Raoul Silva

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Comments

  • edited December 2012 Posts: 2,081
    bond50 wrote:
    Silva :The Beauty Shop Villain ---

    Now that was a whole lotta crap. I suspect the writer must have some, um, issues. Is it an article/part of an article from somewhere?

    edited a bit later: Oh, it was indeed part of more of the same. Geez. I need a shower.

  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    bond50 wrote:
    Bardem’s character is also a variation of the flamboyant, pansexual villain in Quantum Of Solace, Dominic Greene, and we wonder whether Silva, at one point in his Bond villain career, was ever involved with Greene’s gay group Quantum. It seems the Bond makers regard these twisted characters as the epitome of Eurocoolness. The scene where Silva amuses himself by unbuttoning the Craig-Bond’s shirt and caressing the agent’s chest and legs will live on as the most revolting display of blatant political correctness in the series. Not only is it an awkward homoerotic scene, it also serves zero purpose in the plot, forcing us to wonder if it was inserted in the movie to heighten pre-release publicity with a risque buzz. Yet Craig’s Bond is more at ease in this scene rather than in his romantic interludes with Severine and the island girl—once again, the filmmakers are implying a quasi-gay Bond, calculated to draw the widest possible demographics by appeasing feminists and, at another level, appealing to gay audiences.

    We know it's you Pierce. [-X Time to move on son, you aren't Bond any more. Accept it!
    And Pierce, be careful how close you sail to the wind with your borderline homophobic comments.
  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    NicNac wrote:
    bond50 wrote:
    Bardem’s character is also a variation of the flamboyant, pansexual villain in Quantum Of Solace, Dominic Greene, and we wonder whether Silva, at one point in his Bond villain career, was ever involved with Greene’s gay group Quantum. It seems the Bond makers regard these twisted characters as the epitome of Eurocoolness. The scene where Silva amuses himself by unbuttoning the Craig-Bond’s shirt and caressing the agent’s chest and legs will live on as the most revolting display of blatant political correctness in the series. Not only is it an awkward homoerotic scene, it also serves zero purpose in the plot, forcing us to wonder if it was inserted in the movie to heighten pre-release publicity with a risque buzz. Yet Craig’s Bond is more at ease in this scene rather than in his romantic interludes with Severine and the island girl—once again, the filmmakers are implying a quasi-gay Bond, calculated to draw the widest possible demographics by appeasing feminists and, at another level, appealing to gay audiences.

    We know it's you Pierce. [-X Time to move on son, you aren't Bond any more. Accept it!
    And Pierce, be careful how close you sail to the wind with your borderline homophobic comments.

    I can't stop thinking he might be touchmybuttons v3.0
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited December 2012 Posts: 14,557
    Those two paragraphs posted by @bond50 are from the site linked below. The fact that the author has absolutely nothing good to say about Skyfall further proves these comments should be taken with less than a miniscule grain of salt and more so with a giant slab of baloney.

    http://n007.thegoldeneye.com/film_commentary/skyfall_review.html


    Regarding the Bond/Silva scene- The thing I found surprising about this scene was not the part where Silva caresses Bond, but that we actually get to see through Bond's eyes. How often do we get the first-person perspective treatment in filmBond? I'm guessing not often. In CR, we get it when he momentarily wakes up in the hospital to see a blurry Mathis and Vesper. I'm sure there are other occasions throughout the series- perhaps most of them involve Bond waking up after getting knocked out ie. Pussy Galore's face comes into focus when Bond wakes up after getting tranqued. I know it's off topic, and maybe not a big deal to some, but I, for one, find seeing through our hero's eyes quite fascinating- even if it's only for a few seconds.
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 2,081
    Hmm, interesting, QBranch... Well, Sam spoke of that scene (the whole scene I assume) as one of his happiest memories of shooting the film, and as his favorite scene in it. As a very happy member of the audience I must say he sure knew what he was doing there, in every way... :)
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    edited December 2012 Posts: 7,582
    The site linked by @QBranch has a big footer about plagiarism.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,960
    Although Yahoo doesn't matter, they ranked Silva as the number two villain in 2012, with number one going to Calvin J. Candie in 'Django Unchained,' while beating out Bane at the number three spot.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,277
    Getafix wrote:
    May be some people wanted a hand to hand fight. May be that could have worked. All I'm saying is that I think a lot of people obviously felt something was 'missing'. Even if the film is about M, does that not allow space for that other minor character, namely James Bond, to have an interesting story arc with some sense of resolution?

