscle fibers may or may not reach the crest of the ilium.  A muscular slip, the axillary arch, varying from 7 to 10 cm in length, and from 5 to 15 mm in breadth, occasionally springs from the upper edge of the latissimus dorsi about the middle of the posterior fold of the axilla, and crosses the axilla in front of the axillary vessels and nerves, to join the under surface of the tendon of the pectoralis major, the coracobrachialis, or the fascia over the biceps brachii. This axillary arch crosses the axillary artery, just above the spot usually selected for the application of a ligature, and may mislead a surgeon. It is present in about 7% of the population and may be easily recognized by the transverse direction of its fibers. Guy "et al." extensively described this muscular variant using MRI data and positively correlated its presence with symptoms of neurological impingement.  A fibrous slip usually passes from the upper border of the tendon of the Latissimus dorsi, near its insertion, to the long head of the triceps brachii. This is occasionally muscular, and is the representative of the dorsoepitrochlearis brachii of apes. This muscular form is found in ~5% of humans and is sometimes termed the latissimocondyloideus.  The latissimus dorsi crosses the inferior angle of the scapula. A study found that, of 100 cadavers dissected:

Nerve supply.

The latissimus dorsi is innervated by the sixth, seventh, and eighth cervical nerves through the thoracodorsal (long subscapular) nerve. Electromyography suggests that it consists of six groups of muscle fibres that can be independently coordinated by the central nervous system.

Function.

The latissimus dorsi assists in depression of the arm with the teres major and pectoralis major. It adducts, extends, and internally rotates the shoulder. When the arms are in a fixed overhead position, the latissimus dorsi pulls the trunk upward and forward.  It has a synergistic role in extension (posterior fibers) and lateral flexion (anterior fibers) of the lumbar spine, and assists as a muscle of both forced expiration (anterior fibers) and an accessory muscle of inspiration (posterior fibers).  Most latissimus dorsi exercises concurrently recruit the teres major, posterior fibres of the deltoid, long head of the triceps brachii, among numerous other stabilizing muscles. Compound exercises for the 'lats' typically involve elbow flexion and tend to recruit the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis for this function. Depending on the line of pull, the trapezius muscles can be recruited as well; horizontal pulling motions such as rows recruit both latissimus dorsi and trapezius heavily.

Training.

The power/size/strength of this muscle can be trained with a variety of different exercises. Some of these include:

Clinical significance.

Tight latissimus dorsi has been shown to be a contributor to chronic shoulder pain and chronic back pain. Because the latissimus dorsi connects the spine to the humerus, tightness in this muscle can manifest as either sub-optimal glenohumeral joint (shoulder) function which leads to chronic pain or tendinitis in the tendinous fasciae connecting the latissimus dorsi to the thoracic and lumbar spine.  The latissimus dorsi is a potential source of muscle for breast reconstruction surgery after mastectomy (e.g. Mannu flap) or to correct pectoral hypoplastic defects such as Poland's syndrome. An absent or hypoplastic latissimus dorsi can be one of the associated symptoms of Poland's syndrome.

Cardiac support.

For heart patients with low cardiac output and who are not candidates for cardiac transplantation, a procedure called "cardiomyoplasty" may support the failing heart. This procedure involves wrapping the latissimus dorsi muscles around the heart and electrostimulating them in synchrony with ventricular systole.

Injury.

Injuries to the latissimus dorsi are rare. They occur disproportionately in baseball pitchers. Diagnosis can be achieved by visualization of the muscle and movement testing. MRI of the shoulder girdle will confirm the diagnosis. Muscle belly injuries are treated with rehabilitation while tendon avulsion injuries can be treated surgically, or with rehab. Regardless of treatment, patients tend to return to play without any functional losses.

The latissimus dorsi () is a large, flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides, behind the arm, and is partly covered by the trapezius on the back near the midline. The word latissimus dorsi (plural: "latissimi dorsi") comes from Latin and means "broadest [muscle] of the back", from "latissimus" ()' and "dorsum" (). The pair of muscles are commonly known as "lats", especially among bodybuilders. The latissimus dorsi is the largest muscle in the upper body.

Le muscle grand dorsal est un muscle de la loge postérieure de l'épaule, et du tronc, agissant sur le membre thoracique.


Description.

