fajrdrako | Skyfall fannishness...

A few thoughts on Skyfall, having watching it again last night.

I think I more or less sorted out the timeline. There's the initial scene, where Bronson is killed and Silva gets the list, and the chase in Istanbul. Then three months, until Bond comes back to London. Some time... a week? a few days? ... while he's prepped. Then a couple of days for Bond to go to Shanghai after Patrice, and to come home again with Silva. Then it all happens very fast.

So why did Silva wait more than three months before releasing or selling the list? Because he wanted Bond to be in the middle of it all? Was he jealous of Bond for being M's favourite, and targeting him as well?
I adore both Q and Moneypenny, and I think they're both adorable. But when I see photos of either of them in other roles, or as themselves, I don't find them attractive. But in character? In Skyfall? Mmm.

I saw Ben Whishaw as Ariel in The Tempest, and liked the interpretation of the role, but didn't find him memorable at all. I ended up remembering mostly Helen Mirren, Alan Cumming, and Alfred Molina.
The more I watch this movie, the more I love the relationship between Bond and M, and the way it is written. The way she allows herself no sentimentality, and is harder on Bond than anyone else, because he is her favourite. The way he allows himself some sentimentality over her in the end.
I love the way Bond and Silva are played as the same/different, the good twin and the evil twin among M's operatives. I like the way that Bond and Silva not only have a bond of their own - rivalry and enmity - but are linked by two women, M and Sévérine - that last link all the more significant in that it meant nothing to Silva, and meant something to Bond.
But Naomie Harris as Moneypenny being all field-agenty in Istanbul, and then coming on to Bond in that red dress in the shaving scene... which must be the hottest thing I've seen on film since Paschendaele... well. Mmm.

I know people, male people, who doubted that Bond and Moneypenny had sex after that scene. Made my jaw drop. Of course they did. That was all foreplay. Who could miss that?
Bond doesn't smile much, and when he does, it's usually a smirk. But when he really smiles - oh my goodness. Those dimples. His face just pleats.
Javier Bardem's best scene is his first: approach the bound Bond across that long room with that wondeful monologue. Just... walking.
I love all the running scenes in this. They remind me of The Professionals.
Though chase scenes usually bore me, Skyfall chase scenes are an exceptions, because most of them aren't with cars. And the one that is, has the charm of Moneypenny being the driver, and it's in Istanbul.
Having recently been to Istanbul (and other places in Turkey), I totally love the Turkish scenes. They bring the experience right back... and they look so, well, Turkish. So in character. Not that I saw people chasing on motorcycles through the Grand Bazaar, but... still.
As in The Professionals, as in Torchwood, as in many British shows and movies, much of the action is sparked by mistakes on the part of the protagonists. M sacrificed Silva in the first place, which caused both his madness and his desire for revenge - though he as no doubt damaged already, which was why she sacrificed him. A sacrifice, yes, and another one of her hard calls, but also a moral flaw which comes back to bite her. "Think on your sins." And then Silva is able to carry on because M commanded Moneypenny to shoot Bond, which meant Bond couldn't stop Patrice from taking the list to Silva, which meant Silva had carte blanche to kill MI6 agents for fun and profit, and torment M. And then because Q does the stupidest thing in the history of intelligence - plugs Silva into his system - Silva once again gets everything he needs and wants.

And I loved Bond's accusation to M: "You lost your nerve." Yup. She was so scared of the list getting away, she caused it to get away instead of trusting Bond to be able to get it from Patrice himself. On top of the train. Somewhere in Turkey.
I love the way M's command to Eve to 'take the shot' and potentially sacrifice Bond is foreshadowed and explained by her command to Bond (in the first few minutes of the movie) to go after Patrice and to let Bronson die. M's tendency to sacrifice her agents has a way of rebounding on her: I hope Mallory takes the lesson to heart and isn't so callous about their lives in general in future.
There's something about Daniel Craig. Yeah, yeah, I know, that's not a profound statement. He isn't classically handsome, but the thing is, I don't usually like classically handsome. Give me Tim DeKay over Matt Bomer anytime. No offense to Matt Bomer, whom I love as Neil Caffrey. But. I'm a Peter lover.

The thing about Daniel Craig: the scruffier and messier he gets, and the more stressed he gets, the sexier he is. How does he do that?

Charisma. Sheer charisma.
Looking for photos for my lovely new Tumblr page (at fajrdrako 007, I was frustrated by how few photos there are of Q. I did a few screencaps from trailers on YouTube and intend to post them, too. Of course, Q doesn't get a lot of scenes, despite all the voice-work. But he's really quite adorable, and a wonderful contrast to Bond, and a foil for him.
The publicity seemed to mostly feature Daniel Craig, Bérénice Marlohe, Naomie Harris and Javier Bardem. The characters I and my friends are fixated on are Bond, Q, M and (in my case) Moneypenny. Funny, that.
Love the settings, every one of them. Bleak Scotland, lively Istanbul, dank MI6, the official room where M is on trial, the beach house in Turkey, the Neil Gaiman-like underground tunnels below London... such fun.
I had to look up what C.M.G. stands for, in Bond's obituary. (Perhaps if I remember the Ian Fleming books better, I'd know.) Turns out to be Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, awarded by the Queen to "men and women who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country".
The trial of M regarding the viability of MI6 is so very reminiscent of Cowley's position in "The Rack" in The Professionals. I see so many Skyfall/Professionals parallels:
- the relationship between Bodie and Cowley being similar to the relationship between Bond and M.
- The same sort of running, chasing, guns, espionage. Technology - though the technology of c. 1980 looks pretty low-tech now. Thirty years from now, what will we think of the high-tech bits of Skyfall?
- Bodie having a personality rather like Bond's. Bond is smoother, and doesn't have a Doyle.
- CI5 and MI6, as portrayed in each, are similar, and have similar purposes.
- Dingy British offices.
I have heard criticism that Bond is callous on the death of Sévérine. This is a total misinterpretation of that scene. Bond is furious and devastated, seething inside, but he isn't going to let Silva see it. His apparently flippancy is an expression of enmity for Silva, not reflective on his feelings for Sévérine at all. He liked Sévérine and, moreover, admired her for risking her life (and then giving her life) to oppose Silva. He and she are on the same team here, on the same wavelength. This echoes his reaction to the death of Bronson. He doesn't like seeing people killed, least of all people on his side, least of all people he has had sex with.

My heart bleeds for Bond in this scene. And, yes, for Sévérine too.
Which reminds me that I've heard Bond called a psychopath (or sociopath) because he kills people. Nonsense. James Bond is the heroic figure, the sane man in a world of madness. He kills when he must for the greater good, not because he enjoys it. He's good at it, and knows he's good at it, but he never kills for the same of killing. There are scenes where it is clear that he doesn't like to kill: in the underground scene, he wanted to take Silva alive, as with Patrice in Shanghai.

His lack of a normal life is his tragedy and his sacrifice, not his desire.
I loved the Turkish woman Bond was with, who doesn't even have a name. And her setting.
The whole movie has wonderful use of light and mirrors, texture and motion. Wonderful cinematography and composition. Art way beyond what an action flick needs.
For the first time, after all those other Bond movies and books, I really got a sense here of Bond's sense of patriotism.
Seems I could go on about this forever...