Note
to New Visitors
Welcome to the website of Visual Parables. Because
of a link-up with Read the Spirit we have posted the following review
and an article by Dr. Pratt in this space, rather than in the usual Review
section, the latter being accessible only by subscription. We hope that
you will explore the other free sections of this site, including a sample
of an entire issue of the publication. VP has been produced for the past
18 years by a pastor who believes that film has much to
offer the church in the way of insights into human nature and the gospel.
Thus almost every review includes discussion questions in the belief
that seeing a film is but part of the film experience, that discussing
it and its issues, especially as they relate to ethical and religious
values, is also necessary. I am grateful to David Crumm of Read
The Spirit for permission to reprint Dr. Pratt’s article. As one who has not
read the original Fleming novels, I was unaware of any deeper meaning
in the Bond series than thrills of violence and sex.
Ed McNulty, Editor
Quantum
of Solace
Rated PG-13 Our Rating: V- 6; L-1 ; S/N-2 .
Length: 1 hour 45 min.
 |
Camille and Bond in the boat chase scene. © 2008 Sony Pictures |
Anyone who maims another shall suffer the
same injury in return: fracture for fracture,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted
is the injury to be suffered. One who kills
an animal shall make restitution for it; but one
who kills a human being shall be put to death
Leviticus 24:19-21
The new James Bond, directed by Marc Forster—the 22nd in the franchise—is
as stripped down as the
film to which it is a sequel, Casino Royale. There is still no trace of Miss
Moneypenny or Q, and none
of the bon mots that previous Bonds uttered so well while dispatching a bad
guy to oblivion. Daniel Craig is a young and serious James Bond, intent on
unraveling the mystery of the organization behind the death of the woman
he had loved, Vesper, who died in Casino Royale just after betraying him.
Part of the reason for this abandoning of past Bond features, including most
of the eye-popping gadgets so beloved by geeky fans, the actor reveals in
an interview: “The fact is the Austin Powers films kind of blew the
whole thing up - they took all of the clichés and the jokes and they
put them all into one movie.”
Beginning right after the conclusion of Royale, the new film literally cuts to the chase with Bond in his fancy car being chased by thugs intent on machine gunning him to death—all this before the main credits roll. Of course, as in all action hero movies—Craig is more Bourne than Bond in this computer enhanced, often confusingly edited film—the villains are terrible shots, managing to riddle the beautiful car with bullet holes, but always missing Bond himself. And this is not even to mention all the cars and trucks with which our hero almost collides a dozen times or more. Finally arriving in Siena, Tuscany, where huge crowds have gathered to watch the annual Palio horse race, Bond drives down a long tunnel into the hide away where M (Judi Dench), and other MI6 agents are awaiting him.
We discover why the killers were so intent on stopping Bond. Tied up in the trunk of his car is Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), an operative of the mysterious organization known as Quantum. Tying him to a chair and stripping away a trouser leg, they prepare him for interrogation, MI6 apparently agreeing with current US policy that torture is acceptable. Mr. White reveals that the agency which blackmailed Vesper has operatives everywhere, in the CIA and even MI6. His words are immediately borne out when M’s body guard opens fire on the gathering. Soon Bond is chasing the killer through tunnels, the crowded city streets (during which an innocent bystander is shot), and Bourne-like, over the red-tiled rooftops. Like all action heroes, he survives falls that would cripple or kill lesser men.
Almost before you know it Bond is in Haiti where, in a case of mistaken identity, Bond links up with the beautiful Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who in turn leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a ruthless king-maker whom we eventually learn is posing as an eco-friendly businessman/philanthropist. Dominic is making a deal with a General Medrano to return him to power in Bolivia in exchange for clear title to a tract of what seems like worthless desert. What is hidden beneath its surface will surprise you—far more prosaic than the gold, uranium or secret weapon that master villains usually kill for. Dominiq introduces Camille to the General and then turns her over to him so that he can entertain himself on his luxurious yacht . Watching from a distance, Bond steals a boat, intercepts the General’s so that he can rescue the girl, and then in an exciting chase sequence manages to inflict upon the local harbor almost as much damage as the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor.
Meanwhile, back at MI6 HQ , M, believing that he has let his thirst for vengeance get the better of him, is worried by Bond’s ruthless acts. Although he assures her long distance that he is not just avenging Vesper’s death, she and her superiors continue to think otherwise, as do their counterparts in the CIA. Now he is dodging M16, as well as the CIA, which typical of its Cold War history, is backing the coup that will return the Bolivian dictator to power. What follows is a series of fights, chases, ever more brutal fights and schemes that end in the usual fiery climax ( a luxury hotel in the Bolivian desert) that must have delighted the explosives effects people.