    That would be M's death scene.

  • I think Bardem this year was more comedy than menace, or perhaps a bit of both. Kind of like Scaramanga, or Max Zorin, for example, in that sense

    My favorite sequence may have been when he and Bond were taking shots at Severine if not previously mentioned. The London subway sequence just seemed a bit silly at times. For the last and final time, the climax in Scotland and the 'Aris Kristatos'-esque ending with a knife to the back, was too quick, disappointing, left viewers dissatisfied, it was all those things. We went with the character through all that, and Bond just throws a simple knife, and that's it ? So many times mentioned, there should of been some struggle or battle - or something (better than what they went with)

    Was Silva/Bardem a good villain ? Yes and No. There were moments that worked, and moments that failed to ignite or capture any suspense for example. The character, in the simplest terms, was a bit hit and miss. Simply didn't menace enough as I had expected from reviewers or write ups before a first viewing
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 2,081
    I thought the simple knife was perfect and very fitting. "Viewers" on the whole were not "left dissatisfied". ;) Some were, some were not - like with the rest of the movie.

    Personally I love Silva as a character and I found him fascinating - complex, layered, nuanced, truly interesting... much more so than most villains in movies - Bond or otherwise. I'm still analysing him and having fun doing so. :) Amongst other things I'm also pondering what else to get out of his name - real or adopted one - than the obvious bit (Tiago=James) - the rest are hardly just some random names, either. Maybe what I've got so far is all there is, or maybe I'm missing something... I'm not getting anywhere much with his real surname, yet, but we'll see... If anyone has, I'll be glad to hear about it. I don't know if this stuff has been discussed here somewhere, I haven't had time to read through all potential threads, sorry.

    The way Javier plays the role is, IMO, fantastic, and I'm grateful he accepted the offer to do it. Of course, he also had a lot of input into how the character was molded and ended up like eventually - I have no idea how different the character would have been in somebody else's hands, and how different the movie had then been, but I'm glad I didn't need to find out. I can see why Sam and Daniel wanted Javier for the role, and I'm sure they are happy they got him and what he did with it. And I certainly was. Silva is one of the many reasons I love Skyfall so much.
  • Posts: 1,492
    Tuulia wrote:
    I thought the simple knife was perfect and very fitting. "Viewers" on the whole were not "left dissatisfied". ;) Some were, some were not - like with the rest of the movie.

    Personally I love Silva as a character and I found him fascinating - complex, layered, nuanced, truly interesting... much more so than most villains in movies - Bond or otherwise. I'm still analysing him and having fun doing so. :) Amongst other things I'm also pondering what else to get out of his name - real or adopted one - than the obvious bit (Tiago=James) - the rest are hardly just some random names, either. Maybe what I've got so far is all there is, or maybe I'm missing something... I'm not getting anywhere much with his real surname, yet, but we'll see... If anyone has, I'll be glad to hear about it. I don't know if this stuff has been discussed here somewhere, I haven't had time to read through all potential threads, sorry.

    The way Javier plays the role is, IMO, fantastic, and I'm grateful he accepted the offer to do it. Of course, he also had a lot of input into how the character was molded and ended up like eventually - I have no idea how different the character would have been in somebody else's hands, and how different the movie had then been, but I'm glad I didn't need to find out. I can see why Sam and Daniel wanted Javier for the role, and I'm sure they are happy they got him and what he did with it. And I certainly was. Silva is one of the many reasons I love Skyfall so much.

