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The appearance of the villain(s)

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  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    chrisisall wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Post-plastic surgery Stromberg?! Whatever do you mean Mr chrisisall?
    No one is born with truly webbed fingers, I figured Stromberg for the kind of nut that'd have it done in prep for his 'event'.
    ;)

    Well Gemma Arterton (Agent Strawberry Fields) was born with six fingers and if you read the TSWLM novelisation by Christopher Wood all of this is in fact explained.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well Gemma Arterton (Agent Strawberry Fields) was born with six fingers
    Yes, people have been born with a wide variety of digital anomalies, but not perfectly webbed fingers.
    and if you read the TSWLM novelisation by Christopher Wood all of this is in fact explained.
    I read it, and I like my explanation for the movie Stromberg's webbed fingers better.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    chrisisall wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well Gemma Arterton (Agent Strawberry Fields) was born with six fingers
    Yes, people have been born with a wide variety of digital anomalies, but not perfectly webbed fingers.
    and if you read the TSWLM novelisation by Christopher Wood all of this is in fact explained.
    I read it, and I like my explanation for the movie Stromberg's webbed fingers better.

    Yes, but it's not official, is it? It's solely your opinion and it does not tally with what Christopher Wood wrote in his officially sanctioned novelisation of TSWLM.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Yes, but it's not official, is it? It's solely your opinion and it does not tally with what Christopher Wood wrote in his officially sanctioned novelisation of TSWLM.
    The movie does not explain it, so I'm free to believe as I like, and the novelization is IMO a different animal with a substantively different physical Stromberg, so when I read it, I fully accept THAT explanation for THAT version.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    chrisisall wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Yes, but it's not official, is it? It's solely your opinion and it does not tally with what Christopher Wood wrote in his officially sanctioned novelisation of TSWLM.
    The movie does not explain it, so I'm free to believe as I like, and the novelization is IMO a different animal with a substantively different physical Stromberg, so when I read it, I fully accept THAT explanation for THAT version.

    Well fair enough.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    Something I thought about, although it wouldn't work all the time and might belong more to dark fantasy or horror stories: Venetian masks. Venetian disguises anyway. Arlequin for the henchman, and a Bauta mask for the leader. Maybe Quantum could meet like this. Just a thought.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    Ludovico wrote:
    Something I thought about, although it wouldn't work all the time and might belong more to dark fantasy or horror stories: Venetian masks. Venetian disguises anyway. Arlequin for the henchman, and a Bauta mask for the leader. Maybe Quantum could meet like this. Just a thought.

    Sounds a bit like a Klu Klux Klan cook-out, no? Interesting, nonetheless.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    edited October 2013 Posts: 16,330
    pachazo wrote:
    Just out of curiosity, why is it that everyone hates the Blofeld in drag scene (including me) but no one bats an eye over the Bouvar sequence?

    Because Bob Simmons! And the fight between Bond and Bouvar was awesome.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    andmcit wrote:
    Actually, I feel the striking eyes reference is a very good one as they're always seen as the window to the soul etc and when they are so vividly coloured they can be mesmerising. Just a few weeks ago as part of my work I was shown a portrait of a very pretty woman who had the most amazing vivid bottle green eyes unlike anything I've ever seen and the impact on myself and everyone who saw it was huge - easily achieved with contact lenses with an unusual bright orange or rich dark green etc. If not the villain a leading character?

    Certainly clothes and mannerisms tell a story about a character but I don't feel physical deformities are the right way to go no matter how dramatic they may be depicted on the screen as this can be seen as being prejudicial to people with disabilities.

