Post by Cpt. Sir Dominic Flandry on Jan 30, 2013 7:00:11 GMT -5
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/9826812/Sebastian-Faulks-ridicules-distasteful-Bond-film-Skyfall.html
Sebastian Faulks ridicules 'distasteful' Bond film 'Skyfall'
Skyfall, the latest 007 blockbuster which was hailed by the critics as possibly the best James Bond film ever, has been ridiculed by the author of a recent Bond novel.
The film, which was released in October, has taken more than a billion dollars at the box office and received rave reviews, including from The Daily Telegraph and the celebrated critic Philip French, who said it might be the best Bond film yet and marked the moment that its star Daniel Craig emerged from the shadow of Sean Connery.
Their claims were derided on Friday, however, by the award-winning writer Sebastian Faulks, author of the 2008 Bond novel Devil May Care, which was commissioned by the estate of 007's creator Ian Fleming in 2008 to mark the centenary of his birth.
His Bond became an instant best-seller and was praised by critics as one of the best of 33 sequels written since Fleming's death.
On Friday he criticised Skyfall's reviewers' and said he found the film distasteful in parts and marred by bad acting.
"I found the last film pretty distasteful. One [of the Bond girls] couldn't act and the other had been previously exploited as a sex worker. And Bond walks into the shower and makes love to her. Casino Royale was much better," he told an audience at India's Jaipur Literature Festival.
He disliked the aggressive promotion and merchandising for the film and said critics had shown a "fantastic degree of collusion" with the film's publicists to avoid spoiling its main shock - the death of M, played by Dame Judi Dench.
"The critics said it was one of the greatest Bond films, which is clearly not true. Albert Finney can't do a Scottish accent," he said.
While he was disappointed to see Dame Judi leave the role, and praised Ralph Fiennes' performance as her successor, he said both Skyfall and Quantum of Solace had made a error by attempting to portray the spy as a more human character with a richer inner life.
"The films' attempts to show a deeper and sensitive side to James Bond have not been successful because that's not how he works. He doesn't have much of an inner life and when you try to give him one the whole thing stalls," he said.
He had also tried to introduce a sense of introspection in 007 to break up the unrelenting action sequences, but he quickly abandoned it. "I thought I would invest him with some serious thoughts. It didn't work. It was unconvincing. It made him look not thoughtful but slightly gay," he added.
The author said a greater interest in books would have indicated a deeper character, but in the whole Bond canon he is only seen reading once - and his literary choice is a guide to modern golf.
Bond's charm is in the balance between his essentially cold character and the fact that he pits it against dark forces to protect Britain, he said.
Only Casino Royale successfully hinted at an agent with a hinterland when it shows Bond fall down in the shower, "shocked and appalled by what he had done. It suggested he had a softer, human side," Faulks said.
Fleming's Bond conveyed a character "so alone and in constant jeopardy", under-equipped in soft shoes and nothing but a "ladies' gun" to defend himself.
Mr Faulks' fellow panelist, Ian Fleming's biographer Andrew Lycett, disagreed with his criticism of Skyfall. "It gathered together all the ingredients of a Bond novel and I wasn't bored, I quite enjoyed it," he said.
Sebastian Faulks ridicules 'distasteful' Bond film 'Skyfall'
Skyfall, the latest 007 blockbuster which was hailed by the critics as possibly the best James Bond film ever, has been ridiculed by the author of a recent Bond novel.
The film, which was released in October, has taken more than a billion dollars at the box office and received rave reviews, including from The Daily Telegraph and the celebrated critic Philip French, who said it might be the best Bond film yet and marked the moment that its star Daniel Craig emerged from the shadow of Sean Connery.
Their claims were derided on Friday, however, by the award-winning writer Sebastian Faulks, author of the 2008 Bond novel Devil May Care, which was commissioned by the estate of 007's creator Ian Fleming in 2008 to mark the centenary of his birth.
His Bond became an instant best-seller and was praised by critics as one of the best of 33 sequels written since Fleming's death.
On Friday he criticised Skyfall's reviewers' and said he found the film distasteful in parts and marred by bad acting.
"I found the last film pretty distasteful. One [of the Bond girls] couldn't act and the other had been previously exploited as a sex worker. And Bond walks into the shower and makes love to her. Casino Royale was much better," he told an audience at India's Jaipur Literature Festival.
He disliked the aggressive promotion and merchandising for the film and said critics had shown a "fantastic degree of collusion" with the film's publicists to avoid spoiling its main shock - the death of M, played by Dame Judi Dench.
"The critics said it was one of the greatest Bond films, which is clearly not true. Albert Finney can't do a Scottish accent," he said.
While he was disappointed to see Dame Judi leave the role, and praised Ralph Fiennes' performance as her successor, he said both Skyfall and Quantum of Solace had made a error by attempting to portray the spy as a more human character with a richer inner life.
"The films' attempts to show a deeper and sensitive side to James Bond have not been successful because that's not how he works. He doesn't have much of an inner life and when you try to give him one the whole thing stalls," he said.
He had also tried to introduce a sense of introspection in 007 to break up the unrelenting action sequences, but he quickly abandoned it. "I thought I would invest him with some serious thoughts. It didn't work. It was unconvincing. It made him look not thoughtful but slightly gay," he added.
The author said a greater interest in books would have indicated a deeper character, but in the whole Bond canon he is only seen reading once - and his literary choice is a guide to modern golf.
Bond's charm is in the balance between his essentially cold character and the fact that he pits it against dark forces to protect Britain, he said.
Only Casino Royale successfully hinted at an agent with a hinterland when it shows Bond fall down in the shower, "shocked and appalled by what he had done. It suggested he had a softer, human side," Faulks said.
Fleming's Bond conveyed a character "so alone and in constant jeopardy", under-equipped in soft shoes and nothing but a "ladies' gun" to defend himself.
Mr Faulks' fellow panelist, Ian Fleming's biographer Andrew Lycett, disagreed with his criticism of Skyfall. "It gathered together all the ingredients of a Bond novel and I wasn't bored, I quite enjoyed it," he said.
