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Madame Wu


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#1 Dr. Kovacs

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 07:00 PM

During the scene where Le Chiffre is playing cards with Madame Wu and "the general" aboard his yacht in the Bahamas, he tells Kratt to "give our guests five minutes to leave, then throw them overboard."

I originally interpreted this remark to mean that he intended to kill his two guests and literally dump their bodies into the ocean, but doesn't the character of Madame Wu reappear at Casino Royale later in the story (as the Asian lady seated between 007 and Felix Leiter at the beginning of the poker game)? Is "throw them overboard" merely a crude way of telling Kratt to have the two guests depart so he can focus on finding a replacement for Mollaka?

My apologies if this has been brought up before (this is my first post) - this is my only point of confusion in what I consider to be the the best Bond film in decades!

Edited by Dr. Kovacs, 17 January 2007 - 08:13 PM.


#2 Four Aces

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 07:09 PM

...Is "throw them overboard" merely a crude way of telling Kratt to have the two guests depart so he can focus on finding a replacement for Mollaka?


Yes.

#3 JCRendle

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 08:25 PM

"give our guests five minutes to leave or throw them overboard."

Obviously they got out within 5 mins. I think he's the kind of person who would throw them overboard, and Kratt seems the kind of person who would do it.

#4 Dr. Kovacs

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 08:52 PM

Although it does seem unlikely that he would have disposed of anybody's bodies while there is still daylight, and in a harbor surrounded by several other boats in close proximity (as seen in the establishing shot of Valenka climbing out of the ocean).

#5 JCRendle

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 09:14 PM

other boats mean great cover.

#6 Four Aces

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 09:19 PM

Although it does seem unlikely that he would have disposed of anybody's bodies while there is still daylight, and in a harbor surrounded by several other boats in close proximity (as seen in the establishing shot of Valenka climbing out of the ocean).


And that was a very nice shot too! :cooltongue:

#7 Qwerty

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 09:21 PM

"give our guests five minutes to leave or throw them overboard."

Obviously they got out within 5 mins. I think he's the kind of person who would throw them overboard, and Kratt seems the kind of person who would do it.


Exactly.

#8 bond_girl_double07

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 09:44 PM

There have been other bond villains that I thought made quite good hosts (Dr. No comes to mind.. wining and dining Bond up to the point that he wants him killed) but Le Chiffre isn't one of them :cooltongue: Bad enough you have to watch him weep blood all night, but he isn't very friendly, and he kicks you off his yacht as soon as the game's over :angry:

#9 DaveBond21

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Posted 17 January 2007 - 10:20 PM

It's a good question, as I also thought it was a strange line, especially as Madame Wu turns up later in the movie.

#10 dinovelvet

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 02:25 AM

Although it does seem unlikely that he would have disposed of anybody's bodies while there is still daylight, and in a harbor surrounded by several other boats in close proximity (as seen in the establishing shot of Valenka climbing out of the ocean).


And that was a very nice shot too! :cooltongue:


Unfortunately the background when Valenka opens the door to the cabin is a little...Tamahori-esque, shall we say.

#11 DaveBond21

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 02:46 AM

She has lovely legs.....:cooltongue:

#12 R. Dittmar

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 02:47 AM

On a not altogether germane note, Madame Wu was once known as Ling - the Chinese girl who tasted different from other girls - and she actually set up Bond in the teaser to YOLT.

Old geezers such as myself also will remember Tsai Chin assaying another sultry role in her salad days as the daughter to Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu.

#13 DaveBond21

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 03:34 AM

Yes, this has been noted in other threads.

#14 JimmyBond

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 04:17 AM

Although it does seem unlikely that he would have disposed of anybody's bodies while there is still daylight, and in a harbor surrounded by several other boats in close proximity (as seen in the establishing shot of Valenka climbing out of the ocean).


And that was a very nice shot too! :cooltongue:


Unfortunately the background when Valenka opens the door to the cabin is a little...Tamahori-esque, shall we say.


Most likely because the interiors of the yacht were shot on a soundstage.

#15 Vauxhall

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 05:37 AM

Yes indeed, some of Mikkelsen's first scenes he shot in Prague I believe. The background isn't the best, but at least we don't have Le Chiffre surfing on a icy tidal wave in the foreground :cooltongue:

#16 dee-bee-five

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 07:33 AM

Although it does seem unlikely that he would have disposed of anybody's bodies while there is still daylight, and in a harbor surrounded by several other boats in close proximity (as seen in the establishing shot of Valenka climbing out of the ocean).


And that was a very nice shot too! :cooltongue:


Unfortunately the background when Valenka opens the door to the cabin is a little...Tamahori-esque, shall we say.



Now isn't it funny how we all have different tastes? I really liked that shot because its very unreality added to the Grand Guignol subtext of that whole scene with the eye weeping blood.

#17 Flash1087

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 08:14 AM

I took the line as something of an ultimatum, like if Chiffre's guests didn't leave within that five minutes to have them killed. I've been wrong before, though.

Now isn't it funny how we all have different tastes? I really liked that shot because its very unreality added to the Grand Guignol subtext of that whole scene with the eye weeping blood.


That's a really good remark about that, actually. I don't believe I've heard a comparison between the Grand Guignol and a Bond film before.

#18 dee-bee-five

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Posted 18 January 2007 - 08:21 AM

I took the line as something of an ultimatum, like if Chiffre's guests didn't leave within that five minutes to have them killed. I've been wrong before, though.

Now isn't it funny how we all have different tastes? I really liked that shot because its very unreality added to the Grand Guignol subtext of that whole scene with the eye weeping blood.


That's a really good remark about that, actually. I don't believe I've heard a comparison between the Grand Guignol and a Bond film before.


It probably is a first (and a bit fan-wanky); but I'm glad you got the drift of what I was getting at. It was the way the "nothing sinister" scene was actually very sinister...