manfromjapan's mini-mini review

THE REVIEW (PART ONE)

To say that QUANTUM OF SOLACE has received a mixed reception (especially from Bond fans) is an understatement. Reviews have run the whole gamut, indicating we are in THE GODFATHER, PART III territory. Whilst the general tone of the negative reviews is one of disappointment, the ratings tell us that very few reviewers could actually rate it as a bad film.

CASINO ROYALE was an extraordinary Bond film. Since first reading the books as a teenager, it was clear that the literary and cinematic James Bond were separate entities. Sometimes we might get glimpses of the literary Bond in the films, but audiences seemingly didn't want a human, fallible interpretation of the character. Every time Fleming was a heavy element in the films, it seemed to result in lower box-office returns (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY). When Timothy Dalton took over the role in 1986, we were promised Ian Fleming's James Bond. And his portrayal of 007 was straight out of the books. His two films (THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and LICENCE TO KILL) remain two of the most interesting films in the series, but audiences (particularly in America) didn't embrace Dalton as much as they did Moore and later Brosnan and now Craig. The reasons for that will always be open to debate, but for me I felt that it was because the literary James Bond was something audiences were by and large uncomfortable with.

Pierce Brosnan's films presented 007 as an unchanged character in a forever changing world, a constant. His interpretation of the role was more humorous than Dalton's, and this was the cinematic Bond that audiences were accustomed to. To be fair, Brosnan and Eon Productions attempted to bring vulnerability and shades of grey to the character. The films remained crowd-pleasing action films, but Brosnan's reign probed a little into Bond's psyche, challenged the character and didn't avoid showing his ruthless, melancholic side.

In hindsight it's clear that the four Brosnan films now represent the bridge to the Daniel Craig era. Audiences waited six years for GOLDENEYE, and for seven years (from GOLDENEYE to DIE ANOTHER DAY) they had in Brosnan a 'classic' Bond and four traditional, but modern and mildly experimental blockbusters. Whether they knew it or not, they were primed and ready for a new approach to Bond.

The literary approach.

Freed from the constraints of formula ( 'Q', Moneypenny, the gunbarrel introduction, the James Bond theme etc) because they were showing James Bond as the man before he became the secret agent we all know and love, the film-makers were energised and inspired by the new avenues that opened up. Audiences now had a context in which to place the departures from the formula. The lack of familiar elements felt less jarring and now even exciting. Of course films such as THE SUM OF ALL FEARS and BATMAN BEGINS had already shown established heroes in their internship phases, and the BOURNE films had a more realistic, gritty and human hero. Audiences were not completely overwhelmed by the idea of a 'Bond Begins' thriller.

CASINO ROYALE became the highest grossing of the series (not including the number of admissions or taking inflation into account) and garnered mostly excellent reviews. Craig, whose casting had been severely criticised in some quarters, was singled out for praise, was loved by audiences (including a gracious Brosnan) and was even nominated for a BAFTA. Personally, I couldn't believe how great the film was. It wasn't just the best 007 film since ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE- it was the best 007 film period, something numerous repeat viewings didn't change.

It presented Ian Fleming's James Bond. A complex and extraordinary man who thrives on conflict but is still uncomfortable with killing in cold blood. He was human. He made mistakes of judgment, was arrogant and sexist. His defining traits were his stamina and his ability to never rest until the job was done, even when faced with certain death. When his heart is opened and broken by Vesper in the movie, it's a powerful conclusion. His chance to escape his soul-destroying vocation has been closed up again, his fate sealed. He is now again the 'blunt instrument' he perfectly embodies.

Audiences and fans by and large accepted the new approach, and suddenly we were in a situation where the possibilities for the character and the series were very exciting indeed. Eon Productions could take the series in a fresh direction, and could reintroduce the familiar elements when and where they felt appropriate. Was this a new golden age for James Bond movies?

THE ROAD TO QUANTUM

Martin Campbell was approached to return to the director's chair, but like he did after GOLDENEYE, he wasn't interested in making two Bond films in a row. Roger Michell, who directed Daniel Craig in THE MOTHER andENDURING LOVE, as well as the acclaimed FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL and CHANGING LANES was originally in line to direct. Sony wanted to capitalise on ROYALE's success by releasing, what was quickly announced as a direct sequel to the film, in the summer of 2008. Without a script in place, Michell eventually bailed and the release date was changed to the last quarter of 2008 instead. Paul Haggis, once gain a contributor to the screenplay, declined an offer to direct, citing it as too big a commitment. It's possible he might helm a future picture. Marc Forster, who directed DIE ANOTHER DAY'S Halle Berry to a Best Actress Oscar in MONSTER'S BALL, was selected as his replacement. His good relationship with Sony and the Broccolis admiration for his work seemed to be the deciding factors. His appointment is interesting because he is arguably the most acclaimed film-maker to be approached to direct a Bond film. Unlike Lee Tamahori, who had great acclaim with ONCE WERE WARRIORS, he had never directed an action film before. The message was clear. Eon Productions were serious about making a film that would be artistic as well as crowd-pleasing.

