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My impression of all the Bonds up till now was that they were spies and rakes whose interaction with female characters was dually business and pleasure, that they were cynical, inconstant and commonly dismissive of the worth of the women they became involved with because that was their character, and if they could use women to get to what or who they wanted then they would, and enjoy themselves along the way if at all possible.
With this Bond, I read in his actions towards Solange, the sense of calculation in getting her to notice him, the fact that he leaves her hanging to go chase after her husband, the idea that this Bond wasn’t conflicted at all about whether business or pleasure took priority. I’m partly basing that on a possible over-reading of something he says later to Vesper, about her not being his type because she was single. For me that hints on the idea that Bond never has a personal connection to Solange in the first place, he was under no illusions that he was manipulating her to get to Dimitrios, because he’s already accustomed to playing the part of a kind of reverse femme-fatale in getting close to the partners of influential men. Which would lead into a more modern reasoning for why the Bonds are always portrayed as attractive, seductive men, and particularly why there’s been greater emphasis on Craig’s Bond as being genuinely attractive rather than just arrogant and suave. So to buttergun I’d say, whether it ties in with your idea of what Bond should be or not, to me it was clear that this Bond was being used differently than before, and as M points out it wasn’t just that he was able to remain detached from Solange’s death, but that he had purposefully never made an emotional connection with her that in any sense wasn’t occluded by his focus on the job. Which is fairly weird and inhuman to begin with. Which if we choose to read it like that makes his opening up to Vesper all the more significant.
Beyond that I agree with matt. The conclusion to the film felt odd and artificial, as did some of the dialogue, but the rest was gripping stuff. The action scenes had me, as with matt, physically tense trying to follow the action, which I think must be the mark of a good thriller. I think it’s a combination of two things, that much as we might not want to too closely identify with Bond, he’s a strong, intensely portrayed character that we want to find out more about, and he’s a character that takes calculated risks which seem genuine because he’s neither perfect or invulnerable. I’m looking forward to seeing more of that Bond. |
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