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Why is Melina Havelock so concerned about the Monastery Guard's welfare in FYEO (1981)?

DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
edited April 2016 in Bond Movies Posts: 17,805
I've long wondered about this scene in For Your Eyes Only (1981) and I can't really seem to come up with a convincing answer as to why it was written in the way it was or what we the audience were meant to take away from it about Melina Havelock's character. The scene that I am referring to is when Melina silently shoots the St. Cyril's Monastery guard with her crossbow and Bond drags him inside the winch shed. He tries to keep him quiet until Melina and Columbo come up into the shed on the winch basket.

What I don't really get about this scene is why is the ever-vengeful Melina suddenly so concerned about the welfare of the Monastery guard that she has just shot? After all, she killed Gonzales. She later tries to kill Kristatos. The guard was in the employ of Kristatos, the man who paid Gonzales to have her mother and father killed, and she could have just as easily killed him with that crossbow. Despite this, she still fusses over him and tends to his wound until Columbo brings some logic back (and reminds us that this is a "take no prisoners" Bond film that we are watching) and knocks him out with a chop from his gun.

Perhaps I'm being a bit too hard on Melina here but this scene bugs me a bit and seems rather like a character inconsistency on the part of the writers Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson. Was it just that he was only a guard working for Kristatos and thus not her real target - that he was just doing his job etc.?

So what do we think about this scene and what would you say was its purpose?

Comments

  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,786
    For all its good intentions, there are a lot of inconsistencies written into FYEO.

    Recently rewatched it and enjoyed it more than last time. The unbalanced tone still bugs me a bit.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    FYEO has numerous character inconsistencies, most alarmingly Bond himself. He chastises Melina for killing someone in cold blood for revenge, yet he did the exact same thing to Locque - doesn't reduce my opinion of that scene, of course - it's still brilliant. But the irony - the unintended irony - is striking.
  • identigraphidentigraph
    Posts: 1,052
    ForYourEyesOnly wrote: »
    FYEO has numerous character inconsistencies, most alarmingly Bond himself. He chastises Melina for killing someone in cold blood for revenge, yet he did the exact same thing to Locque - doesn't reduce my opinion of that scene, of course - it's still brilliant. But the irony - the unintended irony - is striking.

    Bond kills people for a living , Melina does not. It seems like a sensible warning of the baggage that killing will bring.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    edited April 2016 Posts: 1,984
    Locque's death was clearly an impulsive murder. Hardly out of necessity. Locque would've been more valuable as a prisoner than as a corpse.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,805
    ForYourEyesOnly wrote: »
    Locque's death was clearly an impulsive murder. Hardly out of necessity. Locque would've been more valuable as a prisoner than as a corpse.

    Also known as a revenge killing...

  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    @Dragonpol - Also known as something he later chastised Melina for...
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Also, Melina not being a murderer is probably why she cared for that goon. She only kills those who murdered or were directly involved in the murder of her family.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    Because she's kind.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,570
    Lots of reasons then.

    Can we use the question thread for such questions?

    http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/2843/the-james-bond-questions-thread#latest
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