Skyfall: A Simultaneously Radical and Traditional Bond Film?

I can't talk about "Skyfall" without also talking about this article, which I read about a year ago:

http://www.xojane.co.uk/entertainment/working-as-an-extra-on-a-james-bond-film-made-me-realise-how-racist-some-people-are

In brief, the author, an Asian woman, worked as an extra in the Macau casino scene. While she was excited to be a part of such a recognizable and iconic movie, she says that she and the other female, Asian extras were essentially treated as waitresses instead of professionals, and that many of male extras also made sexually inappropriate comments. At the time, I was living with one of my close friends, a first generation Chinese-American, who had recently begun discussing her negative experiences as an Asian woman with me and our other roommates; I think one of the reasons I found it so striking was because it paralleled a lot of things she had told me. But more than that, I think that reading about the author's experiences was my first overt realization that there was a lot that I didn't agree with about my beloved Bond films.

Don't get me wrong, I love Skyfall: it's beautifully shot, it introduces compelling themes about aging, death and M's role as an authority figure, and it completely reworks the character of Moneypenny from merely proof of Bond's desirability into someone more independent, driven, desirable; more of a character than a standard Bond trope. After the disappointment of "Quantum of Solace", seeing "Skyfall" was like being reintroduced to a proper Bond film.

Now that some time has passed, however, I'm able to see some flaws: while I love that Bond's fallibility humanizes him, he still supersedes Moneypenny, who is "better as a desk agent" and isn't introduced by name until the end of the movie. I was fascinated by Severine, but really, like most women in these movies, she is completely defined by her sexuality. Silva is my one of my favorite Bond villains, but his homo-eroticism/ possible sexual orientation , as in the older Bond films, helps mark him as unnatural as much as his rotting insides. And while M is given more of a role in this movie than any other, she as the female authority figure is still killed off and replaced by Ralph Fiennes.

But the biggest problem to me will forever be the casino scene: of course, it wouldn't be a Bond film without a few exotic locations, but the fireworks and dragons at the beginning, the waitresses in their bob cuts and kimonos, the komodo dragon....it's a dose of Orientalism as potent as Roger Moore's fight scene in "TMWTGG". It's proof that as much as viewers like me might wish it, the Bond films still have rooted problems. Would they be as interesting without them? I don't know. But I do know that I can't really look at "Skyfall" the same way I did when I was cheering for the original Aston Martin in the movie theater.

P.S. I kind of worry that I get really dramatic in these blog posts. So, in positive news:

*This is the poem M reads in her court scene, and it's excellent:
 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174659

*One of my best friends constantly plays Adele's "Skyfall" theme in the car, and the way he loves that song might actually be a cornerstone of our friendship at this point.

*I sent my sister a text after I saw the movie for the first time, and when she excitedly told the people she was with, one girl apparently asked "where can you go to see the sky fall?", mistaking it for some sort of meteorological phenomenon.

I Can't Think of a Clever Title: Skyfall

When I first saw Skyfall it was for the midnight premiere and my now ex-boyfriend took me to go see it because he knew how much I loved the franchise. I found myself completely in love with the movie, he, not so much. A lot of the allusions to the previous films went over his head because he had only seen all of Daniel's films. I had to explain to him the importance of having a new Money Penny, who is black (So Radical!). And I fought with him for being upset about how M was killed off and replaced by Lord Freaking Voldemort. He didn't quite understand why I was saddened by the fact that M was no longer portrayed by a female actress.

As most of you know, I am fascinated by the gadget side to the Bond films. I love the new Q. The actor happens to be my best friend's favorite actor, or at least one of them. He brings a fresh new take to Q Branch and definitely comments on how technology is a younger person's world. "He still has spots," Bond quips about Q's youth.  Q has more involvement as well. He traces the threats via spyware and actually helps Bond find Silva while running through the London Underground. Q's job beforehand was always: here's the gizmos, please return them.

Speaking of the scene in the London Underground, my mother always says how she wants to be an extra and just have Craig touch her shoulder like he does that one guy as he looks for Silva.