"Glischrochilus" are oblong shiny black beetles with attractive yellow, red, or orange markings on their elytra. Their elytra are short and expose the upper surface of their last abdominal segment(s), a good way to distinguish them from the superficially similar but generally larger "Megalodacne" beetles. They are so similar that some species of "Glischrochilus" were once classified along with "Megalodacne" under the now reclassified genus "Ips".  Like other nitulidid beetles, adult "Glischrochilus" can be distinguished from other kinds of sap-feeding beetles by their characteristic 11-segmented antennae that end with a 3-segmented ball-like club. "Glischrochilus" are among the largest of the nitulidid beetles, but they are still generally smaller in comparison to other beetles, averaging at only in length, with larger specimens at long.  "Glischrochilus" eggs are sausage-shaped and milky white. Eggs are laid during spring near decaying plant matter. Larvae are about long and feed for three weeks on fermenting juices and then pupate. It takes a little over a month for picnic beetles to develop from egg to adult and only one generation is produced each year.

Ecology.

"Glischrochilus" beetles from the subgenus "Librodor", consisting the majority of species in the genus, feed on exuding sap from injured trees and decaying vegetable or fungal matter. They are also attracted to ripening fruits, as well as beer, vinegar, wine, fruit juice and fermenting beverages. They frequently drown as they feed, rendering these liquids unsuitable for consumption. They congregate in large numbers when such beverages are present, often ruining picnics and outdoor gatherings like barbecues, earning them their common names of 'picnic beetles', 'picnic bugs', or 'beer bugs'. Researchers who wish to attract the bugs use bait that contains beer, molasses, vinegar, pineapple and other ingredients.  "Glischrochilus" beetles from the subgenus "Glischrochilus" on the other hand are facultative and obligatory predators of soft invertebrates (including insect larvae) living under tree barks.  Species from both subgenera are found in North America and Eurasia.  "Glischrochilus" are also known to be involved in the transmission of the plant pathogenic fungi "Ceratocystis" and "Fusarium". They are also considered pests of certain fruit and vegetable crops like strawberries, corn, tomatoes, apricot, muskmelons, raspberries, and peaches. They normally only become a problem when fruits are damaged or are overripe and beginning to ferment. They are difficult to control as they are primarily attracted to the odor of food. Methods of control include scent baits and removing damaged or overripe fruits.

Taxonomy.

"Glischrochilus" belongs to the subfamily Cryptarchinae under the tribe Cryptarchini. It contains two subgenera, "" and "".  They were first described by the German entomologist Edmund Reitter in 1873. The name "Glischrochilus" is derived from the Greek words'(sticky) and (', lip).

List of species.

The following list may be incomplete or inaccurate:

Glischrochilus (sometimes misspelled as Glisrochilus) is a genus of sap-feeding and predatory beetles under the family Nitidulidae, subfamily Cryptarchinae. Most members of this genus are commonly known as picnic beetles or beer bugs.

Glischrochilus (glischro = collante, chilus (cheilus) = lèvres) est un genre de coléoptères se nourrissant de sève, de la famille des Nitidulidae et de la sous-famille des Cryptarchinae.


Development.

State of the Luftwaffe fighter arm.

Through 1943 the U.S. 8th Air Force and German "Luftwaffe" entered a period of rapid evolution as both forces attempted to gain an advantage. Having lost too many fighters to the bombers' defensive guns, the Germans invested in a series of heavy weapons that allowed them to attack from outside the American guns' effective range. The addition of heavy cannons like the 30mm calibre MK 108, and even heavier "Bordkanone" autoloading weapons in 37mm and 50mm calibres on their "Zerstörer" heavy fighters, and the spring-1943 adoption of the "Werfer-Granate 21" unguided rockets, gave the German single and twin-engined defensive fighters a degree of firepower never seen previously by Allied fliers. Meanwhile, the single-engine aircraft like specially equipped Fw 190As added armor to protect their pilots from Allied bombers' defensive fire, allowing them to approach to distances where their heavy weapons could be used with some chance of hitting the bombers. All of this added greatly to the weight being carried by both the single and twin-engine fighters, seriously affecting their performance.  When the 8th Air Force re-opened its bombing campaign in early 1944 with the Big Week offensive, the bombers returned to the skies with the long-range P-51 Mustang in escort. Unencumbered with the heavy weapons needed to down a bomber, the Mustangs (and longer-ranged versions of other aircraft) were able to fend off the "Luftwaffe" with relative ease. The "Luftwaffe" responded by changing tactics, forming in front of the bombers and making a single pass through the formations, giving the defense little time to react. The 8th Air Force responded with a change of its own, after Major General Jimmy Doolittle had ordered a change in fighter tactics earlier in 1944, amounting to an air supremacy entry into German airspace far ahead of the bombers' combat box formations – when at the end of April, Doolittle added additional directives allowing the fighters, following the bombers' flight back home to England, to roam freely over Germany and hit the Luftwaffe's defensive fighters wherever they could be found.  This change in tactics resulted in a sudden increase in the rate of irreplaceable losses to the Luftwaffe day fighter force, as their heavily laden aircraft were "bounced" long before reaching the bombers. Within weeks, many of their aces were dead, along with hundreds of other pilots, and the training program could not replace their casualties quickly enough. The Luftwaffe put up little fight during the summer of 1944, allowing the Allied landings in France to go almost unopposed from the air. With few planes coming up to fight, Allied fighters were let loose on the German airbases, railways and truck traffic. Logistics soon became a serious problem for the Luftwaffe, as maintaining aircraft in fighting condition became almost impossible. Getting enough fuel was even more difficult because of a devastating campaign against German petroleum industry targets.

