Movie Review: Skyfall as a modern classic

Introduction by the Blog Author

Skyfall is an edgy, dangerous James Bond movie in which the head of British military intelligence is shown to sacrifice agents to achieve objectives, especially when dealing with post-cold war international criminals.

Bond himself nearly dies from friendly fire in the introduction of the movie. A competition between modern electronic signal intelligence and old fashioned human agents is a main sub-plot of this movie. The deft action sequences do much to carry the movie.

We are also given something of a biography of James Bond through the twists of the plot, and this background is essential to the film.  That biography only indirectly, be example, includes a personal characteristic that has been a key to James Bond’s mission successes throughout the series of 23 movies as well as the Ian Fleming novels. Bond has a superlatively active visual cortex. He spots the small fishing boat in You Only Live Twice that allows Tiger Tanaka to locate the area where rockets are launched. He kills one of Largo’s goons with a quick and deadly first shot from a speargun in Thunderball. In Skyfall, he watches a corrupt program unfold and asks that it be stopped; when it is frozen, he correctly guesses the overall password. This mental and visual skill is of utmost importance to the subplot of old human ("humint") espionage verses modern electronic ("sigint") espionage.

But this is not just another clever, state-of-the-art action movie. While interrogated by a legislative committee for her dangerous and risky actions, the head of the agency, Judith Dench in her role as "M," defends herself while quoting Tennyson. This speech serves as a transition from the committee hearing to the streets of London, where Bond himself is running at breakneck speed to reach the chamber due to the danger imminent to the life of "M."  The Tennyson quote continues without a break as the editing switches to Bond running with all his energy.  And there’s much more to this than a gimmick.

Below are different authors' comments on a single blog that define why this movie is so striking and memorable.  A mistake that I fear they all make is that they do not catch on to the special secret horror of the "double oh" designation. The double oh agents are given missions that are more important than their own lives. The license to kill is also a license to get the mission accomplished even if it engenders death, even if it engenders neglect or inhumanity from allies – because the mission is so vital it is worth dying for.

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The film is hugely fun, but has a very serious theme: the place of tradition in the modern world. It really feels like a statement about modern Britain by Mendes [director], Deakins [cinematographer] and Crag [sp, leading actor Daniel Craig] - three of our leading [motion picture assets in the UK].

Skyfall is by far the closest depiction of the Bond from the novels. The novels are in many ways are about the traditions of the British Empire colliding with post WW2 decline. Something that Skyfall almost stands as a response to. Skyfall itself is an answer [to] the questions and insecurities Fleming exposed as the Empire rapidly declined in the 50s and 60s.

SPOILERS HERE:

The central Tennyson quote by M is the key to the whole film (incase you missed the relevance of the Fighting Temarare by Turner earlier on). Throughout the film tradition is constantly threatened by modernity - and each time a tempered version of tradition comes up trumps. There are countless examples... Bond is shot not by the mistake of someone on the ground, but because of the high tech communication. MI6 new building is destroyed and they're safer in ancient WW2 tunnels. Silva is a tech genius, but Bond (and M) is repeatedly called out of touch or old. And of course, the final sequence can be seen as one giant metaphor - the high tech invaders storming Bond's castle with all their equipment and Bond has ancient rifles and a knife. And how does he finally beat Silva - by the most simple weapon he has. There is so much of this throughout the film I can't remember it off the top of my head. The whole film is about the interaction of tradition and modernity.

The reading I take from the film is as Tennyson says: time will give you a beating, but hold onto your history and traditions and they will steel you against anything that comes at you. That's exactly what James Bond does.

SPOILERS END

I'd love to hear how Americans react to the themes of tradition in the film. Particularly around the relevance of the Tennyson quote from Ulysses spoken by M:

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

If putting that Tennyson speech into the mouth of one of our greatest living actors [famed Shakespearean actress Judith Dench] in the middle of our biggest cultural exports [the Bond films] isn't a statement about Britain, I don't know what is.

I can't see any of those sentiments or political position of Skyfall being made by many American filmmakers.

– David Thomson

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Sir, the Tennyson is the essential to our understanding of the film but for these complementary reasons:

The film is absolutely about selling Britain and Mendes underlines how Bond is the best of Britain by drawing a parallel, or possibly an umbilical cord through time between this most modern hero and our most ancient, King Arthur.

It was Tennyson in his 'Idylls of the King' codified the Arthurian legend and Mendes is in effect continuing the tale of Arthur when he returns, when England needs him most.

The pre-title sequence is the Malory's (does that name ring a bell from the movie?) Le Morte d'Arthur, the story of how Arthur is betrayed by a woman, mortally wounded in action and disappears presumed dead in the lake.

During the titles Bond undergoes a symbolic Christian rebirth.

Time passes and when Britain needs Arthur/Bond again and so he returns as legend foretells.
The threat is once again Mordred (Silva) about whom legend is distinctly ambiguous of the familial relationship between he and Arthur.


Thus we have lots of references to M as their joint (metaphorical) mother, (both men are orphans, Arthur also had a fostered upbringing), Severine, the woman they share is also an orphan. Further, Bond is revealed to have a birth mother with a Spanish maiden name, suggesting a further ahem, bond with Silva.
The Merlin figure is of course Q.

I don't believe a director as erudite as Mendes would include these details/imagery/language by coincidence, it would almost impossible to do so by accident. The purpose is to anchor Bond firmly in the tradition of British heroic sacrifice (Tennyson also of course wrote The Charge Of The Light Brigade) and so elevate him from the mundane into the legendary.

These elements incorporated in the subtext will be registered in the audience's mind whether they realise it or not, they will be familiar with the basic elements of Arthurian legend but not necessarily identify them as such in Skyfall but the film will benefit from the cultural echoes regardless.

Yes this is what Joseph Campbell was writing about in The Hero With a Thousand Faces (and far better than I) but what Mendes does is employ the theory to wed Bond to Arthur for Bond's benefit, the movie's benefit and for the audience's benefit.
Thanks for listening.

Taken from Roger Ebert's Journal
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/11/a_great_deal_of_solace.html#comments

-- a comment by Chris Hunneysett

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I don't see this as a political statement at all, but a statement about M and Bond's character. We enter a time where the intelligence community and its HUMINT (human intelligence) can't compare to the effectiveness of SIGINT (signal intelligence). The film explores just how important having human agents is. Furthermore, the poem is the exact definition of M and Bond. They are old hardware yet are able to do what needs to be done and will always endure against all challenges, even if that means risking their lives.

Aging is a tough subject for everyone, but Skyfall makes a great commentary on not only the characters, but the franchise beyond that which sparked in 1962. This franchise has some mileage on it, what with Bond in his 50th year on the big screen, but still today we can say that though he is aged, he has stood the test of time and is better than ever. That is what will always make this series of films in everyone's hearts and minds. It now means so much to generation after generation, and to be apart of that is spine tingling.

-- OBradyMOBondFanatic7

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The above are comments from the link below:

http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4601/tennyson-the-key-to-understanding-skyfall-contains-spoilers/p1