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But if I could only pick one, femme fatale.
I wouldn’t mind a great femme fatale again, it’s just that we’re so overdue for a main female villain. Could make both of those in one possibly as well!
Because like I said, people tend to misunderstand femmes fatales. And that's why I'm reluctant to see them again in a Bond movie to be honest.
But I think Eon was timid about Bond killing her so they kind of buried it right before a big action sequence.
If they had reversed the scenes then her death at the hands of Bond would have had a far greater impact than it does in the film.
I still would prefer a femme fatale over a hulking henchman because the latter has been so overdone in the series.
Especially that the Bond Franchise is getting some flaks today for the sexism, depiction of female characters and etc.
Think of Xenia Onatopp or yes Fiona Volpe and May Day, they're strong, and possibly wouldn't look out of place today, and for me, they're also more of Bond's equal (although working for the bad side).
Yes, May Day is up there with those two. The casting of Grace Jones remains one of the more daring and exciting moves in the series, and she certainly invigorated that film's first half! Think of her silent scenes with Macnee. What a presence.
I suppose there's a fine line between 'positive' female representation and well written female representation onscreen. It's something a few big franchises struggle with nowadays.
I agree though, I think we're overdue another femme fatale villain in the vein of May Day, Onatopp and Volpe. Another one I like is Fatima Blush from NSNA, one of the few highlights of that film for me. There's something inherently fun about those characters alongside how sinister they can be. The closest main villain I can think of who has these qualities is Silva.
As others have said I think it'd be interesting seeing a main female Bond villain with these traits. Burly hulking henchmen are fine, but so many can be boring. So femme fatale villainess for me.
Mission Impossible succeed in their female characters, maybe did it better than some of the Bond Girls.
I'll go with QBranch's hulking henchwoman.
Instead, she was playing a woman who was committed to the "cause", just as much as Bond was committed to his assignment. That’s what makes her dangerous. She knows what she’s doing is obviously breaking the law, but I don’t think Fiona sees what she’s doing as bad, or evil. Instead, it’s an opportunity….
Her battle with Bond, logically, could have gone either way.
Bond won by a “spin”…
The other femme fatales are obvious “baddies”, especially Onatopp, as she orgasmically dispatches her opponents. Compared to Fiona, that’s just a bad cartoon.
Yes, I agree about Onatopp, I've felt that she's a bit out of place for a grounded film like Goldeneye (the tank chase is another discussion).
That's my issue with most of them: too cartoonish. Femme fatale =/= capable fighter.
She also betrayed Bond, it's obvious that she used Bond's naivety to fall in love and manipulate him.
She also the planned the whole scheme.
It's now clear to me that Elektra was actually inspired by the Vesper character, not Tracy, because they have similarities: both manipulated Bond's feelings by having him falling in love with them, then both also have other lovers than Bond (Yusef and Renard), both betrayed Bond.
Is this reasoning of mine because Vesper's betrayal of Bond was for a genuinely moral reason (to save her "lover")?
Is it because she did ultimately fall in love with Bond?
A mixture of these two (whatever the case may be, poor Vesper was in over her head...)???
But yes, you can certainly argue Vesper and other specific Bond girls are femme fatales. Again not in the classic Film Noir or Dime Store novel way, but enough to draw similarities. I always thought Andrea in TMWTGG had a sort of femme fatale thing about her in a similar way to Mulwry in Chinatown - sympathetic, but mysterious, often playing more 'damsel in distress' than she actually is, and is manipulating things in order to get herself out of a bad situation.
I suppose there's an innocence to Vesper. More so in the novel, but it's there in the film too. She's not someone who's been trapped in her situation for many years like Andrea or Mulrway, and unlike those characters she doesn't necessarily outright lie to Bond and certainly doesn't morph aspects of her personality to fit the situation (she just evades questions about her past, but ultimately her initial prickliness towards Bond and later affection comes off as sincere. She even essentially sacrifices her own life to save Bond, whereas a classic femme fatale leads the male protagonist into danger). She isn't as hardened in this sense, but has just been placed in a horrible situation. So I guess you can argue she's more a tragic character than a femme fatale.
I think with how genres change, and how Bond overlaps with these other genres, Femme Fatale can be a pretty broad thing. I mean, I myself have probably used it to describe Bond girls who are merely more independent, are more mysterious, or have a tragic backstory. But there's a lot of wiggle room.
Evelyn Mulwray was a deconstruction of a femme fatale though: she is depicted as one at first, only to be revealed as a victim later on. Vesper is closer to one, but in the end she is a tragic character. With all the flaws of Elektra, she's much closer to a proper femme fatale: although cunning and evil, she has a certain level of vulnerability. You take a look at Bridget O'Shaugnessy in The Maltese Falcon and she's pretty much like that: as ruthless as she may be, she might still have feelings for Sam Spade.
This is where Daisy May Cooper would've fit.
Fiona doesn't have enough interesting scenes (imo) but she is definitely hot. In or outside of the bathroom.
I guess that was kind of May Day. Sort of.
Fiona Volpe is the femme fatale that all of them get measured by. If somehow the film makers can make a modern version of her, then we'd be very lucky. Helga Brandt was just a carbon copy of Fiona, but not quite as good. But not terrible. Is MayDay the next?
She started off great, but then inexplicably changed sides at the end. Considering all that she had done with Zorin, being (almost) drowned, you'd think she wouldn't have changed her allegiance so quickly. If she'd stayed villainous and Bond had killed her, she would be more memorable and a better character, imo.
Xenia was great, and never stopped being a villain, although she was a little cartoonish in her portrayal. Easily the best after Fiona.
So, a great, well written and cast Femme Fatale, and we'll have a winner on our hands.