Origins.

Addressing this posed a considerable problem for the Luftwaffe. Two camps quickly developed, both demanding the immediate introduction of large numbers of jet fighter aircraft. One group, led by General Adolf Galland, the Inspector of Fighters, reasoned that superior numbers had to be countered with superior technology, and demanded that all possible effort be put into increasing the production of the Messerschmitt Me 262 in its A-1a fighter version, even if that meant reducing production of other aircraft in the meantime.  The second group pointed out that this would likely do little to address the problem; the Me 262 had notoriously unreliable powerplants and landing gear, and the existing logistics problems would mean there would merely be more of them on the ground waiting for parts that would never arrive, or for fuel that was not available. Instead, they suggested that a new design be built – one so inexpensive that if a machine was damaged or worn out, it could simply be discarded and replaced with a fresh plane straight off the assembly line. Thus was born the concept of the "throwaway fighter".  Galland and other Luftwaffe senior officers expressed vehement opposition to the light fighter idea, while "Reichsmarschall" Hermann Göring and Armaments Minister Albert Speer fully supported the idea. Göring and Speer got their way, and a contract tender for a single-engine jet fighter that was suited for cheap and rapid mass production was established under the name "Volksjäger" ("People's Fighter").

Volksjäger.

The official RLM "Volksjäger" design competition parameters specified a single-seat fighter, powered by a single BMW 003, a slightly lower-thrust engine not in demand for either the Me 262 or the Ar 234, already in service. The main structure of the "Volksjäger" competing airframe designs would use cheap and unsophisticated parts made of wood and other non-strategic materials and, more importantly, could be assembled by semi- and non-skilled labor, including slave labor. Specifications included a weight of no more than, with maximum speed specified as 750 km/h (470 mph) at sea level, operational endurance at least a half hour, and the takeoff run no more than 500 m (1,640 ft). Armament was specified as either two MG 151/20 cannons with 100 rounds each, or two MK 108 cannons with 50 rounds each. The "Volksjäger" needed to be easy to fly. Some suggested even glider or student pilots should be able to fly the jet effectively in combat, and indeed had the "Volksjäger" gone into full production, that is precisely what would have happened. After the war, Ernst Heinkel would say, "[The] unrealistic notion that this plane should be a 'people's fighter,' in which the Hitler Youth, after a short training regimen with clipped-wing two-seater gliders like the DFS "Stummel-Habicht", could fly for the defense of Germany, displayed the unbalanced fanaticism of those days." The clipped-wingspan DFS Habicht models had varying wingspans of both or, and were used to prepare more experienced "Luftwaffe" pilots for the dangerous Me 163B "Komet" rocket fighter – the same sort of training approach would also be used for the Hitler Youth aviators chosen to fly the jet-powered "Volksjäger" design competition's winning airframe design.  The requirement was issued 10 September 1944, with basic designs to be returned within 10 days and to start large-scale production by 1 January 1945. Because the winner of the new lightweight fighter design competition would be building huge numbers of the planes, nearly every German aircraft manufacturer expressed interest in the project, such as Blohm & Voss, and Focke-Wulf, whose Focke-Wulf Volksjäger 1 design contender, likewise meant for BMW 003 turbojet power bore a resemblance to their slightly later Ta 183 "Huckebein" jet fighter design. However, Heinkel had already been working on a series of "paper projects" for light single-engine fighters over the last year under the designation P.1073, with most design work being completed by Professor Benz, and had gone so far as to build and test several models and conduct some wind tunnel testing.  Although some of the competing designs were technically superior (in particular to the Blohm & Voss P 211 submission), with Heinkel's head start the outcome was largely a foregone conclusion. The results of the competition were announced in October 1944, only three weeks after being announced, and to no one's surprise, the Heinkel entry was selected for production. In order to confuse Allied intelligence, the RLM chose to reuse the 8-162 airframe designation (formerly that of a Messerschmitt fast bomber) rather than the other considered designation He 500.