    Agreed very much on "the power of eyes" as windows to the soul and all that jazz. It's interesting to note that The Master of Disguise himself, Bond's archenemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld actually uses green tint contact lenses to change his appearance in Fleming's OHMSS (1963).
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    Most Bond villains have some unusual quirk about their appearances. May Day just looked bizarre...
    Largo with his eye patch, Dr No's hands, LeChiffe's left eye and so on.
    Dominic Green was just a whuzzy and we did not need him at all.
    Silva's blond hair...what is it with Bardem movie characters and hair? Have you seen him in the previews of the new Ridley Scott movie, "The Counselor".
    Jeez.....
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,465
    @OHMSS69, I think Greene's little trademark was the fact that he had those buggy, chameleon eyes. Just look at the glance he gives Leiter and Beam after he gets off the plane and gets in the car in QoS.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Something I thought about, although it wouldn't work all the time and might belong more to dark fantasy or horror stories: Venetian masks. Venetian disguises anyway. Arlequin for the henchman, and a Bauta mask for the leader. Maybe Quantum could meet like this. Just a thought.

    Sounds a bit like a Klu Klux Klan cook-out, no? Interesting, nonetheless.

    In a more sophisticated way. I thought people would think of Eyes Wide Shut actually. I find Venetian masks very creepy.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    Ludovico wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Something I thought about, although it wouldn't work all the time and might belong more to dark fantasy or horror stories: Venetian masks. Venetian disguises anyway. Arlequin for the henchman, and a Bauta mask for the leader. Maybe Quantum could meet like this. Just a thought.

    Sounds a bit like a Klu Klux Klan cook-out, no? Interesting, nonetheless.

    In a more sophisticated way. I thought people would think of Eyes Wide Shut actually. I find Venetian masks very creepy.

    Yes, I like your esoteric tastes, just what Bond villains are in need of, in fact.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Creasy47 wrote:
    @OHMSS69, I think Greene's little trademark was the fact that he had those buggy, chameleon eyes. Just look at the glance he gives Leiter and Beam after he gets off the plane and gets in the car in QoS.

    Yep. That was a creepy scene.

    "And you want us to put us in bed with those guys?"

    "I need to know that you're with the program, Felix. That you value your career."

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Creasy47 wrote:
    @OHMSS69, I think Greene's little trademark was the fact that he had those buggy, chameleon eyes. Just look at the glance he gives Leiter and Beam after he gets off the plane and gets in the car in QoS.

    Yep. That was a creepy scene.

    "And you want us to put us in bed with those guys?"

    "I need to know that you're with the program, Felix. That you value your career."

    Yes, and it realistically reflected the American geopolitical scene too for once, of course.
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    edited October 2013 Posts: 2,341
    I like the idea of Venetian masks. Have the villain only shown in the mask and at th end we see his face and he revealed to be just an average looking guy...no deformities or weirdness just a creepy look like Norman Bates or (ugh) Dominic Greene

    A new take would be a female lead villainess. And not some hot chick like Electra in TWINE but some middle aged woman like Jessica Lange or Barbara Hershey (she's still smoking at 60-plus, but thats besides the point)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2013 Posts: 17,800
    OHMSS69 wrote:
    I like the idea of Venetian masks. Have the villain only shown in the mask and at th end we see his face and he revealed to be just an average looking guy...no deformities or weirdness just a creepy look like Norman Bates or (ugh) Dominic Greene

    A new take would be a female lead villainess. And not some hot chick like Electra in TWINE but some middle aged woman like Jessica Lange or Barbara Hershey (she's still smoking at 60-plus, but thats besides the point)

    Yes, I like your mask idea and the no deformities one too.

    On female villains Kate O'Mara would be a good choice perhaps - she's on record years ago saying she'd love to play a Bond villainess and I'm sure she'd make a great job of it too in a Rosa Klebb and Irma Bunt sense! She has form in the spy area as she was in the Roger Moore The Saint episodes "Double Take", "Counterfeit Countess" and "Fast Women".

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_O'Mara
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    The thing about masks is that they are both classy and scary. It would make for a great effect, especially in the right setting.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2013 Posts: 17,800
    Ludovico wrote:
    The thing about masks is that they are both classy and scary. It would make for a great effect, especially in the right setting.

    As long as they don't end up imitating V for Vendetta, of course.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    The thing about masks is that they are both classy and scary. It would make for a great effect, especially in the right setting.