A QUANTUM OF STYLE

And so welcome to the boldest, most audacious, most stylish, most exciting, most powerful James Bond film. Courtesy of Forster , QUANTUM OF SOLACE (fittingly, the title stems from one of Fleming's experimental Bond short stories, originally found in the 'For Your Eyes Only' collection) goes even further than the brilliant CASINO ROYALE in redefining the possibilities of what a modern 007 adventure can be. The film is very much a Bond picture, but there has never been a Bond picture quite like it. If you pardon the awful pun, it has very much shaken and not stirred the franchise to it's foundations. It's truly an artistic piece of work that is also fabulously entertaining. One walks out of the cinema exhausted, and most importantly, moved. Yes, QUANTUM OF SOLACE is not only a visceral action experience but also an emotionally gruelling one. It's also the finest Bond film ever made...quite a remarkable achievement for a sequel to what was previously the best Bond film, and which was released only two years ago.

If CASINO ROYALE was the new DR. NO, creating a new franchise based on an existing one (in the sense that DR.NO was based on the Ian Fleming novels) and being every bit as daring, up-to-date and joyously fun, then QUANTUM is the new FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE. The film is every bit as artistic and accomplished as the film based on Fleming's finest Bond novel. But the comparisons are ultimately meaningless. The success or failure of this particular approach to the now 56-year old character will determine how far the 21st century can transpose Ian Fleming's 20th century creation. Whether Bond can become a hero who is a mirror of our times, and a series of films as artistically meaningful as they are simply fun. ROYALE laid the foundations for QUANTUM, and what we now have is a new Golden Age of Bond films that hypothetically can go into new and exciting areas, and perhaps attract suitable and high-profile artists (and not just excellent craftsmen) to direct the films.

THE PRE-CREDITS SEQUENCE (ITALY)

QUANTUM begins with ominous, edgy David Arnold music. Yes, that's right...there is no gunbarrel introduction. Many expected it, and it's one of the first things that might disappoint traditional fans. Personally, I think a gunbarrel would have simply broken the continuity between ROYALE and QUANTUM. (The film is supposedly set anywhere from minutes to an hour after the end of the last film, depending on which production member you ask.) It's slowly accompanied by a tracking shot across Lake Garda (very LEON) to winding mountainous roads, intercut with shots of Bond's Aston Martin DBS, Bond's face and what appears to be the middle of a very deadly car chase. Very cool, very stylish, very confident. The shots are instantly reminiscent of the teasing establishing shots of the then new 007 George Lazenby in the pre-credits sequence to ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (one of my favourite Bond films). We are then suddenly thrust into the middle of an exhilarating gun battle/ car chase. Bond is being pursued high speed by two Alfa Romeo-driving assailants wielding machine guns, and all parties are causing havoc with the traffic. The way the scene has been edited and filmed is so that we are literally thrust into the middle of the action (the same way Bond probably was, making the action feel first person), ducking and weaving from cars coming at us, bullets being fired, cars trying to knock us off the side of the road or into the side of the mountains. One will find oneself ducking or gasping. No set-up or context. The way Bond copes and tries to stay alive is the way we the audience have to conquer our fears and stay on the edge of our seats, whilst at the same time trying to make sense of where the bullets and danger is coming from. Just as one could vicariously enjoy the vivid writing of the action scenes in the Fleming novels (and he was exceptionally brilliant at it), we can enjoy the cinematic equivalent here. There isn't really time to think for Bond in the sequence. But he does, and he conquers his foes. He is more of a hero than us because we cannot imagine getting through such impossible odds. It's a brilliant opening, and like the one in CASINO ROYALE, is relatively unambitious (it doesn't try to top previous pre-credits sequences, for example) but artistically right.

Some have complained the scene is the first of many BOURNE-inspired action scenes and that this means the film is derivative. (Second-unit director Dan Bradley handled the same unit and co-ordinated the stunts on the last two BOURNE films; Simon Crane handled the second unit in Panama.) Well, I will say this. I was enjoying the chase too much to worry about that. And if the scene leaves you unmoved, then you are either too hard to please or clinically dead.

