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Skyfall: A rendezvous with death?
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air -
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
Alan Seeger, 1888-1916
James Bond’s obituary has been written many times, on screen and off. The Secret Intelligence Service’s most special agent was nominally killed and even buried in the opening sequence of You Only Live Twice. Ian Fleming died in 1964; the final Bond novel was published posthumously, and incomplete. Production of the films twice stalled after the departure of the leading actor and the poor reception accorded the last entry. All of this has threatened a character who has also fought to survive wars ended and begun, and loyalties strained and remade.
After a lengthy hiatus brought on by financial pressures and the need for a conceptual regroup following the incoherence of Quantum of Solace, the arrival of Skyfall will have seen the pen uncapped once more by critics and the public alike. And, indeed, before the second reel of the new film has run its course Bond’s obituary is duly prepared, this time by the person who knows him best.
But in M’s hesitancy to complete it, we see the core of the fiftieth anniversary release begin to be exposed. Throughout a film that will play with notions of duty and honour, trust and betrayal, Bond and M stand together to the end. The result is compelling.
A life that closes must first be lived. Supervised by M, Bond’s discovery of a dead MI6 agent and a missing list rapidly accelerates into a kinetic, relentless chase by car, motorcycle and train along the streets, across the rooftops and through the rail tunnels of Istanbul, the location one of several tributes paid to episodes past. A parallel pursuit develops as Bond’s driver Eve, played by Naomie Harris, races the train on which he and his adversary fight.
Challenge enough for any director yet Sam Mendes, new to this great game, grasps the epic scope and driven action immediately and controls it utterly. A thrilling physicality recalls the urgency and rawness of Fleming’s prose and is captured by camerawork and editing of immense lucidity, erasing forever the chaos that was his predecessor’s attempt. Daniel Craig again essays the visceral Bond who seldom holds back, here purposely crashing his bike into a balustrade so as to be catapulted onto the train passing below.
As Bond later plunges, flailing, into a river, arms floating wide beneath the surface, the narrative segues into the immersive opening credits. Death’s heads, diffusing blood, gravestones; Daniel Kleinman returns, filling this Acheron with disturbing imagery straight from hell itself.
- continued at http://www.chrismrogers.net/#/film-review-skyfall/4570523676
with a 'making of' sidebar concentrating on the architectural illusions in the film to follow soon
www.chrismrogers.net, a website for architecture and visual culture
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air -
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
Alan Seeger, 1888-1916
James Bond’s obituary has been written many times, on screen and off. The Secret Intelligence Service’s most special agent was nominally killed and even buried in the opening sequence of You Only Live Twice. Ian Fleming died in 1964; the final Bond novel was published posthumously, and incomplete. Production of the films twice stalled after the departure of the leading actor and the poor reception accorded the last entry. All of this has threatened a character who has also fought to survive wars ended and begun, and loyalties strained and remade.
After a lengthy hiatus brought on by financial pressures and the need for a conceptual regroup following the incoherence of Quantum of Solace, the arrival of Skyfall will have seen the pen uncapped once more by critics and the public alike. And, indeed, before the second reel of the new film has run its course Bond’s obituary is duly prepared, this time by the person who knows him best.
But in M’s hesitancy to complete it, we see the core of the fiftieth anniversary release begin to be exposed. Throughout a film that will play with notions of duty and honour, trust and betrayal, Bond and M stand together to the end. The result is compelling.
A life that closes must first be lived. Supervised by M, Bond’s discovery of a dead MI6 agent and a missing list rapidly accelerates into a kinetic, relentless chase by car, motorcycle and train along the streets, across the rooftops and through the rail tunnels of Istanbul, the location one of several tributes paid to episodes past. A parallel pursuit develops as Bond’s driver Eve, played by Naomie Harris, races the train on which he and his adversary fight.
Challenge enough for any director yet Sam Mendes, new to this great game, grasps the epic scope and driven action immediately and controls it utterly. A thrilling physicality recalls the urgency and rawness of Fleming’s prose and is captured by camerawork and editing of immense lucidity, erasing forever the chaos that was his predecessor’s attempt. Daniel Craig again essays the visceral Bond who seldom holds back, here purposely crashing his bike into a balustrade so as to be catapulted onto the train passing below.
As Bond later plunges, flailing, into a river, arms floating wide beneath the surface, the narrative segues into the immersive opening credits. Death’s heads, diffusing blood, gravestones; Daniel Kleinman returns, filling this Acheron with disturbing imagery straight from hell itself.
- continued at http://www.chrismrogers.net/#/film-review-skyfall/4570523676
with a 'making of' sidebar concentrating on the architectural illusions in the film to follow soon
www.chrismrogers.net, a website for architecture and visual culture
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Comments
By the way, this should probably go in the review thread though.