    Agree totally. Terrific villain. I believed in his deadliness and sagacity from the start. The 'knife in the back' death was pitch perfect. Another fight would have been tedious after the long chase over the cold moors. Silva was a real danger and had to be despatched quickly. How would you have prised him away from M to start a fight anyway?

    The Craig villains have to have that extra something to take on Craig anyway. Greene was physically unimpressive but turned into a whirling dervish in a fight.

  • edited December 2012 Posts: 204
    I think some really might be reading WAY too much into that scene with Silva and Bond. It was just a psychological thing meant to make Bond uncomfortable but Bond played it off cool as ever. Silva is psychotic, broken and a bit camp, I think Bardem played it perfectly.

    I think Tuulia made an amazing spot with the fact that Thiago, Silva's real name is actually the Portuguese / Gallician equivalent of the name James.
  • RE the link Q Branch posted - whilst everyone is entitled to their opinion, really not sure what movie the reviewer was watching and his review is verbose and laden with all kinds of irrelevancies!
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 117
    I think some really might be reading WAY too much into that scene with Silva and Bond. It was just a psychological thing meant to make Bond uncomfortable but Bond played it off cool as ever. Silva is psychotic, broken and a bit camp, I think Bardem played it perfectly.

    I think Tuulia made an amazing spot with the fact that Thiago, Silva's real name is actually the Portuguese / Gallician equivalent of the name James.

    I knew that the portuguese equivalent of James is Tiago because in the brazilian version of Harry Potter they translated Harry's father's name that way. But I never thought about that while watching Skyfall! Thank you for pointing that out, @Tuulia, REALLY interesting.
  • Posts: 2,081
    I think some really might be reading WAY too much into that scene with Silva and Bond. It was just a psychological thing meant to make Bond uncomfortable but Bond played it off cool as ever. Silva is psychotic, broken and a bit camp, I think Bardem played it perfectly.

    I think Tuulia made an amazing spot with the fact that Thiago, Silva's real name is actually the Portuguese / Gallician equivalent of the name James.

    Isn't it Tiago, not Thiago (Brazilian)? :)
    Not sure about Galician, but Portuguese for sure.

    I seem to remember Javier said the character was of Portuguese origin. But I think the surname is spelled Rodriguez (=son of Rodrigo), which is the Spanish spelling. Silva is a Portuguese name, but Raoul ("counsel wolf") is French... Hmm. I assume the guy chose the name Raoul Silva for a reason, but I haven't figured it out. :P ...darn gotta go,,,

  • edited December 2012 Posts: 117
    Tuulia wrote:
    I think some really might be reading WAY too much into that scene with Silva and Bond. It was just a psychological thing meant to make Bond uncomfortable but Bond played it off cool as ever. Silva is psychotic, broken and a bit camp, I think Bardem played it perfectly.

    I think Tuulia made an amazing spot with the fact that Thiago, Silva's real name is actually the Portuguese / Gallician equivalent of the name James.

    Isn't it Tiago, not Thiago (Brazilian)? :)
    Not sure about Galician, but Portuguese for sure.

    I seem to remember Javier said the character was of Portuguese origin. But I think the surname is spelled Rodriguez (=son of Rodrigo), which is the Spanish spelling. Silva is a Portuguese name, but Raoul ("counsel wolf") is French... Hmm. I assume the guy chose the name Raoul Silva for a reason, but I haven't figured it out. :P ...darn gotta go,,,

    I assume he decided to adopt that name because he loves french songs? He was listening to that old Charles Trenet song, "Boum", in his island. If you love the french culture, you got to know who Charles Trenet is. Still a big influence in France. But that's just my opinion.
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 2,081
    Well yes, but he still could have chosen another name. "Boum" might also be just that particular song, I see no reason to assume that he loves French songs, or French culture, or even Trenet based on that one song. Compare with "Boom Boom" by The Animals at Skyfall. ;)
  • edited January 2013 Posts: 3
    I couldn't help but find the whole Silva character rather cheap. Don't get me wrong, Javier Bardem is an excellent actor, and he portrayed his role perfectly, but the character itself was so cliché.