    As long as they don't end up imitating V for Vendetta, of course.

    Well, no Guy Fawkes of course, simply some elegant yet menacing Venetian masks. If they go slightly the Eyes Wide Shut route I am all for it...;-)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2013 Posts: 17,800
    Ludovico wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    The thing about masks is that they are both classy and scary. It would make for a great effect, especially in the right setting.

    As long as they don't end up imitating V for Vendetta, of course.

    Well, no Guy Fawkes of course, simply some elegant yet menacing Venetian masks. If they go slightly the Eyes Wide Shut route I am all for it...;-)

    I've not seen that one, but I really need to go now and Google Image Venetian masks, @Ludovico! I love this thread.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    Thinking about what I wrote before in this thread, about an accumulation of small elements making the overall appearance of the villain striking and unsettling, I came up with something. They used this method for Silva, and I thought about going the same way, but on the other side of the road, so to speak. Silva had longish bleached blond hair, the villain could have short, crew cut dark hair. Bulky, but not effeminate, on the contrary brutish. Very dark eyebrows, or maybe no eyebrows at all, or barely any. Rough skin, as if he worked outside a lot, in harsh conditions. Elegant, but not wearing outlandish clothes, something dark. He would have a military, soldier-like and rather unsubtle way of moving in them. Maybe has a rose or an orchid at his chest, something delicate that does not fit at all with his overall demeanour.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Sounds like one of the Spang brothers in Fleming's DAF.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    edited November 2013 Posts: 14,822
    Double post.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Sounds like one of the Spang brothers in Fleming's DAF.

    Or Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Thunderball novel.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Sounds like one of the Spang brothers in Fleming's DAF.

    Or Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Thunderball novel.

    Darnit, that is what I had written in my double post, which by mistake I lost. I was thinking more about Blofeld, but yes, Jack Spang could work too of course. There might even be a dash of General G from FRWL in it. I think it is always a good idea to go back to Fleming.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,800
    Ludovico wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Sounds like one of the Spang brothers in Fleming's DAF.

    Or Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Thunderball novel.

    Darnit, that is what I had written in my double post, which by mistake I lost. I was thinking more about Blofeld, but yes, Jack Spang could work too of course. There might even be a dash of General G from FRWL in it. I think it is always a good idea to go back to Fleming.

    Going back to Fleming? Certainly, I'll all for that.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    edited November 2013 Posts: 14,822
    I watched The French Connection again, and while it is as far as a movie can be from a Bond movie, I do think Alain Charnier's appearance and mannerism could be translated into a Bond villain. Maybe not Bond 24, as I would like a more brutish villain after Silva, for contrast's sake, but otherwise, someone clad in black, with a polite, even mundane way of acting, hiding his ruthlessness under a veneer of respectability, would work really well. Not a madman, merely a gentrified villain. Akin to the novel OHMSS' Blofeld.
  • SoundofthesinnersSoundofthesinners
    Posts: 3,236
    Ludovico wrote:
    I watched The French Connection again, and while it is as far as a movie can be from a Bond movie, I do think Alain Charnier's appearance and mannerism could be translated into a Bond villain. Maybe not Bond 24, as I would like a more brutish villain after Silva, for contrast's sake, but otherwise, someone clad in black, with a polite, even mundane way of acting, hiding his ruthlessness under a veneer of respectability, would work really well. Not a madman, merely a gentrified villain. Akin to the novel OHMSS' Blofeld.

    He reminds me, in both appearance and character, of Kristatos. Charnier works better in the French Connection than Kristatos does in For Your Eyes Only, precisely because of how different the two films are. The French Connection is a realistic thriller based on a true story with flawed heroes and a fairly mundane evil plot, as evil plots go. The Bond series is forever fantastical, with a hero who is idealized even as he's flawed, and eternally over-the-top evil plots.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,822
    I always thought Kristatos was quite underrated. In any case, Charnier's dress code and beard would look oddly old fashioned today, thus making a similar villain very fitting in a Bond movie.
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