Design.

Heinkel had designed a relatively small,'sporty'-looking aircraft, with a sleek, streamlined fuselage. Overall, the look of the plane was extremely modernistic for its time, appearing quite contemporary in terms of layout and angular arrangement even to today's eyes. The BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet was mounted in a pod nacelle uniquely situated atop the fuselage, just aft of the cockpit and centered directly over the wing's center section. Twin roughly rectangular vertical tailfins were perpendicularly mounted at the ends of highly dihedralled horizontal tailplanes – possessing dihedral of some 14o apiece – to clear the jet exhaust, a high-mounted straight wing (attached to the fuselage with just four bolts) with a forward-swept trailing edge and a noticeably marked degree of dihedral, with an ejection seat provided for the pilot – which the Heinkel firm had pioneered in a front-line combat aircraft, with the earlier He 219 night fighter in 1942. The He 162 airframe design featured an uncomplicated tricycle landing gear, the first such landing gear system to be present from the very start in any operational Axis Powers single-engined fighter design, that retracted into the fuselage, performed simply with extension springs, mechanical locks, cables and counterweights, and a minimum of any hydraulics employed in its design – a window in the lower forward cockpit area, between the rudder pedals, allowed for visual checking of the nosegear's retraction operation. Partly due to the late-war period it was designed within, some of the He 162's landing gear components were "recycled" existing landing gear components from a contemporary German military aircraft to save development time: the main landing gear's oleo struts and wheel/brake units came from the Messerschmitt Bf 109K, as well as the double-acting hydraulic cylinders, one per side, used to raise and lower each maingear leg. The Heinkel firm's previous experience with designing flightworthy, retractable tricycle undercarriage-equipped airframes extended as far back as late 1939 with the Heinkel He 280 jet fighter prototype, and further strengthened with the unexpectedly successful Heinkel He 219A night fighter, which also used a tricycle undercarriage.  The He 162 V1 first prototype flew within an astoundingly short period of time: the design was chosen on 25 September 1944 and first flew on 6 December, less than 90 days later. This was despite the fact that the factory in Wuppertal making Tego film plywood glue — used in a substantial number of late-war German aviation designs whose airframes and/or major airframe components were meant to be constructed mostly from wood — had been bombed by the Royal Air Force and a replacement had to be quickly substituted, without realizing that the replacement adhesive was highly acidic and would disintegrate the wooden parts it was intended to be fastening.  The first flight of the He 162 V1, by "Flugkapitän" Gotthold Peter – the first German jet fighter aircraft design to be jet-powered from its maiden flight onward – was fairly successful, but during a high-speed run at 840 km/h (520 mph), the highly acidic replacement glue attaching the nose gear strut door failed and the pilot was forced to land. Other problems were noted as well, notably a pitch instability and problems with sideslip due to the rudder design. None were considered important enough to hold up the production schedule for even a day. On a second flight on 10 December, again with Peter at the controls, in front of various Nazi officials, the glue again caused a structural failure. This allowed the aileron to separate from the wing, causing the plane to roll over and crash, killing Peter.  An investigation into the failure revealed that the wing structure had to be strengthened and some redesign was needed, as the glue bonding required for the wood parts was in many cases defective. However, the schedule was so tight that testing was forced to continue with the current design. Speeds were limited to 500 km/h (310 mph) when the second prototype flew on 22 December. This time, the stability problems proved to be more serious, and were found to be related to Dutch roll, which could be solved by reducing the dihedral. However, with the plane supposed to enter production within weeks, there was no time to change the design. A number of small changes were made instead, including adding lead ballast to the nose to move the centre of gravity more to the front of the plane, and slightly increasing the size of the tail surfaces.  The third and fourth prototypes, which now used an "M" for "Muster" (model) number instead of "V" for "Versuchs" (experimental) number, as the He 162 M3 and M4, after being fitted with the strengthened wings, flew in mid-January 1945. These versions also included – as possibly the pioneering example of their use on a production-line, military jet aircraft – small, anhedraled aluminium "drooped" wingtips, reportedly designed by Alexander Lippisch and known in German as "Lippisch-Ohren" ("Lippisch Ears"), in an attempt to cure the stability problems via effectively "decreasing" the main wing panels' marked three degree dihedral angle. Both prototypes were equipped with two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons in the He 162 A-1 anti-bomber variant; in testing, the recoil from these guns proved to be too much for the lightweight fuselage to handle, and plans for production turned to the A-2 fighter with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons instead while a redesign for added strength started as the A-3. The shift to 20 mm guns was also undertaken because the smaller-calibre weapons would allow a much greater amount of ammunition to be carried.  The He 162 was originally built with the intention of being flown by the Hitler Youth, as the Luftwaffe was fast running out of pilots. However, the aircraft's complexity required more experienced pilots. Both a standard-fuselage length, unarmed BMW 003E-powered two-seat version (with the rear pilot's seat planned to have a ventral access hatch to access the cockpit) and an unpowered two-seat glider version, designated the He 162S ("Schulen"), were developed for training purposes. Only a small number were built, and even fewer delivered to the sole He 162 Hitler Youth training unit to be activated (in March 1945) at an airbase at Sagan. The unit was in the process of formation when the war ended, and did not begin any training; it is doubtful that more than one or two He 162S gliders ever took to the air.  Various changes had raised the weight over the original 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) limit, but even at 2,800 kg (6,170 lb), the aircraft was still among the fastest aircraft in the air with a maximum airspeed of at sea level and at, but could reach at sea level and at using short burst extra thrust. The short flight duration of barely 30 minutes was due to only having a single 695-litre (183 US gallon) capacity flexible-bladder fuel tank in the fuselage directly under the engine's intake. The original "Baubeschreibung" document submittal for the He 162 dated mid-October 1944 showed a pair of fuel tanks for the original version of the "Spatz's" airframe as-designed: a single, smaller capacity 640 litre (169 US gal) fuselage main tank in approximately the same location as the later 695 litre tank was placed, with an additional wing centre-section tank just above and behind it, never produced for the production run, of some 325 litres (86 US gal) feeding by gravity into the main fuselage tank. The A-2 version, in some examples (as the one flown by RN Captain Eric Brown postwar) had an emplacement of a pair of "impregnated" 180 litre (47.5 US gal) wing tanks, one built into each inner wing panel, within the first four wing ribs out from the root and between the spars, that fed into the main 695 litre fuselage tank in a similar manner to what the earlier 325 litre center-section tank had been proposed to do; but were themselves ungauged, their exhaustion of fuel only marked when the main fuel gauge began to fall during flight. The production He 162A-2 was armed with a pair of 20mm MG 151/20 cannon.  He 162 construction facilities were at Salzburg, the Hinterbrühl, and the Mittelwerk. Output was expected to be 1,000 a month by April 1945, double that when the Mittlewerk plant began deliveries.