Skyfall is probably my favorite Bond film in the franchise. After I walked out of the theater I could not stop saying how good it was. It just seems like the franchise is now taking a new turn with Bond, portraying him as more of a man, who is fighting the aging clock to save the world from very realistic threats. We face terrorism and bomb threats all the time in this century. It's a very real fear.    

"Bond Girl" Role Takes a Turn?

        First off, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Skyfall. However, there was one element (or lack thereof) that I can't stop wondering about: where was the quintessential "Bond girl?" I mean, of course Sévérine was a plot-driver, but her role is utterly unnecessary compared to the camera time that Vesper got in Casino Royale or that of Natalia in Goldeneye. Her death is even kind of underwhelming. Although that sounds harsh, I think that her insignificance (Bond doesn't weep over her the way he did over Vesper) ultimately helps to play-up M's significance. That is, we finally see how important M is in Bond's life.
        The producers obviously made a choice to highlight Bond's orphan status, and I believe that was a poignant decision. Even in the beginning of the film--amidst the arguing and lying--we see the familial relationship between Bond and M. Furthermore, I'm fairly certain that Bond, Eve, and some of the other characters call M "Mum" when they address her, which works to ingrain M's motherly status in the minds of viewers. Keeping that in mind, M's death becomes extremely emotional, especially because it takes place at Bond's childhood home. When that house goes up in flames and M dies, it's as if Bond is truly stripped of all of his family.
       

Skyfall

Okay, so I could (and was) totally comparing this movie to Casino Royale, which is probably why I wasn't crazy about it. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, Casino Royale just did it for me. The beginning of the movie I thought was a little slow, and since I already knew Bond didn't really die, I was just anticipating this 2 1/2 movie getting to the point where Bond was back in action. My boyfriend says that even if I didn't know he was still alive, its hard to believe that he is actually dead. But I would have to disagree; they had his obituary up! And honestly, I thought the whole getting shot off the train thing was annoying. I mean, in action movies like that, the girl would HAVE to hit the bad guy, its what we expect!
I was a fan of the ending of the movie though. Bond was really shining with his sensitive side when he was all about saving M. Yeah that's his boss, but he was really out for her best interest, and she dies in his arms!!!!
So, James Bond looks pretty old with a beard. Its kind of amazing how young he appears when it's shaved! I think what gets me about the newer Bond films, is how less "Bondish" they are. we don't get as much of the theme song and its just more of an action film. Moneypenny was definitely not as great in Skyfall as she is in the older films. Bond just has such a more mysterious relationship with her in the older films, and this relationship was just kind of weird, in addition to the fact that she claims herself Moneypenny at the end of the movie.
With all the harping on Bond about his physical ability, the movie also gets a little slow. I mean, he was shot! And then fell off a very tall bridge into water, where he then went over a waterfall! What do you expect?! He is ragged on about his injuries and he also doesn't have a solid lady around. We do get our sex scene in the beginning, but then Moneypenny just gets close and shaves him!
Skyfall wasn't bad, it just wasn't my fav!

skyfalling all the films together

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed watching this Bond film! I’m not sure if it was the fact that the film was made in 2012 that caused for me to find the graphics to be really up to par, bright and rather explosive. The film right off the bat displays Bond listening to the authority of M despite the fact that she is a woman, his actions being to leave the shot man when she tells him to and this sets off the relationship between the two. Despite already having the knowledge that Bond “dies” in this film I was still surprised when it took place, I literally gasped out loud (secretly glad no one was home to hear me I sounded like an idiot). This film greatly depicts just how far Bond is willing to go to keep M alive and safe, in addition to just how much M believes in Bond and is willing to keep him in the field. Not only does this film touch on different aspects of other films it allowed for me to see what is that truly allowed for me to encompass the true feeling of a Bond field. Including: the super long chase scene, the constant hinting to Bond’s aging, Bond ordering a shaken instead of stirred drink (despite the fact that he has been drinking Heineken's).

I believe this film allowed for me to see a rather focused Bond film and for me that was depicted through the overall relationship between Bond and M and their need to display to viewers that despite a person’s sex working together is going to ultimately allow for people to come out ahead.