A note about Roberto Shaefer's cinematography. The scene is beautifully lit, simultaneously gritty and resplendent. It sets the tone for the film. QUANTUM OF SOLACE is the most panoramic, eye-catching, artfully composed Bond picture since Claude Renoir's work on THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. For a film breaking so many of the supposed rules of the series, it's ironic that it looks more like a '60's Bond film than any Bond picture in thirty years!!

Bond survives and drives his battered DBS through tunnels to an MI6 safehouse in Siena, Italy (humorously, Forster indiscates the location with an elegantly scrolled title card...the first of many - they reminded me of J.J. Abrams humorous title cards in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III eg. 'Berlin, Germany'). He opens the boot (trunk) of the car and there is the damaged Mr. White (Jesper Christensen). 'Time to get out' says Bond with an understated, wry grin. And then a freeze frame.

Yes, a freeze frame. Even though we have had barely time to breathe during the car chase, it's breather (Bond driving through the tunnels) has allowed us time to take in the cinematography, David Arnold's excellent music (complete with a definite nod to John Barry's score for THE PERSUADERS) and also it's sense of style. From that opening tracking shot, it's clear that Marc Forster is not trying to shoot this like the previous Bond films have been shot. Eon Productions have bravely given him carte blanche to apply his own artistic pallette. And within the pre-credits sequence, it's clear that this is promising to be an action-packed ride, with possibly more humour than CASINO ROYALE and an epic look and stylish feel.

The pre-credits sequence has been edited to within an inch of it's life, and it's about 3 1/2 minutes in length. It quite easily could have been ten minutes in length. But the length of the pre-credits sequence, like the similarly short one in the previous film, seems to be making an artistic point. Gone are the extravagant, (beautifully) over-the-top, extended pre-credits scenes of yore, replaced by plot-motivated scenes that set the film up with brevity and economy and hint at the direction of the film. It's pretty fair to say that if one is unmoved by the opening of the film, then you are going to be in for a disappointing ride.

Oh, and I personally don't care if technically Bond isn't wearing the same tuxedo and hair style he had at the end of ROYALE. If one notices it after multiple viewings, then it only serves to emphasise that this is a film treading it's own path. The latter can be explained by Tom Ford replacing Brioni as Craig's tailor.

THE MAIN TITLES AND THEME SONG

For the first time since GOLDENEYE, Daniel Kleinman is not designing the main titles. They were handled by Kansas-based design company MK12, who also worked on STRANGER THAN FICTION (2006) and THE KITE RUNNER (2007) for Marc Forster. The main strength of the titles are that they are unique to the series. We have 3-D (think Sandman in SPIDER-MAN 3) images of a gun-toting, tuxedoed Daniel Craig in the sun-baked desert (hinting at the climax of the movie), complete with the welcome return of nude females after their absence from the CASINO ROYALE titles! The main weakness is that the imagery is not particularly varied or striking enough for a Bond title sequence. They very quickly become tiresome, and they lack imagination or a discernible iconic theme. It has to be said, Daniel Kleinman, the perfect replacement for the legendary Maurice Binder, is sorely missed, and after an excellent and equally unique pre-credits sequence, it's at first slightly worrying. Will the film-makers tamper with the formula excessively?

The theme song, 'Another Way to Die' (a nicely Bondian title - it could very easily have been the film's title) represents the series's first duet. It's performed by Jack White (frontman with alternative acts The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, and also the track's composer/ producer) with R&B/ soul singer Alicia Keys. Given the integral part in Bond's evolvement played by the lead Bond girl, Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) in the picture, having the theme song be a duet has a nice symmetry to it. Upon the few first listens, the song is distinctively underwhelming. But it's charms do become apparent. It's obvious White is a fan of the Bond theme songs for underneath the sampling and distorted guitars, it's very much a Bond song, helped immensely by the Bondian motifs and paranoid mood of the film in the lyrics, the presence of The Memphis Horns and Keys's most suitably throaty, soulful dulcet tones. The track is edgy and offbeat enough (not to mention funky!) for it to be commercial (remember that if anything the theme songs are meant to be effective selling points for the movie), and it pulls off the difficult feat of simultaneously being a pastiche and a suitable Bond theme. If it doesn't entirely suit the visuals of the main titles, then it does suit the tone and intent of the film. It's Bond, but like the film that follows, up-to-date, modern and not precious regarding the legacy of 007. It's approach isn't taking the piss out of 007, it's celebrating him.

