Shaken Not Stirred
I was bored at home yesterday. Having taken five days of sick leave due to the extraction of my wisdom tooth followed by two weeks of annual leave, I was left by myself without my Sayang Manja who has been busy herself. Agreed ... we had been seeing each other almost daily and calling each other on the phone everyday ... we need to have space for our own activities.
So, there was I left alone bored. I decided to take a walk at Tampines Mall to kill time. As soon as I reached there, I remembered about Casino Royale ..... hence .... I got this!
Casino Royale is based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.
Do not get confused with a movie of the same name which is a spoof of that novel.
In this 1967 movie spoof, Sir James Bond, a spy from the old school is called back to service by the death of "M" and the imminent collapse of civilisation. The opposition tries to compromise him, but even as nubile young agents are thrown at him, he remains above it all. Going beyond parody to sillyness, every agent is renamed James Bond, 007 to confuse the enemy, including Woody Allen who plays, Little Jimmy Bond.
In the latest Bond film, a new actor was chosen to play Bond. Will he make it like Sean Connery and Roger Moore?
Daniel Craig plays the new Bond. There were many objections from Bond fanatics like me mainly due to his blond hair. Bond is not BLOND! Critics had even called Daniel Craig as James Blond.
Being a Bond fanatic, I watched Casino Royale alone.
This latest James Bond movie which is based on the first James Bond novel started with black and white scenes. It shows that Bond, a rookie spy had just been promoted and given the DOUBLE O status. Having that status gives him the licence to kill.
In the opening, Bond had only killed ONE guy and he was recollecting the event with someone whom he was pursuing. That person became his 2nd guy to be killed!
This movie shows Bond being new and reckless. I nearly hated this character since that is not Bond.
As he was chasing a 3rd bad guy (Sebastian Foucan), he did not care about the safety of the innocent onlookers. Making a mess and wrecking things. He even demolished a construction site during the chase! How contradictory.
But as the show continues, I tend to be facinated by the cinematography.
This Bond film does not show much gadgetry as most of the Bond films do. It shows how Bond is physically!
There were car chases, but the best chase is the ground chase on foot in the first half hour. It reminds me of how Jackie Chan would run away from his tormentors by climbing on walls, jumping through windows etc.
It reminds me of how Johnny Weismuller (original Tarzan) swings from one tree to another from one branch to another without breaking rhythm.
The foot chase scene was a feast to the eye and the audience was brought to many places on foot at a fast pace.
This escape itself uses a form of martial art. It is known as Parkour. Parkour is about forward motion without interruption. It uses the force which is already present to enable oneself to defend or attack. It is like Tai Chi.
Sebastian Foucan is an expert in Parkour. His remarkable skill helped in making the scene exciting. I like that scene :-)
The 2006 Casino Royale has Bond struggling to carry out his first major mission with his target the super rich banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen).
Bond finds himself pitted against Le Chiffre in a winner takes all, high stakes poker game at the plush Casino Royale in Montenegro.
He is placed under the care of the beguiling and beautiful treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) as our hero risks his life and limb for Queen and Country.
The movie also shows why Bond wants his martini shaken but not stirred. This concoction is known as the 'Vesper' after Vesper Lynd.
"A dry martini," he said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."
''Oui, monsieur.''
"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"
''Certainly monsieur."
The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.
Bond laughed.
"When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name.”
It also shows Bond in another angle -- his physical and mental prowess against all odds.
This was the scene when Bond was captured by Le Chiffre and stripped naked. Yeah .... he was seen totally naked with this guy and not with Lynd nor the Italian Beauty Queen actress.
Le Chiffre wanted to know the password for the money kept in the vault and tortured Bond to get the information.
The naked Bond was tied to a broken chair that has no seat thus exposing his manhood from front to the bottom.
Le Chiffre uses a BIG whip to scar Bond's exposed scrotum but Bond was witty. This scene turned out like a gay scene with him asking for more and giving directions where to whip him. Talk about male bonding and bondage .... hmmmm ..... so that's where the word came from!
By the second hour of the movie, I like this new Bond. It shows how his character developed from a bungling rookie to a professional spy. It shows Bond from being reckless and cold-hearted to be someone caring and able to fall in love. It also shows why bond is able to detach himself emotionally.
It portrays Bond, being newly promoted, resigning from MI5. That resignation surprised me since this should be the first Bond series. All this is for his love for a girl!
Vesper:
You're not going to let me in there. You've got your armor back on.
Bond:
I have no armor left. You stripped it from me.
Whatever is left of me,
Whatever I am
I'm yours.
As usual, the never-ending twist and plot of the movie makes sense at the last half hour of the movie.
And at the very last minute, the most famous line was uttered by Daniel Craig ending the show.
The name's Bond, James Bond!
That was how the movie ended. James Bond in his tuxedo, moving calmly towards his target.
A new Bond is in the making and I like it! Forget about his blond hair, forget about his clumsiness earlier. This is a new Bond.
This is not the end. This is the beginning of the James Bond movies!
Note: I do miss my Sayang Manja and I'll be watching this again with her next time!
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