Operations.

In January 1945, the Luftwaffe formed an "Erprobungskommando 162" ("Test Unit 162") evaluation group to which the first 46 aircraft were delivered. The group was based at the Luftwaffe main test center, or "Erprobungsstelle" at Rechlin.  February saw deliveries of the He 162 to its first operational unit, I./JG 1 (1st Group of "Jagdgeschwader" 1 "Oesau" — "1st Fighter Wing"), which had previously flown the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. I./JG 1 was transferred to Parchim, which, at the time, was also a base for the Me 262-equipped "Jagdgeschwader" 7, some 80 km south-southwest of the Heinkel factory's coastal airfield at "Marienehe" (today known as Rostock-Schmarl, northwest of the Rostock city centre), where the pilots could pick up their new jets and start intensive training beginning in March 1945. This was all happening simultaneously with unrelenting Allied air attacks on the transportation network, aircraft production facilities and petroleum, oil, and lubrication (POL) product-making installations of the Third Reich – these had now begun to also target the Luftwaffe's jet and rocket fighter bases as well. On 7 April, the USAAF bombed the field at Parchim with 134 B-17 Flying Fortresses, inflicting serious losses and damage to the infrastructure. Two days later, I./JG 1 moved to an airfield at nearby Ludwigslust and, less than a week later, moved again to an airfield at Leck, near the Danish border. On 8 April, II./JG 1 moved to Heinkel's aforementioned Rostock northwestern coastal suburban factory airfield and started converting from Fw 190As to He 162s. III./JG 1 was also scheduled to convert to the He 162, but the "Gruppe" disbanded on 24 April and its personnel were used to fill in the vacancies in other units.  The He 162 first saw combat in mid-April 1945. On 19 April, Feldwebel Günther Kirchner shot down a Royal Air Force fighter, and although the victory was credited to a flak unit, the British pilot confirmed during interrogation that he had been downed by an He 162. The Heinkel and its pilot were lost as well, shot down by an RAF Hawker Tempest while on approach to land, a point at which Allied pilots targeted German jets. Though still in training, I./JG 1 had begun to score kills in mid-April, but had also lost 13 He 162s and 10 pilots. Ten of the aircraft were operational losses, caused by flameouts and sporadic structural failures. Only two of the 13 aircraft were actually shot down. The He 162's 30-minute fuel capacity also caused problems, as at least two of JG 1's pilots were killed attempting emergency deadstick landings after exhausting their fuel.  During its exceedingly brief operational service career, the 162's cartridge-type ejector seat was employed under combat conditions by JG 1's pilots at least three times. The first recorded use was by Lt Rudolf Schmidt on April 20, with Fw. Erwin Steeb ejecting from his 162 the following day. Finally, Hptm. Paul-Heinrich Dahne attempted an ejection on April 24, but was killed when the aircraft's cockpit canopy failed to detach.  In the last days of April, as the Soviet troops approached, II./JG 1 evacuated from Marienehe and on 2 May joined the I./JG 1 at Leck. On 3 May, all of JG 1's surviving He 162s were restructured into two groups, I. "Einsatz" ("Combat") and II. "Sammel" ("Collection"). All JG 1's aircraft were grounded on 5 May, when General Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German armed forces in the Netherlands, Northwest Germany and Denmark. On 6 May, when the British reached their airfields, JG 1 turned their He 162s over to the Allies, and examples were shipped to the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union for further evaluation. "Erprobungskommando" 162 fighters, which had been passed on to JV 44, an elite jet unit under Adolf Galland a few weeks earlier, were all destroyed by their crews to keep them from falling into Allied hands. By the time of the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, 120 He 162s had been delivered; a further 200 had been completed and were awaiting collection or flight-testing; and about 600 more were in various stages of production.  