Skyfall - Severine's death and Silva's capture
SeanIsTheOnlyOne
Posts: 723MI6 Agent
To capture Silva, does Bond intend to have him unarmed first because he considers it's the only way?
Silva uses the single bullet he has to kill Severine with the gun of the contest, and Bond knows it. Then Bond kills the goons precisely when Silva has no bullet left. It means Bond knew he was likely sending Severine to death, although he couldn't be sure Silva would kill her indeed.
But I've always wondered if Bond could have done exactly the same thing before Silva shoots Severine, betting on the confusion and his velocity to get the 'real' gun of the bald goon and then take over everybody. Of course, Silva would still be armed but Bond would point a much more powerful gun at him, with several bullets left. Severine could be saved and Silva wouldn't have a lot of options, especially considering the helicopters arrive on the island a few seconds later. Furthermore, in the film, Bond has no proof Silva hasn't another gun hidden in his jacket. He only sees him with the old gun of the contest, but it doesn't mean it's the only weapon Silva is currently 'carrying', which makes Severine's brutal death even more frustrating. I'm not saying she could have been saved in any case, but I wonder if there's a situation where Bond could have tried to save her before capturing Silva.
Comments
I suspect the scene was written to suggest Bond was helpless to save Severine (without being shot himself). Silva was always going to kill her. But he until he fired that fatal shot nothing was guaranteed. Bond had the premise of mind to act immediately, though, and kill the henchmen while Silva was disarmed. I think we’re not supposed to consider the possibility Silva had a concealed weapon.
Of course, it’s not long afterward that we’re told Silva wanted to be captured and somehow orchestrated it all as part of his need to confront and kill M.
I like SF and have watched it a bunch of times. I will continue watching it. But the story has plot holes big enough to drive a lorry through.
Yes, I'd say Bond thinks strategically, waiting for Silva to shoot and then be unarmed. After all, Severine means nothing to this mission and he probably feels more at ease with Silva having no bullet left so he can focus on the goons only.
Having said that, when Severine and Bond meet at the casino, we can really feel Bond's compassion. When he says he wants to help her, I think he means it. She's used as bait of course, but she has nothing to lose here, and exactly like Andrea Anders, she sees 007 as her key to freedom. Unfortunately, it's too late.
About the plot holes, it's one of the films I've the biggest issues with in the series because there are many disturbing elements in the diegesis itself, especially Silva's plot which relies on too many parameters, with some of them just impossible to forecast. I tend to appreciate SF a little bit more than I used to, but I still struggle when it comes to the last fifty minutes (just after this scene).
One of things I will say Skyfall did well was to present elements of Bond’s past without going overboard and being too explicit. I also liked the idea that the film hints at the idea that Craig’s Bond is essentially the same Bond as the other actors beforehand. The inclusion of the Aston Martin DB5 was a great addition that seemed to derail a lot of theories that CR was a prequel to DN and led to debates as to whether SF was in the same timeline as the other Craig films at that point.
I agree the whole Silva thing is hard to believe based on the parameters involved. On the other hand, a while ago I did come up with a theory that Silva was the original 008 who is mentioned in a few of the older Bond films. Here is a link to that theory:
https://www.ajb007.co.uk/discussion/56441/bond-continuity-theory-silva-from-sf-is-chronologically-linked-with-the-dalton-and-brosnan-eras#latest
The fact that Silva mentions he worked in Hong Kong between 86 and 97, I reckon was a deliberate wink at us fans who believe that the all the films share a continuous timeline. Unfortunately my theory didn't seem popular here but I notice on Youtube some other people liked it more.
@sinlum I've read your 008 theory, but if TND takes place before SF within the same timeline, then how could Bond have already met Moneypenny? Unless you're implying 'James Bond' is a codename, which is something many of us don't want to believe in, and something a movie like SF precisely debunks...
My grandiose theory is that pretty much everyone at MI6 has a codename except for Bond.
Dench's M's Moneypenny (Samantha Bond) resigns from the service after DAD after Bond is sent to the Falkland Islands (M mentions that Bond will be sent to the re-evaluation centre on the islands after he is taken out of North Korea).
Dench then hires Villiers around the events of CR but as a young guy he resigns. Tanner, the Chief of Staff, somewhat fulfills the role during the events of QOS. Dench's M is possibly uneasy about hiring a new secretary because of the whole Mitchell affair.
During the events of SF, Eve is a field operative like Bond at the start but somewhat gets downgraded because of the mess-up in Istanbul. When Malory is hired as M at the end, he decides to invest in a new secretary and Eve gets the gig. Moneypenny is essentially the codename for M's secretary.
Interesting. But wouldn't it be a little weird to have Bond using his real name while people like Moneypenny and Tanner, who are much less exposed than him, use a codename? We could expect from a field operative like Bond to use a codename in that case. Do you see my point?
I figure that the codenames are only used within MI6. So if Bond gets a memo from Moneypenny he knows immediately that it is from M's secretary.
The fact that Bond nearly always uses his real name is an ironic twist on the silly codename theories. Bond somewhat explains why he uses his real name when he arrives in the hotel in Montenegro with Vesper in CR. He was meant to be Mr Arlington Beech but he disregards the name upon arrival knowing that Le Chiffre already knows who he really is. Bond has however used codenames on several missions beforehand.