    We have a disgruntled ex-spy out for revenge, using a supercomputer that allows him to do and know all. Everything is planned out to the second, allowing him to just roam around killing folks and being cool and smooth. I would expect something like that from a Michael Bay movie, but not in these new Bond movies.

    A low point for me was when he blew up a wall using his radio (yes, a cute reference to Bond's earlier remark), causing a (seemingly empty) metro to crash down towards Bond. The whole preceding chase through the crowds was very unpredictable and Silva couldn't have known if and when Bond would catch up with him. So how did he manage to plan explosives on that specific spot way in advance, and then trigger them seconds before a metro passes by?
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Hi @Keef, you will find lots of discussion about these point in the SF discussion thread. The members who didnt like the film had a lot to say about it.

    http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/3487/skyfall-fans-reactions-guaranteed-spoilers#Item_1861
  • Silva's character was great . . . except the situation with M was resolved poorly and left too many questions.
    Was M his actual mother? Was his despair at being abandoned due to the cyanide malfunction? Was he one of M's favorites at Hong Kong station? How does he escape/survive custody in China?

    And, of course, if the film is about Raoul's relationship with M, whydon't they havea gutwrenching emotional confrontation?

    It appears there was a badly drawn parallel between Bond's being shot by Eve and Raoul's situation, but they could have done better by having Silva point it out and then have Bond at least feign at joining Silva's cause.
  • edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    Keef wrote:
    A low point for me was when he blew up a wall using his radio (yes, a cute reference to Bond's earlier remark), causing a (seemingly empty) metro to crash down towards Bond. The whole preceding chase through the crowds was very unpredictable and Silva couldn't have known if and when Bond would catch up with him. So how did he manage to plan explosives on that specific spot way in advance, and then trigger them seconds before a metro passes by?

    Silva surely planned to crash the train with or without Bond beneath. Silva left that door open on purpose, wanting Bond to follow him (he was playing games with Bond all along), but even if that hadn't worked, I assume he still would have caused the tube havoc; causing destruction and chaos in one place gives more time to cause further havoc elsewhere - a tactic used by real life terrorists, too. The train was empty, yes, and it had to be - this was in London, and this was a Bond movie. The train had a "not in service" sign on front.

  • Tuulia wrote:
    Keef wrote:
    A low point for me was when he blew up a wall using his radio (yes, a cute reference to Bond's earlier remark), causing a (seemingly empty) metro to crash down towards Bond. The whole preceding chase through the crowds was very unpredictable and Silva couldn't have known if and when Bond would catch up with him. So how did he manage to plan explosives on that specific spot way in advance, and then trigger them seconds before a metro passes by?

    Silva surely planned to crash the train with or without Bond beneath. Silva left that door open on purpose, wanting Bond to follow him (he was playing games with Bond all along), but even if that hadn't worked, I assume he still would have caused the tube havoc; causing destruction and chaos in one place gives more time to cause further havoc elsewhere - a tactic used by real life terrorists, too. The train was empty, yes, and it had to be - this was in London, and this was a Bond movie. The train had a "not in service" sign on front.

    ^This. Silva did not know that Bond would be following him and standing in that spot. But he likely knew his escape route from the alternate location of MI6 and wanted a) to create a horrific distraction that would mobilize emergency services, b) cover up his tracks as to where he was going and c) block off his route if any from MI6 - no matter who it was - was attempting to follow him. That fact that it was Bond and that he almost caught up with him was just icing on the cake (for Silva and for us viewers as well).
  • edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    ^^ Yes. Bond being there was just a bonus. Silva seemed delighted to see him, and was all "good boy, lovely to see you, look I've got something for you..." Such a charmer.

