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What can we expect from the first Brexit Bond film?
JanusMatrix
Santiago
There is an interesting piece over at The Article entitled...
What can we expect from the first Brexit Bond film?
Here is the link...
https://www.thearticle.com/what-can-we-expect-from-the-first-brexit-bond-film
What can we expect from the first Brexit Bond film?
Here is the link...
https://www.thearticle.com/what-can-we-expect-from-the-first-brexit-bond-film
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Comments
Thank you for linking the article though
A little over 50 % was pro-Brexit, a little under 50 % against. If the film were to choose a side, almost half the (British) audience would leave the theatre in anger. And even if the film could remain neutral somehow, Brexit, at this point, still hasn't reached the next stage after the referendum (which took place over three years ago) and all the political fuss that was to logically follow (and hasn't done the Brits any good so far.) So any film script dealing with the "reality" of Brexit, would have little to work with. Also, to then simply mention Brexit as something that's keeping British politics occupied at the moment, hardly seems worth the risk. So the way I see it, there is, at this point, nothing to be gained from squeezing Brexit into you Bond script.
And isn't Brexit more or less a domestic affair? As such, wouldn't MI6 be rather less imposed by it than certain other services?
Either way, leave uncomfortable politics out of the sweet escapism the Bonds offer.
https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/18502/getting-away-with-things-in-the-james-bond-novels-that-you-cant-do-in-the-james-bond-films
Oh, Lord preserve us. Once was bad enough.
Which definitely should have sunk Brexit with the voters...
Really? Are Spectre supposed to be the EU or something? I don't see it......they were more akin to the Illuminati. Also, Spectre was very pro-Edward Snowden. It was made at a time where people were fearful of government overreach and in the wake of the 'snooper's charter'. Which feels like a bygone era in politics these days......
The Bond films have always been political. I mean post-9/11 there's a scene where Bond has to stop a terrorist at an airport. Then the film's plot is based on 9/11 conspiracy theory for pete's sake.
I don't think Brexit will play a role - but I think some of the sentiments behind it will figure into the story. In fact, one of the Dynamite comics has already tried to do a post-Brexit story with Bond:
https://comicsalliance.com/kieron-gillen-james-bond-interview/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_007:_Service
Tanner: "They'll have access to the combined intelligence streams of nine countries"
Bond: " including us."
Its directly commenting on nations giving up their autonomy, and the sinister implications that could have.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes
And it's been going on for decades.
What?
Wrong political context. Information gathering and 'big data' was the talking point of 2014-15 following the disclosures of Edward Snowden. Spectre heavily played on those ideas. Sam Mendes speaks of it here:
Has anyone read the storyline for the 'Service' comicbook from 2017? You'd never get away with that kind of story in a Bond film. Essentially, MI6 are perceived as pro-EU; from this a nationalist terrorist group in Britain begin targeting anyone saying negative comments about Britain.
That kind of 'on the nose' storytelling will be avoided. But the sentiments behind Brexit - attempting to reclaim a forgotten sense of patriotism, the rise of nationalism, anger, forgotten voices trying to be heard, etc - will likely figure in some way.
But it's integral to remember 'who' is making the film:
Bond 24 releases late October 2015, the UK votes to leave EU June 2016, and you're going to act like they aren't a part of the same cultural climate? SP isn't just about survellaince, although that is there too, but it's also about outsourcing, and putting power in the hands of faceless, distant bodies which have no accountability. M even has a retort about "unelected" leaders.
But the film was written in 2013/2014 and filmed in 2014/15. Filming was wrapping by the time the general election came and Cameron offered a referendum in his manifesto.
I'm pretty certain the referendum in 2016 was not predicted by Sam Mendes, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. I'm sure they are a talented bunch, but clairvoyancy is not one of their skills to the best of my knowledge.
