If there is one thing I love, it is a Bond film. Before the days that sunless hair ran my body rampant, Bond gave me a view of what a life could/should/would be like given the proper discipline. Granted, I have never been one for discipline. Still, fantasy is a nice escape, aye?
Anyways, come November 7th, I will have another taste of the sweet, sweet nectar that Ian Flemming left the world. Given the trailers for “Quantum of Solace”, this could be another great Bond film. However, being the armchair detective that I am, it turns out that “QoS” may not be the most action packed adventure that bond has faced.
For those of you not floating down the river of trivial knowledge, here is a brief synopsis of “QoS”:
"Quantum of Solace"
"Quantum of Solace" is not a spy story and James Bond appears only in the background. Told in the style of W Somerset Maugham, the tale has Bond attending a boring dinner party at the Government House in Nassau with a group of socialites he can't stand.
Bond makes a remark after dinner when the other guests have left in order to stimulate conversation, about always having thought it would be nice to marry an air hostess. This solicits a careful reply from the elderly Governor of The Bahamas who tells 007 a sad tale about a relationship between a former civil servant he calls Philip Masters, stationed in Bermuda, and air hostess Rhoda Llewellyn. After meeting aboard a flight to London the two eventually married but after a time Rhoda became unhappy with her life as a housewife. She then began a long open affair with the eldest son of a rich Bermudan family. As a result Masters' work deteriorated and he suffered a nervous breakdown. After recovering he was given a break from Bermuda by the governor and sent on an assignment to Washington to negotiate fishing rights with the US. At the same time the governor's wife had a talk with Rhoda just as her affair ended. Masters returned a few months later and decided to end his marriage, although he and Rhoda continued to appear as a happy couple in public. Masters returned alone to the UK, leaving a penniless Rhoda stranded in Bermuda, an act which he'd been incapable of carrying out merely months earlier. But Masters never recovered emotionally, nor recaptured any spark of vitality. The governor goes on to tell Bond how after a time Rhoda married a rich Canadian and seems to be happy. When Bond remarks that she hardly deserved her good fortune, the governor says that Masters had always been rather weak, and that perhaps Fate chose Rhoda as its instrument to teach him a lesson. The governor then reveals that the dinner companions whom Bond found so boring were in fact Rhoda and her rich Canadian husband. Bond then tells the governor Rhoda was much more interesting than he had thought.
While the story does not include action elements, as other Fleming tales do, it attempts to posit that Bond's adventures pale in comparison with real life drama. Bond reflects that the lives of the people he passes somewhat superficial judgements upon can in fact hide poignant episodes.
-Taken from Wikipedia
Okay, so in all honesty, that is NOT a true synopsis of the film. Instead, the film, like many of its predecessors, borrows the name from an existing Bond story, and takes liberal liberties in adapting the text. In this case, “liberal liberties” translates to no actual loyalty to the text whatsoever.
Still, that being the case, there are a couple Bond movies I hope are made which stay true to the source material. For example:
"The Hildebrand Rarity"
In "The Hildebrand Rarity", Bond is on holiday in the Seychelles Islands with his friend, Fidele Barbey. Through Barbey, Bond meets an uncouth American millionaire named Milton Krest who has offered the two the job of aiding him in the search for a rare fish named "The Hildebrand Rarity". After agreeing to help, the three as well as Mrs. Elizabeth Krest set off aboard the Wavekrest in search of the fish. During the journey Bond learns that Milton verbally and physically abuses everyone around him, specifically his wife whom he punishes with the use of a stingray tail he dubs "The Corrector". After finding the Hildebrand Rarity, the party returns to the Wavekrest and sets sail for port. Along the way Krest gets drunk and insults Bond and Barbey and also schedules an appointment for his wife with "The Corrector".
During the same night Bond hears Mr. Krest choking, after which Bond discovers Krest has been murdered and the rare fish was stuffed into his mouth. So as not to be entangled in an investigation for the murder of Krest, Bond throws him overboard and cleans up the scene of the crime. The following day, after the Wavekrest has reached port, no one knows what had happened to Mr. Krest and all presume he fell overboard. Bond investigates both Barbey and Mrs. Krest and finally comes to the conclusion that Mrs. Krest had murdered Milton in an act of revenge for the way in which he had treated her, although she never admits to committing the crime and Bond never asks
-also taken from Wikipedia.
Really, what is better than a fishing film starring James Bond? Of course, if ichthyologic adventure isn’t your cup of tea, there is always this classic 007 yarn:
"007 in New York"
A brief tale in which Bond muses about New York City, and his favourite recipe for scrambled eggs, during a quick mission to the Big Apple to warn a female MI6 employee that her new boyfriend is a KGB agent. It is notable only for including a rare humorous conclusion, and for its mention of Solange, a young lady of Bond's intimate acquaintance who works in a shop, Abercrombie's, "appropriately employed in their Indoor Games Department".
-yet again, taken from Wikipedia.
So, if you are looking forward to faithful adaptations of already established literature, look no further. Seriously! You will probably never find any. Instead, be GLAD that people take time to make films more interesting than the literature they are meant to represent. I mean, there is honestly some pretty boring stuff out there.
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