THE PALIO CHASE SCENE
The film properly begins by duplicating the structure of the previous film. CASINO ROYALE also had a brief, concise, brutal pre-credits scene, followed by an alternative singer performing a different in style (Chris Cornell's theme, 'You Know My Name' was effectively a cock-rock anthem) Bond theme over unique main titles, and then followed by a heart-pumping foot chase that in any other Bond film would have been the pre-credits sequence itself. QUANTUM OF SOLACE also has a foot chase that quickly follows the main titles.

But before we get to the foot chase we get to see a very brief attempt to interrogate Mr. White, whose unsettlingly uncharacteristic laugh completely sells the idea that MI6 are completely clueless about the organisation he works for. One confusing aspect of the aftermath of this scene is that even after multiple viewings it appears that 'M' is shot by the duplicituous Mitchell. We later see that this wasn't the case.

The chase scene is as exhilaratingly exciting as the footchase in CASINO ROYALE but more artistically filmed. It is as frenetically edited as the pre-credits sequence, but here Forster once again makes his presence felt. (It's wonderful that in this film we have a film-maker who makes his presence felt in the action scenes. Traditionally, Bond directors, such as THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH's Michael Apted, have taken a back seat to the action scenes and allowed the second-unit directors to have free rein. In QUANTUM OF SOLACE, like CASINO ROYALE, the action scenes are an integral part of the artistic and narrative fabric of the film. We once again learn about who Bond is and how he is evolving from each successive action scene.)

Second-unit footage of the Palio di Siena horse race that takes place bi-annually (2nd July; 16th August) in the Tuscan city of. Siena was captured on 16th August 2007, with Daniel Craig in attendance. (Main unit filming didn't begin until 3rd January the following year at Pinewood Studios, England.) The 'Palio' is the name given to an annual contest in Italy that pits people from different neighborhoods against each other in an athletic contest. There are hundreds of such events in Italy and nearby countries. Competitors usually wear special costumes, and the events usually celebrate a Middle Ages event or tradition. The Palio di Siena includes ten riders wearing costumes from ten of the seventeen different city wards. There's an elaborate pageant called the Corteo Storico, before the two races. The races attract visitors from all around the world and are a huge boost for tourism.

Marc Forster has boldly chosen to intercut shots of the horse race with 007 chasing the traitorous Mitchell through the underground caverns of Siena's cisterns where MI6 were holding Mr. White, through to the crowds of the horse race where Mitchell has shot an innocent bystander and there is complete bedlam. Then we are across rooftops and the top of a bus, and finally to a vertigo-inducing upside-down fist-fight on ropes dangling from the ceiling of an art gallery. The rapid-fire editing is meant to convey the relentless determination of 007 and his immense physical exertion. We are seeing the way ahead the way Bond would see it in his eyeline for many shots. The death of the innocent bystander is allowed a moment or two to register for the audience, and for once we see the 'collateral damage' that the 'spy game' can cause. It's an unuually human moment in a Bond film, and action films in general, and testament to the humanity of it's director. Forster also sets a precedent for the film's many action scenes with the Siena chase. We are allowed to see the aftermath of each action scene. Here an innocent woman has been shot, Bond's shooting of Mitchell rings out to an empty stadium. The audience is allowed to take a breather, but Forster doesn't let them completely off the hook. We get to see the environmental and emotional damage of violence, which eventually turns out to be a theme of the film with Camille's background and the villains' plot. Forster doesn't knock the audience over the head with such ideas. He's a subtle film-maker, but it's there to see if one has the eyes to see it (and bearing in mind the mixed reviews, it's possible many viewers are not sophisticated enough to pick up on them, or simply aren't expecting 'art' in a Bond film, perish the thought!).

The chase scene finishes up brilliantly and imaginatively. Bond and Mitchell crash through the windowed roof of an art gallery still under construction. Precariously hanging onto ropes whilst fighting each other to the death, it's a dizzying, offbeat, Bondian fight scene in which one really does wonder how Bond will gain the upper hand. Of course he does, and as his killshot rings out we cut to the devastation the spy game has caused. An abandoned horse race that was meant to unify it's citizens but has instead sent shockwaves through the city. And with Mitchell dead and Mr. White spirited away, MI6 and Bond are still in the dark about the mysterious organisation that cost Vesper her life.

Edited by manfromjapan, 19 January 2009 - 02:10 PM.

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