Read this actual blog post from Edward Snowden written in 2014:
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/secrecy/message-edward-snowden-one-year-later
Only then will we get the legislative reform that truly reins in the NSA and puts the government back in its constitutional place. Only then will we get the secure technologies we need to communicate without fear that silently in the background, our very own government is collecting, collating, and crunching the data that allows unelected bureaucrats to intrude into our most private spaces, analyzing our hopes and fears. Until then, every American who jealously guards their rights must do their best to engage in digital self-defense and proactively protect their electronic devices and communications. Every step we can take to secure ourselves from a government that no longer respects our privacy is a patriotic act.
Yes, but think it through. Nothing is created in a vacuum. Where does Camerons referendum offer come from? Its the resut of unrest, and it is this unrest which Mendes and others consciously or not, were commenting on. Its quite common for artists to make statements in their work which even they aren't aware of until much later. No clairvoyancy required.
Really. Not consciously of course, but Spectre is a supranational entity wanting to infeodate the secret services of the free world.
That's it. It's not conscious and it is regardless of the opinion of anyone involved in the movie.
You're just projecting your own opinions on the film and getting the preordained results you're seeking. There's no problem in doing that. We all do that.
Spectre isn't a supranational organisation akin to the European Union.
Spectre is a terrorist organisation. It's basically Al-Qaeda meets the Illuminati.
Skyfall is a more pro-Brexit film, Spectre is much more liberal. Skyfall is all about a broken Britain who has been told repeatedly that's it's worthless and out of pasture. It confronts a European force trying to crush it into admitting it's lack of value. However, it stands up to its oppressor and using good old-fashioned values crushes its enemy.
I can see the Brexit argument there. Even that's a stretch though. But like I said, you can project anything you want on these films.
The real question is whether Bond 25 will explicitly deal with Brexit.
I like your assessment, @Pierce2Daniel. What do you expect from Bond 25, if anything at all, in terms of Brexit?
Personally, I doubt that with all the uncertainties and political turmoil surrounding Brexit, also bearing in mind that Craig is a staunch anti-Brexiter, Brexit will be directly addressed. Subtextually, though, maybe.
I should reiterate that I don't think Skyfall has any subtext about Brexit. It's probably one of the more consciously patriotic films, but 2012 was a great year for Britain. One of unity and pride. Skyfall embodied that sentiment. I'd be wrongly representing it to say it is in any way anti-Europe.
I think Brexit will play a role in Bond 25. Especially back in the UK. We will likely see MI6 under pressure. I can even imagine a storyline where Felix and Billy Magnussen's characters from the CIA don't wish to share intelligence with MI6 due to the precocious situation with Brexit.
Though.......there is a very obvious Brexit metaphor inherit to the Bond character:
...........Brexit was an attempt to regain sovereignty and a sense of pride that had allegedly been stolen by European bureaucrats. There was a sense that 'Britain was once great' and is now being stifled. However, in the wake of this supposed independence movement in 2016, the country has been in shambolic disarray. It's more broken and confused now than ever. Whatever sense of 'nation' and 'pride' it was clinging to dramatically misplaced..............
Since it has been rumoured that Bond will be dealing with depression in Bond 25. I think this sense of 'misplaced pride' and 'false hope in one's country' will factor into Bond 25:
This article makes an interesting point:
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/british-wartime-pluck-is-a-modern-invention-using-it-for-brexit-is-ludicrous-a4203336.html
It is in decline still, at least among younger generations. Look, for example, at James Bond, that quintessentially British hero, and try to think of a character less fit for these times of veganism, charity shops, male mental-health awareness, and #MeToo. Little wonder his most recent film is currently undergoing re-education at the hands of Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
I'm not projecting my personal opinion on the matter. I think Dracula is a piece of Catholic propaganda, even though I'm no longer Catholic. I don't think the EU is eeeevil and dictatorial, I don't think it is Spectre, but neither do I think crucifix are proper protection against aristocratic sexual predators who dabble into real estate.
I'd be okay with a Bond about Brexit as long as it doesn't feel forced or gimmicky.