15 replies to this topic

[Pierce - Daniel]

Does anyone know anything about Clair Dowar?
So far we're heard nothing, has Helen McCrory been cut from the film? If not, does anyone know who she will share her scenes with? I'm guessing Fiennes is the most likely person seeming as they are both Government officials

[007jamesbond]

she is likely to be working with Mallory as part of the intelligence and security committee which is composed of MP and House of Lords. her role is likely not very big

[JCRendle]

I agree, if she's still in the film I'm guessing she's part of the enquiry into the mistakes made by M and MI6.

A lot of this is based in reality - you just have to look into the very real MP enquiries, like those around wars, journalism, police etc.

[Royal Dalton]

Assuming she doesn't get bumped off, I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes the "Geoffrey Keen" of the Craig era.

[Shrublands]

I’ve been thinking - Silva goes to all that trouble to break into the committee room dressed as a policeman. He seems to get there way ahead of Bond but doesn’t shoot Mallory or M.

Surely he must kill someone or do some damage before he makes his escape. I think Clair Dowar MP must be a candidate for being bumped off at that point, no?

[Pussfeller]

That's what I'm thinking, Shrublands. If Silva's gatecraching doesn't claim an important trophy, what point does it serve in the narrative? Clair Dowar seems like she might be a particularly effective sacrificial lamb. However, I personally like the idea of her surviving and becoming a Frederick Gray-style def sec - someone who could spar with M, grumble about the PM, and generally contribute a note of discord and politicky crassness. After several films in which MI6 scenes basically consisted of righteous monologues delivered to speechless flunkies, it would be nice to restore the more deliberative style of the Moore era.

[Shrublands]

Yes, something like that might work well (a good actor like Tim Pigott-Smith from QOS perhaps, with a bit more to do). However, in the case of Clair Dowar, I think the mechanisam of the film might dictate that she will get shot. I think it's probably all a bit more complicated than we think, we don't know too much about Clair or why they needed a name actress to play her.

[Pussfeller]

I believe she was cast because Mendes happened to be chummy with her and thought she'd be good for this part. I'm definitely a fan of McCrory and think she deserves a higher profile, even if it's just in a walk-on in a Bond film. I doubt if she'll be a recurring character, but it's something I'd enthusiastically support, especially after Dench has left and the dameyness levels need boosting. McCrory may not be a dame, but she's sort of a demi-dame.

[Vauxhall]

I'm expecting her to be M's main tormentor on the committee and the MP who gives her the hardest time over her perceived failings.

[Pussfeller]

So she doesn't get killed? I thought perhaps she would die in the crossfire.

[MkB]

So she doesn't get killed? I thought perhaps she would die in the crossfire.

No, as far as as figured from the fight, she is not killed in the shootout.

[DamnCoffee]

She definitely doesn't die. Eve tells her to get to safety, and she runs out of the room.

[Pussfeller]

It sounds as if she exists purely to provide a living specimen of M's "self-righteous a***-covering prigs". Which is an excellent bit of showing-not-telling on the part of the filmmakers. Dowar's grandstanding must result in a lot of audience sympathy for M. This stands in contrast to CR, where M is shown heartily complaining about politicians, but never actually suffering through their bloviations.

[Peckinpah1976]

From a UK-perspective she represents the type of opinionated, self-righteous, agenda-driven career politician who is happy to pass judgment on issues he/she knows little or nothing about - a type that is all too prevalent in modern Whitehall.

Edited by Peckinpah1976, 30 October 2012 - 07:40 AM.

[Tony_OO_Black]

I thought exactly the same thing of her.

Bet she was a Tory.

[Vauxhall]

I believe some observers have queried whether the character of Clair Dowar was based on former Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who made quite an impression when she was sitting on the Culture, Media & Sport Committee.