Shaken. Not Stirred.
I saw Quantum of Solace last night (Thanks, Rich!). In some ways I am a traditionalist when it comes to Bond. I love the original Fleming novels and stories (except for ‘007 in New York’ the deservedly obscure short story whose only highlight is a recipe for scrambled eggs. But I digress.). When a new Bond film comes out I go see it on the big screen. QoS was fun and had enough fights, bombs, babes, chases and gunplay to keep the ‘Bourne’ fans happy. Bond fands will note the lack of gadgets (unless, like me they recall that Bond almost never used them in the original novels) Still, after the hard hitting punch of Casino Royale a slight confectionery that you will not recall a few days later. Craig broods well, but all he seems to do is brood. It does seem as if he goes through the film slightly bored. Dame Judi Dench remains the sort of actress I would happily pay to hear read froma phone book. Her exasperated M continues to delight.
The movie gets its title from a story in ‘For Your Eyes Only,’ the Bond anthology. Unsuprisingly, there are no elements of the movie in the story. The story, such as it is, finds James Bond, after a dull dinner party, listening to a senior civil servant tell the tale of a disasterous marraige. The quantum of solace is the piece of love and comfort between two people that allows them to forgive. When that evaporates, the tragedy happens.
One note, I do recomend reading the James Bond novels with a few caveats.
- Flemming had the prejudices common to the British upper/educated class. They are visible throughout the book and just within the wince inducing parts of ‘Live and Let Die,’ to use his most notorious example.
- Read them in order. And yeah, I include ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ after ‘Thunderball.’ And you may want to read ‘Octopussy’ before ‘The Man with the Golden Gun.’
- The movie versions are often very different from the the original Flemming. In those cases, almost always Flemming is better.