The film does have a tender moment of relief in the scene when Bond receives the brief measure of solace reflected in the title. He has recruited in Italy Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), an old enemy/friend, who amidst great pain tells him, “Forgive her. Forgive yourself.” However, after this brief New Testament moment, we are back to vengeance mode again, pausing again briefly for Camille to reveal that she too is on a quest for vengeance because the General murdered her parents. Bond himself seems to have no qualms in killing or watching a would-be killer bleed to death. This is a film produced mainly, it seems, to get our adrenalin flowing, and, of course, to make all concerned with it rich. Those who love pure action will willingly comply with their desire.
For Reflection/Discussion
1) Why do you think the Bond franchise appeals to so many people? What suspension
of belief is required in the chase sequences and fights? How might the
films be seen as fairy tales for young males?
2) What role do most of the women play in Bond films? How is even this stripped
down in this film?
3) What did you think of the villain’s plan to control the water supply
of a country or region? How does this reflect the world today “? In
real life, what might happen to Bond as he exercises his license so freely?
4) What do you think of MI6’s willingness to use torture, as well as
its famous “license to kill?
5) How do the words of Mathis about forgiveness seem in the context of the
rest of the film? Do we see any of the insight in Bond that we see in Clint
Eastwood’s gun slinging cowboy in Unforgiven about what violence does
to the perpetrator and the victim?
What do we do next?
James Bond Has Answers
—If We Understand
Ian Fleming’s Wisdom
The big question buzzing through American households after the euphoria of our barrier-breaking presidential election is an uneasy awareness of the enormity of our crises: What do we do next?
Comparisons between the Barak Obama election and Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Roosevelt are popping up everywhere. But, right now, we’re being handed a most unlikely gift of moral and spiritual guidance: the debut of Bond … James Bond, 007, in the long-awaited “Quantum of Solace.”
I’m a literary scholar and a retired pastoral counselor who worked for decades with men and women in the military and government service. For years, I have also been digging into the life and work of another famous government agent: Ian Fleming, who served in British military intelligence and later was a successful journalist during the most tumultuous era of the 20th century. Contrary to the two-dimensional image of Bond as a sexist action hero that prevailed for decades—the truth is that Fleming developed James Bond as a moral reflection on our times and our lives. Finally, the new Daniel Craig films are exploring this more serious side of Bond, as well.
The evidence of Fleming’s deeper mission includes a major effort he organized while working at the Sunday Times in London. He launched a series of stories on the traditional Seven Deadly Sins by famous writers, including W.H. Auden. In 1962, while recovering from his first heart attack, Fleming published this successful newspaper series in a book, The Seven Deadly Sins.
Fleming argued that the ancient sins (pride, envy, anger, sloth described as “accidie,” covetousness, gluttony and lust) will no longer keep us out of Heaven—with a single exception. That’s the sharp edge of Fleming’s moral critique. He makes a persuasive case that traditional sins like anger and covetousness, in fact, have become the fuel of successful world power. Rather than condemning these sins, we now admire men and women who embrace them. Think about this in late 2008 and Fleming’s critique still stings.
The exception in the traditional list of sins—the sin that still can doom us all—is the sin of sloth, which Fleming described with the ancient term “accidie.” That exotic-sounding word pops up throughout the Bond novels. It’s a sin he describes of a loss hope in the power of goodness, a feeling of powerlessness in the face of great evil.
Fleming is still right, isn’t he? That remains the central sin for most of us today, in this post-election, lame-duck moment, waking up with an almost guilty hangover at the glee millions of us felt on November 5. We’re all sobering up rapidly in light of the enormous challenges we face at home and abroad. President-elect Obama may not have used the words “sin” or “accidie,” but he is taking deadly Bond-like aim at this very issue.
Fleming began writing the Bond novels to explore those sins that he feared would shape the world’s future after the enormous changes of World War II. He called these the seven deadlier sins of our age: avarice, cruelty, snobbery, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, malice and moral cowardice. He personified each of the deadlier sins in the evil characters Bond pursues, as well as in Bond himself. James Bond, 007, as a modern St. George, is out to slay these more potent dragons that corrupt our moral life.
Think about Fleming’s moral argument in light of where we all stand in November, 2008. Think about President-elect Obama’s acceptance speech in Chicago. You’ll find that Fleming, Bond and Obama are talking about the same profound challenge we now face—together.
Dr. Benjamin Pratt is a retired pastor and pastoral counselor. He
is a literary scholar and the author of the new book, “Ian Fleming’s Seven
Deadlier Sins & 007’s Moral Compass.” He lives in Washington
D.C., where many of his clients and parishioners over the years have devoted
their lives to military and government service. He is writing more about
these themes and inviting reader discussion at the URL: http://www.BondBibleStudy.info/
Reprinted from ReadTheSpirit Newsletter, Nov. 3, 2008.