The difficulties experienced by the He 162 were caused mainly by its rush into production, not by any inherent design flaws. One experienced "Luftwaffe" pilot who flew it called it a "first-class combat aircraft." Eric "Winkle" Brown of the Fleet Air Arm, who flew a record 486 different types of aircraft, said the He 162 had "the lightest and most effective aerodynamically balanced controls" he had experienced. Brown had been warned to treat the rudder with suspicion due to a number of in-flight failures. This warning was passed on by Brown to RAF pilot Flt Lt R A Marks, but was apparently not heeded. On 9 November 1945, during a demonstration flight from RAE Farnborough, one of the fin and rudder assemblies broke off at the start of a low-level roll causing the aircraft to crash into Oudenarde Barracks, Aldershot, killing Marks and a soldier on the ground.

He 162 "Mistel".

The Mistel series of fighter/powered bomb composite ground-attack aircraft pre-dated the He 162 by over two years, and the "Mistel" 5 project study in early 1945 proposed the mating of an He 162A-2 to the Arado E.377A flying bomb. The fighter would sit atop the bomb, which would itself be equipped with two underwing-mounted BMW 003 turbojets. This ungainly combination would take off on a sprung trolley fitted with tandem wheels on each side for the "main gear" equivalent, derived from that used on the first eight Arado Ar 234 prototypes, with all three jets running. Immediately after take-off, the trolley would be jettisoned, and the "Mistel" would then fly to within strike range of the designated target. Upon reaching this point, the bomb would be aimed squarely at the target and then released, with the jet turning back for home. The "Mistel" 5 remained a "paper project", as the Arado bomb never progressed beyond the blueprint stage.

The Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter"), the name of a project of the Emergency Fighter Program design competition, was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was designed and built quickly and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft. "Volksjäger" was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the government design program competition won by the He 162 design. Other names given to the plane include "Salamander", which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz" ("Sparrow"), which was the name given to the plane by Heinkel.

Le Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger ou Salamander" était un avion de chasse intercepteur de la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Propulsé par un turboréacteur, il fut avec le Messerschmitt Me 262 biréacteur l'un des premiers avions de combat à réaction opérationnels de l'histoire.


Design and development.

In 1931, Heinkel recruited the talented aircraft designers Walter and Siegfried Günter. Their first major design for Heinkel was the Heinkel He 49. While this was officially an advanced trainer, in fact it was a fighter. The first prototype, the He 49a, flew in November 1932, and was followed by two further prototypes, the He 49b, with a longer fuselage, and the He 49c, with a revised engine.  The type was ordered into production for the still secret "Luftwaffe" as the He 51, the first pre-production aircraft flying in May 1933. Deliveries started in July of the next year.  The He 51 was a conventional single-bay biplane, with all-metal construction and fabric covering. It was powered by a glycol-cooled BMW VI engine, with an armament of two 7,92 mm (.323 in) machine guns mounted above the engine.  The He 51 was intended to replace the earlier Arado Ar 65, but served side-by-side with the slightly later Ar 68. The He 51 was outdated the day it entered service, and after an initial run of 150 production fighters, the design was switched into the modified He 51B, with approximately 450 built, including about 46 He 51B-2 floatplanes, and then finally a further 100 He 51C light ground-attack plane.