Favorite Quotes:

“…just changing carriages”-Bond

“…go to hell with dignity—I leave when the jobs done” –M

“We are both played out.” –Bond to M

“That was a waste of scotch.” –Bond

Lastly, during the second fight scene between Bond and Silva, their bodies against the jelly fish background really reminded me of the black shadows in the Bond opening credits of past films. 

Skyfall: Bond's run and the District line

We've come a long way in the Bond franchise from the days of naked women swinging on gun barrels. I know we watched the opening credits sequence for Skyfall in class on the first day, but that doesn't mean I don't love it just as much this time around as I did over a month ago. Maybe I'm just a sucker for computer graphics sequences, but I found that I wanted to look away from the screen but couldn't. There are so many allusions to death and specifically Bond dying that I wanted to waive my white handkerchief in the air and scream, "Stop shooting Bond! He's too attractive to die!" Speaking of computer images, I found this film to be a lot more artsy than some of the other ones we've seen, like GoldenEye. There are a few scenes where Bond is strategically silhouetted when either running or fighting. One is when he's fighting Patrice as the reflections from various Chinese advertisements are projected across the walls. Another is when Bond is running to the church to save M and Kincade from Silva. He's in silhouette yet again and his body is often only shown in parts, like his feet or head, and is juxtaposed with the dark, barren landscape ahead of him or the burning house behind him. I liked that even though Silva's island is in China, it looked like it could be located anywhere. There was nothing written on any of the walls divulging which language the people who once lived there spoke, so who's to say it wasn't actually in Europe or South America? It reminded me a lot of photos that were taken after WWII when Europe was attempting to rebuild or of the abandoned Chernobyl site.

I felt a little sorry for Bond in the beginning half of the movie when he was constantly shown as being old or told he was too old to adequately perform his duties as a 00 agent. I mean, he's practically gasping for breath after swimming a few laps in the pool in his hotel in Shanghai. Granted, I look like that after climbing just one set of stairs in Mortimer, but I'm not a secret agent. This is also super nit-picky, but I had a little trouble not laughing whenever he ran. I could be the only one who feels this way, but he just looks super awkward and robot-like when he runs. It's totally not natural.

I was a little taken abac that there wasn't an outright Bond girl. There's Moneypenny (who totally blew my mind at the end when her name was revealed) and Severine (who was only onscreen for two seconds before she was outed as an unwilling prostitute to Silva), but neither are with Bond for the entirety of the film. Speaking of Severine, how did she not get the crap scared out of her when Bond snuck up behind her in the shower. I wouldn't complain if Bond wanted to jump in the shower with me, but if he showed up behind me without any warning or without making a sound, I would probably try to assault him with my shampoo. Speaking of silent ninja-like people, how did absolutely no one hear Silva escape and kill one of his guards? There were people in the next room just chillin and hanging out and looked at Bond like he was a crazy person when he did his freakish running style through their office. I would think at least one person in the entire MI6 headquarters would think, "Hmmm maybe I should check on the super dangerous prisoner in the next room since there's some flashing red lights and sirens going off above my head."

One other thing that surprised me was the lack of explosions! I thought for a brief time that gunfire would be the new event that would happen every five seconds to remind viewers just how masculine the movie really is. Then I got to the end. Looks like Silva didn't get the memo the director wanted to take the explosions down a notch. When he busted that hole in the tube tunnel and the District line train fell through and just kept right on going through all the walls, I just shook my head. Sure, the District line is awful in and of itself and I would avoid it at all costs last semester, but this takes major delays to a whole new level.

casino royale

After finishing this Bond film I would certainly have to say that the casting of Daniel Craig truly brings a new vibe to the Bond franchise. Comparing him to Connery, Moore, Dalton and Brosnan I certainly can see a freshness brought to light. Craig has a rigid jawbone and those piercing baby blues that help captive viewers-- or at least myself. The film in relation to the novel, well of course even though I enjoyed the action within the film I have to favor the extreme detail that the novel provides.

With this film being produced in 2006 I can definitely say the Bond films have come along way! I think that not only was the film more modern and with "my time" it also allowed for me to follow the plot line much easier that the past films we watched which seemed to be all over the place. I look forward to watching Skyfall and tying all the films together.