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Breaking (Down) The Bonds: From Russia With Love
By Chris Holski | August 14, 2008
Don’t forget to bring back more Vodka.
OK, so after forty-plus years everyone knows the formula. A supervillain threatens the world, hijacks a nuclear weapon (or something else that’s very large,) Bond steps in, blah blah blah, he does the girl over water. Bond movie to a T, right?
Not always.
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Starring: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Daniela Bianchi, Lotte Lenya
Director: Terence Young
Gross: 80 million
Year: 1963
The Film:
While it wasn’t unconventional at the time (there was only one predecessor at this point, after all), “From Russia With Love” is one of the few Bond movies that doesn’t fall into the normal formula. Instead of trying to stop Supervillain A from blowing up the western world, all 007 has to do is go into Turkey and steal a “Lektor” decoding device from the Soviets (Do yourself a favour and say “Lektor” just once. It’s fun.) with the help of a Russian woman who wants to do him.
Of course, things aren’t what they seem as it’s merely part of a SPECTRE plot to eliminate Bond, as revenge for his slaying of Dr. No. And from there it’s back-and-forth gamesmanship between the two sides as they continually try to outwit one another. A simple task explodes into one of the most complex stories you’ll find in a Bond movie.
Despite how off-the-beaten-path the storyline is, there are a lot of Bond firsts in this movie. From the big things (the pre-title sequence, special gadgets and Blofeld) to the little things (”JAMES BOND WILL BE BACK IN…”)
BREAKING BOND DOWN:
The Intro:
James Bond is dead! OK, he’s not. But the hedgemaze scene is one of the more memorable pre-title bits the folks at EON have put together. They actually had to reshoot it later when Young realized the man underneath Bond’s mask looked too much like Sean Connery. The answer to this, as it is to many of life’s problems, was to add a pornstache. Neat little twist off the top.
Something else different about the movie is the opening titles aren’t done by Maurice Binder. Instead, they’re done by Robert Brownjohn who’s notedly a fan of shining lights on lovely women. Brownjohn also put together the Goldfinger titles before Binder made his return, but we’ll get to those next time.
We still haven’t gotten into the standard title songs yet, but the number used in the titles for “From Russia With Love” is playing over and over in my head as I write this. Very catchy and it, with the images, do an excellent job at setting the mood for Bond 2.
Bond:
It doesn’t have as many memorable one-liners as some of his other efforts - the best one here, I think, is “White wine? With fish?” - but this may be Sean Connery’s finest performance as 007. His interactions with his fellow cast members are outstanding, particularly with Bianchi. Connery subtly but surely lets the watcher know that Bond is using Romanova even more than she had originally intended to use him. He makes you revel in how much of a dumb sap she is, ultimately prostituting herself and her country in exchange for, well… what is actually more prostitution.
My favourite sequence in this movie is the Gypsy camp. With all kinds of mayhem - including a for-goodness-sake girl-on-girl fight - Connery owns the screen. During the attack, Bond is so suave, cool and effective at taking thugs out of the battle that you can’t help but think getting two beauty pageant contestants for a night is a justified reward.
The Villain:
While he’s not ultimately in charge and enters more as a henchman than anything, make no mistake: Red Grant is the main villain here, and is one of the greatest in Bond history.
So many times over the course of the franchise, 007 has made his adversary look like a fool. Not so here. In this case, it’s the other way around as Grant is always one step ahead of him. It’s a joy to watch Robert Shaw’s cold demeanor as he gives Bond trouble, keeps him alive, then enacts his final plan which was almost successful. Grant has everything in the palm of his hand from start-to-finish, and it takes a parlour trick for Bond to take him down, leading to an incredibly well-directed hand-to-hand fight. Terence Young should look back at that sequence as his greatest acheivement.
The Henchmen:
Another full slate in “From Russia With Love.” Lotte Lenya performs virtually as the opposite of herself as Rosa Klebb (the obvious inspiration for Frau Farbissina in Austin Powers. Ironically, that character would go farther in that series than the Red Grant parody did) in a very lasting performance. Still, it’s one of the cases where the person in charge is playing second fiddle to the person hired to do the dirty work. Elsewhere, it’s hard to get a kick from the evil chess player (though he does get a kick himself) and there’s a pre-General Gogol appearance made by Walter Gotell who goes out in a blaze of glory before returning as an entirely different person.
The Girl:
Daniela Bianchi is beautiful as Tatyana Ramonova, with some voice help from Barbara Jefford. While she’s nice to look at, the character comes off as a complete airhead. Again, Bond girls are entirely subjective person-by-person. And I can’t stand idiots.
But Bond’s just doing his job… and he still gets to do it in a boat again.
The Supporters:
Pedro Armendariz gives what would turn out to be his dying performance as Ali Kerim Bay, one that’s both beautiful and tragic. Armendariz seems to use his impending death in his portrayal, and some of his lines can get you choked up knowing that the actor’s days would soon give in to inoperable cancer. Bay is a very likable character, only adding to the emotional response Armendariz invokes.
Major Boothroyd is back, but there’s been a big change - he’s referred to as “Q” and is played by Desmond Llewelyn. While it’s a big moment, the character wouldn’t truly find its place until the next Bond film.
THE LEITER SIDE: No Felix here. I would have preferred they use Leiter, which is better still until they go wrong.
The Film In A Sentence:
“From Russia With Love” is one of the best Bond movies ever made, taking a relatively simple mission for 007 and turning it into a deep story.
BOND MOVIE RANKINGS (after From Russia With Love):
1. From Russia With Love (1963)
2. Dr. No (1962)
Next Time: Bond finds its formula and becomes a worldwide phenomenon with the release of “Goldfinger.”
Topics: Breaking (Down) The Bonds |