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Bond's "dark mirror" villains
Let's discuss the villains who are like an evil reflection of 007. Characters like Scaramanga, 006, Graves and Silva. Do you like this type of villain? Which of these characters did you enjoy, and which did you not? etc.
I think it might be obvious that in the last 25 years, the "dark mirror" villain has been a bit overplayed. I don't mind the concept, but for variety's sake I'd like them to do different kinds of villains going forward. (Would love to see another Klebb or Bunt.)
My favourite "dark mirror" is Silva - he shares a lot in common with 006 (former agent left for dead now seeking revenge, mocking England, could be seen as Bond's metaphorical "brother") - but he's less generic than 006. I get more invested in his vendetta, which feels more real and present, and Bardem sells it. I love Silva's costume design, too, especially the shocking bleached hair (which I think was meant to riff on the "blond Bond" controversy, as well as remind of Julian Assange). I also like that he's bisexual and flamboyant, in contrast to the usual hyper masculine Bond.
My least favourite is Graves. Easy choice, right? What I dislike most is that he deliberately modeled himself after Bond. Which would be fine, if he weren't so insufferable. I am led to believe that the writers view Bond as a smarmy, smug ponce (which was unfortunately accurate in Die Another Day, IMO). Bad show, writers.
What say you?
I think it might be obvious that in the last 25 years, the "dark mirror" villain has been a bit overplayed. I don't mind the concept, but for variety's sake I'd like them to do different kinds of villains going forward. (Would love to see another Klebb or Bunt.)
My favourite "dark mirror" is Silva - he shares a lot in common with 006 (former agent left for dead now seeking revenge, mocking England, could be seen as Bond's metaphorical "brother") - but he's less generic than 006. I get more invested in his vendetta, which feels more real and present, and Bardem sells it. I love Silva's costume design, too, especially the shocking bleached hair (which I think was meant to riff on the "blond Bond" controversy, as well as remind of Julian Assange). I also like that he's bisexual and flamboyant, in contrast to the usual hyper masculine Bond.
My least favourite is Graves. Easy choice, right? What I dislike most is that he deliberately modeled himself after Bond. Which would be fine, if he weren't so insufferable. I am led to believe that the writers view Bond as a smarmy, smug ponce (which was unfortunately accurate in Die Another Day, IMO). Bad show, writers.
What say you?
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Comments
Exactly..after the build up of Rodney in the PTS you spent the whole film waiting for the showdown,and it was shit.
It's hard to see how TMWTGG would invite serious viewing.
I always hear Hervé voice when I read that line.
006 is one of my favouraite Bond 'dark mirror' villains, I think they attempted the same thing with Blofeld in SP though it fell flat. In SP I never got the feeling there was any connection between Bond and Ernst, in fact I was not convinced they had even met previously.
https://s23.postimg.org/4fiqkf38b/Mirror.png
It's very Christopher Nolan. Like you, I don't think it works.
That shot isolated is a good shot, though it's the film the shot is in unfortunately undermines it.
IMO, the problem with casting Spectre's Bond and Blofeld as "dark mirrors" is that they don't really share anything in common, other than being raised by the same person for a period. You don't look at Blofeld and think, "if things had been a little different, that might have been Bond." They aren't opposite numbers fighting for opposite teams or anything like that (M would be Blofeld's opposite, I guess).
Blofeld is actually the anti-Bond in many ways - at least Fleming's puritan Blofeld is. Incidentally, I've noticed that the book Blofeld's trait of having no vices has been used for a couple characters in the EON films. Namely, Vargas ("does not drink, does not smoke, does not make love") and Kriegler ("he doesn't smoke, he only eats health foods and he won't even talk to girls"). Anyway, I've gone off topic.
I really like how the costume design of FRWL and how the team dressed Shaw really underscored Grant's role as Bond's doppelgänger. Grant rotates through gradations of gray suits while tracking Bond, often wearing navy ties with them just as Sean's Bond always wore; at times you think Grant pilfered some suits from Bond's flat. I like to think that, because Grant knew he'd need to impersonate a Brit to get the Lektor, he consciously studied Bond's English style to copy it and adopt it as his own to better blend in. Like a true assassin, he studied his target and found ways to blend in while he waited for his prey to show their weakness.
Scaramanga was a mirror of Connery, which is why it was dreadful that they gave to film to Moore. Moore was a secret agent Bond - not an assassin.
All told, a perfect dark mirror--an anti-Bond. Unfortunately the movie screwed this up by miscasting the stolid Adolfo Celi and reducing the character's importance.
No...he is good but Celi is my favourite Largo by a long way...the conversations he and Bond have are brilliant.
Largo played by Cell is one of my favouraite Villains in the series, some fantastic scenes with Bond.
Largo wasn't as faithfully adapted as many Fleming purists would want, but I still think the film's take follows his personality rather well otherwise. A user and abuser of women, a predator and animal (he feels one with his sharks), a certain style and sense of strategy. It's all there. It would've been interesting to see a younger man cast who could mirror Sean's own handsomeness and masculinity, but Celi and Robert Reitty add so much to the character it'd be a shame to lose them. One of my favorite aspects of Thunderball is that Bond serves to show Largo how outmatched he is; Celi telegraphs a hurt ego perfectly.
I think part of the problem is that Celi doesn't project the vitality of a man in his prime, and without that almost all of the character's attributes come off as subdued. Giving the character an eye-patch seems like a rather desperate attempt to make him more memorable. The previous Bond films had succeeded brilliantly in casting--though Wise's Dr. No was not a physical match for Fleming's, he projected the same scientific menace, and Gert Frobe was physically perfect for Goldfinger, perhaps even uglier than Fleming's version. But for Largo to work, you need an actor who really exudes vitality, and that requires someone who isn't too old--at the time Connery himself would have been a good choice for the role. Brandauer's Largo is a fine villain, but a slightly different character, more psychopathic than the original.
Superb point. Although I enjoyed Celi's performance, he was for sure a watered down Largo compared to the novel. I wonder who would have been a perfect choice for the role had it been completely faithful. Surely someone ten years younger than Adolfo, for starters.
As do I.
The film around him isn't the best, for sure, but he is a like Bond with all the enjoyable parts removed. Also a rarity, that on paper, he is actually younger than Bond. Where it not for the Korean stuff he could have been a Zuckerberg/Musk type. Plus Toby Stephens has an absolutely glorious shit eating grin here...
Thanks! I think Vittorio Gassman or Gian Maria Volontè could have been an effective Largo. Gabriele Ferzetti might also have worked in the role, but Draco is the part he was born to play.
Yeah, they are all good choices. I couldn't see Ferzetti as anyone other than Draco, like you.
Interestingly enough, I saw an interview with Tom Mankeiwitz (I have probably got that spelling completely wrong) the original script had Scaramanga far closer in character to the novel, and Jack Palance was sounded out for the role. Alas he rejected it, and when Christopher Lee came on board, the script was changed accordingly.
I’m glad we got the version we did, not only because Lee is terrific, but IMO the way the character was changed was an improvement over the novel. The book version of Scaramanga is one of the less interesting villains IMO, whereas the movie version is one of the franchise’s best.
Absolutely. Whilst Palace would have been an interesting change of pace for a Bond villain, it's hard to argue that Christopher Lee isn't one of the strongest elements of TMWTGG.
In the novel Scaramanga is a vulgar, crass lout. He's a different mirror of Bond.