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MI6 rounds up the news from the "Quantum of Solace"
press conference held in Chile last week, plus talk
of the 23rd James Bond film...
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Production Diary (22)
7th April 2008
Being Creative
When Marc Forster signed up to become the youngest
007 director in the history of the franchise, he was quick to
stamp his own vision on the 22nd James Bond film (later titled
"Quantum of Solace") - including replacing some early script
concepts. Despite the changes,
Forster still
has
to work
within the Bond template. "But I like it because you feel
like it can make you very creative," he told reporters. "And
a lot of interesting things come out of that. Because, if you
look at filmmakers that worked under politically repressive regimes,
[they] made sometimes really interesting movies."
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Finding A Balance
When the title of the film was first revealed,
cast and crew were estimating that there was roughly twice
as much action that the previous outing "Casino
Royale".
But how to strike a balance between story and action?
Daniel
Craig explained to press in Chile: "We're not making
a kitchen sink drama here. We are making a Bond movie.
What Marc wanted and the producers and what I wanted is
to bring back a visual flair to the movie, so that every
frame in every shot that we see is beautiful. And there
may be things exploding, but they're good to look at."
"We're making a Bond film, but we need
some reality. We need to
do more. It's not like we're making some sort of big action
romance here. This is a Bond movie first of all. You have
to apply the Bond equation, which is that we have to have
as much action as we possibly can that fits in with the
story, which makes sense. But the reality of the situations
and... people's emotions is kind of important because
we want an audience to kind of care and just to get involved
and stay interested. "
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Revenge, Retribution, Redemption...
Long-running rumours, initially
fuelled by actress Eva Green, said that Vesper
Lynd's boyfriend
may appear as the
villain 007 is chasing in "Quantum of Solace". This
was shot down by producers during the press conference, but the
thread or revenge and Bond settling a score is still very much
at the heart of the story. Craig elaborated on the theme: "It's
kind of Bond's journey into, at first we think it's vengeance,
but it goes somewhere else. They've killed the love of his life,
this organization, and we don't know who this organization are,
and he needs to find out who they are. And it's for personal
reasons but also professional reasons."
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"He has lost the love of
his life and the last thing he knows is that she was a double
agent. She sold him out. The relationship that he was looking
at was just a lie. So he has got this little kind of a spark
inside him that, although he does not want to admit, he needs
to find out. Without that he is not going to function properly.
So definitely, this movie is about beginning that discovery.
"There's a theme in the movie, which is
about shortages in the world and how people are abusing
them and this sets it up quite
nicely really."
No Pain, No Gain
Keen to carry on doing as much of the
stunt sequences "as insurance allows", Craig
has been keeping even busier on his second outing as 007. "I'm
bruised up from the fight scenes, but that's part of the
deal," Craig told reporters. "I wouldn't have
done the movie without going all the way." When quizzed
about his relentless fitness and health routine, Craig
joked, "It's just not very Bond-like. Bond should
be able to do ten press-ups, then smoke 60 cigarettes,
and then drink a bottle of something and pop a pill, I
think."
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Bond's Inner Psyche
Director Marc Forster explained the choice of
the desolate and baron location for the climax of the film epitomised
the "isolation and loneliness" that Bond is feeling. "He
is an assassin, he is a secret agent, and that reflects a certain
lifestyle, which is lonely. I think that is what is going on
within Bond, the psychological phase he is going through." said
Forster. "Locations are characters themselves."
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The filming which wrapped last week in
Chile centred on the Cerro Paranal observatory, which villain
Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu
Amalric,
pictured opposite) has chosen as headquarters for his 'Quantum'
operations. "Look
outside. This genuinely does not exist anywhere else on
earth." Craig
said.
"This was a special week," said Frank Ruseler,
administrator of Paranal, "We always receive visitors
from the press, but this commotion is something new." Part
of the agreement for the use of the location is that all
filming is completed in daylight, as the scientific programmes
use the telescopes twenty minutes after sunset. "Last year, sometime around September or October,
I received a letter with the letterhead of 007," recalled
Tim de Zeeuw, director general of the science centre. "At
first I thought it was a joke."
Forster explained the balance between the action and drama
in the film's climax: "If you have an action sequence
you have to tell a story, because drama and action go hand
in hand. And I think one inspires the other. If you don’t
have a story with the action, then the action is empty.
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Bond 23
Producer Michael G. Wilson told reports he expected
the Bond machine to take a rest bite after work on "Quantum
of Solace" is completed later this year. Wilson said he
expects to pause for at least a year, meaning the 23rd James
Bond film may be released later than the expected two year cycle. "I
need a break for a little while," he said.
Director Marc Forster confirmed he will not
be back for Bond 23. "If
I would ever do a big movie again in that size," he said, "it
has to be my own franchise, which I would create from scratch,
which I would cast, create the look and really create the franchise
on my own."
How about 007 himself? "I want them to stand alone and
be good films," Craig said. "As long as that continues,
then we'll keep making them. And if it doesn't, then we'll stop."
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Forster, on the style of the film
- "I
want to go back to the 60s and 70s thriller look."
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Craig, on the modern villain - "I
think what it is is looking at places that are potentially
weak, somewhere where there is a destabilised place
that ... bad guys, whatever the nationality, can
take advantage of."
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Wilson, on the controversy over
the poor relations between Chile and Bolivia who fought
a way from 1879-1884 - "We knew there was a
war 100 years ago, but we didn't know it was still
an issue."
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Craig, on the gadgets - "The Aston
Martin's there, and that's still the best gadget
we have."
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Amalric, on working with what he's
got - "No scars, no eye that bleeds, no metal
jaw. I tried everything to have something to help
me. I said to Marc: No nothing? A beard? 'No.' Can
I shave
my hair? 'No. Just your face."
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Kurylenko,
on her character not getting to smooch 007 - "Why
would I be disappointed? I'm just doing my work.
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Plot Spoilers
During the reporters visit to the set, the crew were filming
scenes from the movie's climax. "Offices and a lodge underneath
one of the world's largest telescopes at Paranal Observatory
acted as an eco-hotel, used by the villain", said Reuters.
According to producer Barbara Broccoli, the building would be
re-created back in London, "in order for it to be blown
up." Scenes were filmed of Craig firing into the skylight
above the offices, and Kurylenko's character Camille running
separately off the roof of the building, flipping into a balcony.
Amalric, playing the villain Dominic Greene, roamed the set in
post-Bond fight makeup, bloodied and bruised on his cheeks. One
report revealed how it all ends for the villain: "after
getting the bad end of his own ax in a fight, a bloodied villain
limps alone in a stark desert. Mathieu Amalric stumbles to the
red, rocky ground. "CUT!" rings loudly from the set"
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