    Damn I want to go watch it again. I hope it stays in town for another couple of weeks at least as I'm in no condition to go anytime soon (high fever and coughing internal organs out one by one it feels like...)
  • Tuulia wrote:
    ^^ Yes. Bond being there was just a bonus. Silva seemed delighted to see him, and was all "good boy, lovely to see you, look I've got something for you..." Such a charmer.

    Damn I want to go watch it again. I hope it stays in town for another couple of weeks at least as I'm in no condition to go anytime soon (high fever and coughing internal organs out one by one it feels like...)

    Sorry to hear that you're sick; the flu is spreading like wildfire here (at least according to the newspaper this morning).

    I'm sure you'll get one more chance to see SF in the theatre :-)

  • edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    Thanks. I got lots of prescription meds today: heavy-duty cough killer (I will be able to sleeeeeep again!), antibiotics, a couple of other stuff. That all should help - plus I'm very motivated to get to the cinema, that's for sure. :P While waiting to get to the doc... well, it was boring and I was tired and I had to amuse myself somehow... I noticed that I can already remember the dialogue pretty damn well. Bond and Silva were the most interesting characters for me and I could listen to those guys speak all day. Well, their sparring was something nice to "listen to" while sitting in a waiting room. :D

    (No need to send over those nice young men in their clean white coats... honest.)
  • Posts: 15,106
    One thing that I always wanted to be explained about Silva and Mathis is that they don't seem to be British nationals, but they work for MI6 not merely as contacts, but as agents.
  • Silva is my favourite.

    Intimidating, chilling, and Bardem was brilliant. I think my brother summed it up well when we left the cinema, "That's the first Bond villian I could really believe in". For me I could fully see his character motivations, see that raw determination that makes characters 'real'. He wasn't a 2D cut out character even if you want to believe he's just a cookie-cutter depraved bisexual with Mummy issues.

    I think the scene that most demonstrates my love for Silva is the end with M. At the end, after all the fanfare, the chase through London, the destruction of Skyfall, he needs her to kill them both, bring them both peace. The expressions on Bardem's face, the way he nailed that real desperation to just end it were heartbreaking in a off sense.
  • Posts: 2,081
    AgentFae wrote:
    Silva is my favourite.

    Intimidating, chilling, and Bardem was brilliant. I think my brother summed it up well when we left the cinema, "That's the first Bond villian I could really believe in". For me I could fully see his character motivations, see that raw determination that makes characters 'real'. He wasn't a 2D cut out character even if you want to believe he's just a cookie-cutter depraved bisexual with Mummy issues.

    I think the scene that most demonstrates my love for Silva is the end with M. At the end, after all the fanfare, the chase through London, the destruction of Skyfall, he needs her to kill them both, bring them both peace. The expressions on Bardem's face, the way he nailed that real desperation to just end it were heartbreaking in a off sense.

    He's my favourite villain, too. A fascinating, layered, real character indeed, and yes, Bardem was brilliant and absolutely nailed it.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    One really cool thing about Silva's death is the irony of it, even beyond the fact that the tech wizard gets killed by the old style spy with an equally old fashioned weapon (the knife). What is also ironic is that Silva is trying to get at M for her betrayal of him, and yet he is the one who ends up getting "stabbed in the back" so to speak at the end.
  • Silva is one of my favorite Bond villains. I love how he is clearly psychotic yet in a believable way unlike past characters such as Gustav Graves, etc. which were rather bland and not feasible. I also love love Silva's death. SPOILER While some were dissapointed about the lack of a Bond vs. Silva fight I loved the simple knife in the back death which showed that even someone as dangerous and larger than life as Silva was not invincible while still tying in to the old vs new theme.
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