Daniel Craig's Bond Films P1

 

“The dead… are alive.”

The opening shots of “Spectre” in 2015 were unusual. For the first time in the Craig era, we got the bullet-hole shot in its traditional place, with John Barry’s iconic theme. However, what came next was a black screen and the above words in white, with a cut to the opening scene in Mexico City on the Day of the Dead. One might think that it was merely a strange stylistic flourish, but I think that it was an important reference to the themes of the series.

Craig’s Bond has been about death in a way that none of the previous films were. With very few exceptions (just 2?) James Bond movies have not taken death seriously. The deaths were usually reserved for the bad guys and mostly cartoonish. The impact was seldom felt and almost never consequential. Beginning I “Casino Royale” all of that changed.

In each of the first three Craig films, we get an impactful and meaningful death. “Casino Royale” saw Vesper Lynd die and the series—all the way through to “No Time to Die” never lets us forget her because Bond never does. “Quantum of Solace” had René Mathis die in the film’s most moving moment. And, of course, “Skyfall” gave us M’s Death.

It is not just the fact that death is meaningful and consequential in Craig’s Bond, the deaths in the films are tied to the messages of the films and help carry the through-line of the series. (This continuation of an overall storyline is another unique feature of the era.) Consider the first three films and their messages:

“Casino Royale” (2006) is all about Bond becoming Bond. He has just been made a double-O, and much of the story focuses on how he needs to learn that the job is not about winning, it is about making good choices to achieve the ultimate goal of safeguarding freedoms. And often, for spies like Bond, winning is not the right move. Sometimes to win the game, sacrifices must be made. You must lose parts of the game to win in the end. And in the death of Vesper, we get this idea reinforced. She sacrifices herself to try to save Bond (after having sacrificed everything to save her boyfriend). Lesson: It is not always about winning, sometimes you must make sacrifices.

“Quantum of Solace” (2008) continues the story of Bond’s formation as a spy. (It is so closely tied to the previous entry it almost feels like a two-parter.). Much of the. Story is about Bond chasing down those responsible for Vesper’s death. A parallel side-story revolves around a Bolivian agent, Camille Montes, seeking revenge for the death of her family. In a brief sequence, Bond asks the help of René Mathis, an agent he erroneously fingered as a traitor in the previous film. Mathis helps Bond, even though he could have refused since Bond had basically ruined his life. Mathis ends up dying in Bond’s arms. By the end of the film, Bond tracks down Vesper’s boyfriend who had betrayed her and played her into becoming a double agent. He does not kill him. He has learned to set his feelings aside for the sake of the bigger picture. Lesson: It is not always about revenge, sometimes you must forgive.

“Skyfall” (2012) is the middle story in the bigger, five-film story of Craig’s Bond. Ironically, it could be said that it is more M’s story than it is Bond’s. Sometime has passed since “Casino/Quantum.” Bond is shot and left for dead on a mission to recover the secret identities of spies throughout the world. His death is ostensibly M’s fault. He returns to duty when someone out to destroy M and the whole spy infrastructure begins to kill undercover agents. That enemy turns out to be another ex-double-O who felt himself betrayed by M. The parallels between Bond and this enemy, Silva, are many and clear. Primarily, both had a deeply ingrained drive to win M’s approval. The problem is that, even though M can clearly care about her people, she understands that the mission comes first. When the realization hit Silva that M was willing to sacrifice anything and anyone for the “greater-good” including him, he broke. Will Bond be any different? Ultimately Bond remains loyal and defeats Silva, but not before M is mortally wounded. Lesson: It is not always about approval, sometimes it is about duty.

The idea of death continues in the series. More enemies… and allies… many characters we have grown to care about… die. The last two films, “Spectre” (2015) and “No Time to Die” (2021) form another two-part story and conclude the whole story in a powerful manner. More on that in future posts…