Why is James Bond so depressed in Skyfall?
Matt S
Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
He's just so burnt-out in the film. But why should he be? Craig looks like an old man, but he's not really that old. Why pretend he's dead? Did getting shot mess Bond up that much? Did the agent's death at the beginning tip him over the edge? Did M's betrayal of trusting a rookie agent to take the shot jade Bond? Is Bond still upset over Vesper's death/betrayal? I thought he got closure to that in QOS. Bond's really just depressed through the whole film, and none of these reasons I can think of make sense to me. I also can't understand why the filmmakers wanted Bond to be depressed. Bond goes from being a rookie in his first two films to being burnt-out and over-the-hill in his third. That makes no sense. Is it such a crime to show a character in his prime?
Visit my blog, Bond Suits
Comments
I think it's a combination of a three points you mentioned: Bond isn't as young as he once was, the moral dilemma in saving Ronson vs M's orders to pursue Patrice, and then hearing M tell Eve to shoot at Patrice, even if it means killing Bond. If I was in Bond's shoes, I'd be pretty damn pissed off that my superior - who I've worked with for so long - thinks of me as expendable. Not to mention that Bond copped a lot in his pursuit, including being shot at by Patrice.
Of course, not keeping active, the heavy drinking, the medication - all would take a physical and psychological toll on Bond. Then when he does take all the tests, he realises he's not the man he once was, which seems like a product of his self-indulgence - it's a vicious figure 8 cycle, and proves his inner demons is something that he has to overcome.
I do think it's more a psychological burden than a physical one. And I think M passing Bond on his tests was a vote of confidence, which Bond recognised when Silva tells him he had failed - and despite Silva's efforts in spinning it to make it appear M was sending Bond out to die.
It's a much more complete and emotionally satisfying journey to see Bond on than in CR/QOS.
I would by and large agree with that. I'd also say that Bond is in his prime in Spectre, and would likely be in the next film if Craig returns.
If anything Bond should be rejuvenated after surviving that fall with NO injuries, no 6 months of physical therapy learning to walk again, etc etc He could have spent months in the hospital and recovery after a fall like that. I imagine I'd be on a high, and feeling indestructible had I fallen some 322 feet into a river and come out completely unscathed.
I like to think before his Istanbul assignment, Bond had popped into his usual barbershop. However, Kurt The Barber wasn't there that day and without his picture of Hoagy Carmichael handy, he tried to describe an old school "gentleman's haircut'. The new stylist didn't quite understand what he was asking for and gave him the "Biff from Back To The Future" look instead thinking that was what an old school haircut would have looked like. 007 left so pissed he decided to splurge his most recent paycheck on a whole new wardrobe reasoning some new suits might take the focal point away from his embarrassing new do. Unfortunately THAT didn't go well either as his usual Saville Row tailor was also out that day and the new guy made ALL of his suits 2 sizes too small. Sh"t, and there's no time to rush home to pick up his own suits before flying out to Istanbul, because M is constantly on his a$$ about everything. So he boards the plane to Istanbul insecure thinking everyone is secretly laughing at him for looking like a blond Pee-Wee Herman.
That would probably put me in a funk for 3 weeks- the time it takes a haircut to grow back long enough to get it fixed.
But then we enter the discussion about the trajectory of Craig's era. The Bond of SPECTRE should have been the Bond prior to us getting Skyfall, i.e. Bond should not have been an ageing agent before getting into his prime.
This is what confuses me so much about Skyfall. I just don't understand how Bond can be finished with his prime in SF when we never saw him reach his prime. I can't find the meaning in the way the character is in SF because of this. There's so little build-up to this breakdown that while it seems I know the reasons for his breakdown, I can't feel them or accept them. I brought up this question because I thought I was missing something. Bond's journey in SF is hardly complete because we don't see the beginning. I can't understand why Bond is so depressed because I don't know what is supposed to be normal.
This is why discussing timeline with Bond is futile. They're all standalone adventures, and that was certainly the intention with SF before SP tried to be clever and tie everything together. If you adopt this perspective, it may help buying into the story of SF. I personally never found it as an issue - just an issue for the entire Craig era - because I always understood that Bond's gig is a tough one, and having a superior lose faith in you, plus be shot out, plus have to deal with the cognitive dissonance surrounding Ronson - it's enough to drive you crazy.
"Better make that two."
Then he basically gets a mission, gets to Shanghai, gets a shave (and one would hope, more than that from the gorgeous new Miss Moneypenny), and these combined rejuvenate him to 00- status - after which I don't see too many signs of depression.
who have played the role) he has many subtle levels and moods.
This makes good sense to me. It just felt too soon for burnt-out Bond, particularly after QoS which I regard as a major misstep. If I had managed to like QoS more (believe me I have tried...) it would not have jarred so much. As the last film in an actors tenure it would have been fine. I would like to have reversed the order and had Skyfall after Spectre which is what I will do in future watchings.
Sorry, but I never found Bond in Craig's films to be any more dimensional than in other films. Bond in Craig's films just shows a different side of the character than we've seen before, but discards other sides of the character.
All the actors who've played Bond have been able to give subtle hints to his inner character .
Also during the fitness tests he knows he's not shooting nearly as well as he should, and passing the mental and physical. He's on the brink, and that edge I think is a fairly decent representation of Fleming's Bond in that situation.
It's true that Bond in SF is conflicted and still pushes forward, but unlike Fleming's Bond, Bond does not get the job done in SF.
I don't think theres anything in the dialog to tell us this, it may have been something I'd even read here before the film came out
stoopid SPECTRE makes a mockery of that explanation though, as Blofeld brags all Craig's previous enemies were secretly working for him, but we only see the same enemies we already know from the first three films, there should have been at least a dozen other photographs shown/names dropped but otherwise left to our imagination to account for those missing years/unseen adventures
I know why he's depressed though cuz I've read Fleming, its a dirty damn business and he wants out
the real question is how he could go through 24 of these adventures with corpses piling up all around him and still be winking at the camera and making bad puns, that's not healthy
Fleming's Bond perseveres, uses his ingenuity and solves problems intelligently. As devious as the villains are, Bond thinks ahead and wins.
Craig's Bond, on the other hand, is shown as a character who loses. Quantum of Solace presents him as a Bond who kills before thinking and he comes off as an amateur. He's kind of a f**k- up. By SF he's more seasoned, but still loses. I suppose the idea is that he's a Bond who makes many, many, many mistakes along the way.....like getting his superior, M, killed.
Whether or not he learns from his mistakes is debatable, as by SPECTRE, his characterization is more along the cinematic Bond film style. Maybe by then he's come into his own?
I hope so, but I also wish they would've maintained the continuity of his development that exists from CR to SF. With SP, the development of Craig's Bond almost feels rushed to the point where Craig just needed a "normal EON mission" before he quit. This is of course written in hindsight
I have plenty of issues with SF's plot, but overall the narrative structure which exists in context of the preceding DC films is brilliant - SP comes along and screws it up.
"Better make that two."