The man with the golden touch

About three years ago, when Sir Roger Moore came to India as a UN goodwill ambassador, I got an opportunity to interview him with one caveat — the bulk of the questions had to be about his mission, which was to spread the word about iodised salt.
But both as a journalist and as a fan, I quickly found a way to move on to another, more important subject — James Bond.

With the raised eyebrow he was most famous for, Sir Roger gamely continued, while his minders were getting a bit exasperated. Being a veteran of showbiz, he obviously knew this was coming and went along with it, including the questions he had been asked hundreds of times before.

The main thing I wanted to know from him was, how did he play the role? Remember, when Moore was introduced, the movie-going public was still used to Sean Connery and had given a cruel thumbs down to George Lazenby, the one Bond still never mentioned in polite company.  Moore did not hesitate - “I played it like a cartoon character,” he said.

That is perhaps the best way to describe James Bond, who has not only survived murderous assassins and sultry seductresses, but also the changing vagaries of time and tastes.

Every generation has seen a different Bond, but essentially, barring a few sartorial changes, upgradation of accessories and some cosmetic shifts in behaviour — he does not slap women any more — Bond has remained the same. Producers of the films have been wise not to tamper with the basic formula — action, gadgets, expensive tastes, babes and over-the-top villains — and this has kept the punters coming in large numbers to theatres all round the world. Audiences need emotional connectivity to characters they have become familiar with; fooling around with the basics can lead to disaster, as George Lucas found out to his cost when the Star Wars franchise began spluttering.

Each actor has interpreted Bond in his own way — Sean Connery (who Ian Fleming initially thought was a wrong choice) played him straight and cruel, with the occasional burst of humour; Moore was more English, with his trademark   sardonic light touches; Timothy Dalton could not shed off his Shakespearian training; Pierce Brosnan looked pretty and introduced self-doubt into the character and Daniel Craig, whom audiences have taken to in a huge way, has brought back the slightly sadistic, rough and ready side to the role.

Plus he is eye candy for the women and that will bring in a new viewer segment. But whatever their personal style, they can never forget it is Bond they are playing and Bond is bigger than them.

Once the producers feel that the actor doesn’t fit, he is discarded; Brosnan fell out with the bosses and couldn’t get back in and once audiences turn lukewarm to Craig, he will go too.

One of the criticisms against Moore was that he overstayed his sell-by date (A View to a Kill, in which he is almost a senior citizen) and soon he was retired; indeed, when Connery tried to come back in Never Say Never Again, he, and the film, were embarrassing. In the end, we want Bond, not the actor.

This contributes to the Bond legend and all the fan buzz about the favourite Bond, the favourite film, the favourite Bond girl and of course, the best Bond villain. No two people can ever agree on a list, though there are some common threads - most like Connery, with Craig a close second. The general consensus seems to veer around Dr No, From Russia with Love, The Man with the Golden Gun and Casino Royale being the best films and Scaramanga as the best villain.

As far as the best Bond girl is concerned, take your pick-they are all sexy and range from the naïve (Domino) to the duplicitous (Vesper Lynd), from the creepy (Solitaire) to the weird (Mayday).

In the midst of continuity with change, one thing has altered, big time, over the years. From being a discerning man of the world used to the best in everything, Bond has turned into a bit of a salesman. When he is not saving the world and bedding the women, he is peddling commercial wares.

The trend of product placement began with Die Another Day, popularly called Buy Another Day, which raked in roughly $70 million from its blatant plugs for 20 products. In Casino Royale, Bond announced he had switched from Rolex to Omega while the producers counted their cash from endorsements (approx $58 million) and word is that Quantum of Solace will break all records with over $80 million in placements, including, (horrors) Coca Cola Zero and a new Ford.

The film should really be called Quantum of Selling. Would Ian Fleming, who constructed the Bond character to settle only for Tattinger champagne and a Bentley, approve?

Nonetheless, millions of us will still turn up to see the newest Bond film not because there will be a lot of things that will be new and fresh, but because, comfortingly, it will mostly be the same. New girls, faster kickass action and evermore unusual locales are fine, but we don’t want the essential Bond — saviour of the world, romancer of the ladies and a bit of cad — to get a makeover. He is the one constant in a world forever changing.
Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net