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About TSWLM title...

ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
edited February 2014 in Bond Movies Posts: 2,538
In Spain this title has been always translated to "La Espía que me amó", that is, speaking of a femenine spy.

On the contrary, the book is (or should be) "El Espía que me amó" (man-spy), because we all know the narrator is Vivianne and she is talking about Bond.

So, my question is: who do you think the title is referring to in the film? Bond, Anya or her boyfriend? Who is "The Spy"? He or She?

Comments

  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited February 2014 Posts: 13,896
    I always thought, considering Bond didn't love Anya and Anya didn't love Bond, this is removed from the equation, and the title is Anya or Sergei's point of view of one another. It is left ambiguous for the viewer to decide whether 'the spy' is Anya or Sergei.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,538
    QBranch wrote:
    I always thought, considering Bond didn't love Anya and Anya didn't love Bond, this is removed from the equation, and the title is Anya or Sergei's point of view of one another. It is left ambiguous for the viewer to decide whether 'the spy' is Anya or Sergei.
    Thanks for the answer.
    That´s the problem in Spanish: you can´t left it ambiguous and you have to choose between "El" or "La", "he" or "she"...
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 5,802
    In France, the title of the novel is "Motel 007". the film is "L'Espion qui m'aimait" (male spy in this case. For female, we say "L'espionne"). I think that for the novel, they also would use the male name (after all, Bond is a spy while Vivienne is not).
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    QBranch wrote:
    I always thought, considering Bond didn't love Anya and Anya didn't love Bond, this is removed from the equation, and the title is Anya or Sergei's point of view of one another. It is left ambiguous for the viewer to decide whether 'the spy' is Anya or Sergei.
    That's clever. Just don't tell James that the theme song isn't really about him!
  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    pachazo wrote:
    QBranch wrote:
    I always thought, considering Bond didn't love Anya and Anya didn't love Bond, this is removed from the equation, and the title is Anya or Sergei's point of view of one another. It is left ambiguous for the viewer to decide whether 'the spy' is Anya or Sergei.
    That's clever. Just don't tell James that the theme song isn't really about him!

    =))

    Now seriously, I always thought the Spy in the title was Bond precisely because of the song. Of course, I didn't have the problem of being confused by the title. It was translated in Portuguese as "O Espião Irresistível" meaning The Irresistible Spy (masculine).
  • LegateDamarLegateDamar
    Posts: 381
    The title The Spy Who Loved Me makes far more sense from the POV of the book than the film, which has nothing to do with the book.

    Is EON still barred from using any elements of TSWLM novel? I'd like to see "Sluggsy" Morant and Sol "Horror" Horowitz make an appearance.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    QBranch wrote:
    I always thought, considering Bond didn't love Anya and Anya didn't love Bond, this is removed from the equation, and the title is Anya or Sergei's point of view of one another. It is left ambiguous for the viewer to decide whether 'the spy' is Anya or Sergei.
    I always took the film title to be deliberately ambiguous. And the love aspect is more to be taken in a physical sense. After all, Bond didn´t love Vivienne either, except physically ;-).
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Sandy wrote:
    pachazo wrote:
    QBranch wrote:
    I always thought, considering Bond didn't love Anya and Anya didn't love Bond, this is removed from the equation, and the title is Anya or Sergei's point of view of one another. It is left ambiguous for the viewer to decide whether 'the spy' is Anya or Sergei.
    That's clever. Just don't tell James that the theme song isn't really about him!

    =))

    Now seriously, I always thought the Spy in the title was Bond precisely because of the song. Of course, I didn't have the problem of being confused by the title. It was translated in Portuguese as "O Espião Irresistível" meaning The Irresistible Spy (masculine).

    With the film itself I've always assumed, as QBranch does, that the 'spy' in question is either Sergei or Anya - I err on the side of Sergei, given it's his death that acts as the catalyst for Anya's actions in the final act. It makes narrative sense. As for the theme song, the 'spy' is Bond. It's just one of those things that EON do, probably to annoy those fans who like everything to make some logical sense and get uppity if the continuity is a bit awry. It's like the QoS title having some relevance to Bond's narrative, but also the villains.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    LegateDamar wrote:
    Is EON still barred from using any elements of TSWLM novel? I'd like to see "Sluggsy" Morant and Sol "Horror" Horowitz make an appearance.

    Weren't Jaws and Sandor supposed to be based on Horror and Sluggsy, respectively? Obviously they were some way from the literary incarnation, but I think the intention was there, physically anyhow.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    For the book "The Spy" in question is obviously Bond as the Bond girl isn't a spy and is abruptly saved by Bond.

    In the film I'm pretty sure "The Spy" is meant to be Anya as in the TSWLM trailer Bond walks up to the screen and says "Every job has it's rewards. In this case its the spy who loved me".
  • LudovicoLudovico
    edited February 2014 Posts: 14,816
    I always thought the spy in the title was Bond. And the love was of course physical, carnal love. Which is, I think, how the novel's title must be understood: Bond was not in love with Vivienne, but he "loved" her. I think it is a beautiful title. Far greater than the movie, actually.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,459
    I take the title as from the theme song, and it is sung about Bond. The book is also from the woman's perspective and is about Bond. I wasn't confused about it.
    It's my very favorite theme song, by the way.

    Anya had her boyfriend, who was a spy who loved her, but honestly I don't read that into it. Bond movie, Bond focus.
  • bigladiesmanbigladiesman
    edited February 2014 Posts: 1,009
    There is a running joke in Spain about this title. If you say it fast, not bothering to pronunce it correctly, it sounds a bit like "La espia que mamó". Literally, it would translate to "The Spy Who Breastfed". Colloquialy, can mean two things": either she drank heavily (foreshadowing Barbara and Ringo awful problems back in the 80s) or she gave someone a... Well... Blowjob.

    I'm not implying this is funny at all...
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    RC7 wrote:
    LegateDamar wrote:
    Is EON still barred from using any elements of TSWLM novel? I'd like to see "Sluggsy" Morant and Sol "Horror" Horowitz make an appearance.

    Weren't Jaws and Sandor supposed to be based on Horror and Sluggsy, respectively? Obviously they were some way from the literary incarnation, but I think the intention was there, physically anyhow.

    That is how I see it, too. Cannot be a coincidence. They changed the names because of the clause not to use elements from the book. Of course they were working for Mr Sanguinetti in the book and his evil scheme was to burn a motel for insurance money. Wonder if Stromberg actually wanted to burn the whole world for the same reason-insurance fraud? :-?
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 5,802
    AVTAK takes place in and near Paris, just like in the short story. The plot is way different, but the location is the same. Mostly.
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