Operational history.

On 6 August 1936, six of the He 51s were delivered to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War along with the Nationalists. Initial operations were successful, with the Heinkels meeting and defeating a number of older biplanes of the Spanish Republican Air Force, with two Nieuport Ni-52 fighters, a Breguet 19 and a Potez 54 destroyed on 18 August 1936, the first day of operations by Spanish-flown He 51s. Deliveries continued as the hostilities increased, with two Nationalist squadrons equipped by November, and the "Legion Condor" forming three squadrons of 12 aircraft each manned by German "volunteers".  This time of superiority was short lived, with the arrival of large numbers of modern aircraft from the Soviet Union, including the Polikarpov I-15 biplane and new Polikarpov I-16 monoplane, together with the Tupolev SB bomber, which was 110 km/h (70 mph) faster. The He 51 proved unable to protect the "Legion Condor"s bombers, forcing it to switch to night operations, while also unable to intercept the much faster SB. The He 51 was therefore withdrawn from fighter duty and relegated to the ground-attack role by both the "Legion Condor" and the Nationalists. It was replaced in the fighter role by the Fiat CR.32 in the rebel Nationalist Air Force, with the "Legion Condor" receiving Messerschmitt Bf 109s from April 1937 to allow it to operate successfully in fighter operations.  While a failure as a fighter, the Heinkel proved successful as a ground-attack aircraft, being used by Wolfram von Richthofen to develop the close support tactics which were used by the "Luftwaffe" in World War II. It continued in use as a ground attack aircraft for the remainder of the Civil War, although losses were heavy. After the war the 46 surviving aircraft would be joined by another 15 new builds, and serve in the utility role in Spain until 1952.  The He 51 continued in front-line service with the "Luftwaffe" until 1938, with it remaining in service as an advanced trainer for the first few years of World War II.

The Heinkel He 51 was a German single-seat biplane which was produced in a number of different versions. It was initially developed as a fighter; a seaplane variant and a ground-attack version were also developed. It was a development of the earlier He 49.

Le Heinkel He 51 est un avion de chasse de l'entre-deux-guerres et du début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il a été conçu par la firme Heinkel à partir du prototype du chasseur Heinkel He 49.


Overview.

Its location close to the glaciers of the Dom and the Allalinhorn provides winter sport opportunities throughout the year, and neighbouring peaks such as the Weissmies, the Nadelhorn and the Lenzspitze are popular climbs in the summer season. The community is considered to be a very attractive winter sport destination in the Swiss Alps. Typical activities include skiing, snowboarding, snowshoe trekking, canyon climbing and ice climbing.  Saas-Fee offers 22 lifts, including 3 cable cars, 1 funicular railway (Metro Alpin), 5 gondolas (1 dedicated to walkers), 2 chairlifts, the remainder being surface lifts (draglifts). The ski run has a vertical drop of 1,800 m (5,906 ft), a top elevation of 3,600 m (11,811 ft) and covers ( beginner, intermediate, advanced). Other activities include paragliding, hang gliding, and tobogganing.  Saas-Fee can be reached by car or bus – postal buses run during much of the day half-hourly from Brig and Visp, though none provides a service beyond the bus terminal through the length of the town during the winter. No cars are allowed to enter the city (they have to be parked in special car parks outside); only small electric vehicles operate on the streets between the hotels and ski area. The decision to exclude most motor vehicles was made by the village at the time of the construction of the road from Saas Grund in 1951 in order to eliminate air pollution.  The resort offers many culture, sports, and off-slope activities, including classical music, a sports and leisure complex, restaurants, and nightclubs. The resort features the highest underground funicular railway in the world up to the skiing area and the highest revolving restaurant in the world at 3,500 m (11,500 feet). The touristic slogan of Saas-Fee is "Die Perle der Alpen" (The Pearl of the Alps) as it is surrounded by a total of 13 peaks above 4,000 meters (13,123 feet), the most in the alps. The campus of the European Graduate School is located in Saas-Fee.  Saas-Fee has a well-preserved city centre characterised by wood and stone-based architecture. Design guidelines for the village require houses to be 40% wooden, to maintain its character.

History.

Saas-Fee is first mentioned in 1304 as "vee". The municipality was formerly known by its French name "Fée" (); however, that name is no longer used.

Geography.

Saas-Fee has an area,, of. Of this area, 5.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and 83.6% is unproductive land.  The municipality is located in the Visp district, at the foot of Dom Mountain. The village is surrounded by thirteen Four-thousander mountains (mountains that are at least above sea level).

Coat of arms.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "Azure, the initials SSF Or between two Mullets [of Six] Argent in base Coupeaux Vert."

Demographics.

Saas-Fee has a population () of., 28.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 3.4%. It has changed at a rate of 0.5% due to migration and at a rate of 6.3% due to births and deaths.  Most of the population () speaks German (1,243 or 85.5%) as their first language. The German dialect spoken is called Walser German and is partly unintelligible to speakers of Standard German. Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (98 or 6.7%) and Portuguese is the third (47 or 3.2%). There are 16 people who speak French, 12 people who speak Italian and 2 people who speak Romansh.  Of the population in the municipality, 745 or about 51.2% were born in Saas-Fee and lived there in 2000. There were 200 or 13.8% who were born in the same canton, while 207 or 14.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 265 or 18.2% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 64.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.8%. , there were 648 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 717 married individuals, 69 widows or widowers and 20 individuals who are divorced. , there were 625 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 243 households that consist of only one person and 34 households with five or more people., a total of 604 apartments (39.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 864 apartments (56.4%) were seasonally occupied and 64 apartments (4.2%) were empty., the construction rate of new housing units was 12.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality,, was 3.83%.  The historical population is given in the following chart:

Politics.

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 64.08% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (23.78%), the SVP (7.06%) and the SP (3.2%). In the federal election, a total of 678 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 67.1%.  In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 703 votes were cast, of which 26 or about 3.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 69.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 666 votes were cast, of which 30 or about 4.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 66.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.

Economy.

, Saas-Fee had an unemployment rate of 3.3%., there were 5 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 131 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 19 businesses in this sector. 1,169 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 182 businesses in this sector. There were 883 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.8% of the workforce. , there were 227 workers who commuted into the municipality and 65 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 3.5 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 6.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 4.3% used a private car.

Religion.

From the, 1,177 or 80.9% were Roman Catholic, while 101 or 6.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 81 members of an Orthodox church (or about 5.57% of the population), and there was one individual who belongs to another Christian church. There was one individual who was Jewish, and 12 (or about 0.83% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 22 (or about 1.51% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 55 individuals (or about 3.78% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education.

In Saas-Fee about 613 or (42.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 113 or (7.8%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 113 who completed tertiary schooling, 65.5% were Swiss men, 19.5% were Swiss women, 9.7% were non-Swiss men and 5.3% were non-Swiss women.  During the 2010–2011 school year, there were a total of 137 students in the Saas-Fee school system. The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten. During that school year, there 2 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 32 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Saas-Fee, there were a total of 8 classes and 137 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Saas-Fee attend their school in a neighboring municipality. , there were 73 students from Saas-Fee who attended schools outside the municipality.  Saas Fee is also the location of the European Graduate School. EGS was established in 1994 as a postgraduate degree-granting school. Founding contributors included eminent philosophers such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-François Lyotard, and many leading thinkers teach there to this day, including Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler, Alain Badiou, Peter Greenaway, and Geert Lovink.

In popular culture.

Saas-Fee was the location where the video for Wham!'s hit single "Last Christmas" was filmed in 1984. The cable car that they get into to go up the mountain is labelled with the name "Saas-Fee" in the typical Saas-Fee font. This appears to be an artistic device as the cable car, now replaced by a more modern version, runs between the edge of Saas-Fee and Felskinn which is considerably above the normal height for residential buildings. Saas-Fee is also the setting of the second part of André Gide's novel Les faux-monnayeurs, as well as the setting of various ski chase sequences in the "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" film (1969) in the James Bond series.

Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded by a total of 13 peaks above 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) which is the most in the Alps, forming the basis for its nickname "the Pearl of the Alps". It is a classic ski resort characterised by well-preserved Swiss wood architecture and a car-free city centre. The villages in its neighborhood are Saas-Almagell, Saas-Grund and Saas-Balen.

Saas-Fee () (anciennement en français "Fée") est une commune suisse du canton du Valais, située dans le district de Viège, au-dessus de Saas-Grund, dans la vallée de Saas.