007's Quantum of Solace

The title & some plot details of the New Bond movie have come out over the last couple of days. & it looks like the new movie will be a worthy successor to the reboot Casino Royale. The new movie will be titled Quantum of Solace. The title is taken from the Ian Fleming short story. It appeared in the collection For Your Eyes Only. & while it doesn't look like they will probably be taking anything from the short story for movie, but, given the plot of the short story, it strikes me as an appropriate title. Why? Let me look at the plot of the movie 1st & then I will say why I think the title works.

(Synopsis is taken from the official website)

QUANTUM OF SOLACE continues the high octane adventures of James Bond (DANIEL CRAIG) in CASINO ROYALE.
Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (JUDI DENCH) interrogate Mr White (JESPER CHRISTENSEN) who reveals the organisation which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.
Forensic intelligence links an MI6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (OLGA KURYLENKO), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (MATHIEU AMALRIC), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organisation.
On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano (JOAQUIN COSIO). Using his associates in the organisation, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.
In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organisation.

The movie takes up the action shortly after the end of Casino Royale. Remember, at the end of that movie Bond has just beaten up Mr. White & uttered the famous line, "My name is Bond, James Bond." for the 1st time. Now we see what happens next. Bond sets out to find out all he can.

In a way, this movie is clearly being faithful to a plotline from the novels Casino Royale & Live & Let Die. In the book, when Bond discovers that Vesper was killed by Smersh he vowed revenge aginst the Soviet orginization. & he has his 1st chance in the next novel. & it is revenge which clearly drives this plot. In this case, not against Smersh, rather it is this new super orginization that he goes after.

Interestingly enough, the orginization that White works for bears a stronr resemblence to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from the novles & movies. But is it? Time will tell. Part of me won't object to it being a totally new orginization. But, since this is a reboot, it would make sense to reboot S.P.E.C.T.R.E. also.

Now, as for why I think the title is appropriate. To explain, we need to go back to the short story that the title is taken from. In that story Bond attends a dinner party at the Government House in Nassau. Afterwords he makes a comment which leads to the Jamaican Governor telling him a story about a civil servant who was betrayed by his wife. The story goes on to tell how he exacted his revenge on her. & what happened to her. The title comes from a psychological theory of the governor of how much betrayal a person can take in a relationship.

In this case, it looks like Bond is looking for some solace for his loss. But even more than mere revenge, he is out to find answers. & hopefully those answers will give him some solace for his loss. Or as Daniel Craig put it in an interview: "Bond is looking for his quantum of solace and that's what he wants, he wants his closure. Ian Fleming says that if you don't have a quantum of solace in your relationship then the relationship is over. It's that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don't have you might as well give up. " So, it is clear that this is the next step in the development of James Bond into the agent Ian Fleming made him into. Will they work the short story in as a back story like they did in Octopussy? is yet to be seen.

Judi Dench is back as M. Her character of M is being developed even more, including some of the backstory. There are some things from the original M that could be added, but given the difference in gender, marital status etc, not everything would work. & it sounds like M is the 1 who gets to use the gadgets.

Jeffrey Wright returns as Felix Leiter. He thus becomes only the 2nd actor to play Leiter in more than 1 movie. (David Hedison being the 1st in Live & Let Die & Licence to Kill.) Hopefully they will develop his character a little more than they were able to in Casino Royale. In fact, I hope they take a cue from the novels & include a bar/food scene. They have an opportunity to really develop the friendship theme usually missed, except a bit in L&LT and more so in Licence.

It also looks like Rene Mathis will be returning. & hopefully exonerated. Still no Q or Moneypenny. It may work for 1 more movie, but they will have to bring them back. They were always 2ndary characters, but they are important, they did help move the book plotlines along. They can't be ignored forever. & in fact, if M is using some new gadgets, Q could be successfully introduced without needing to meet Bond.

On to the Bond villians. I am not familiar with Joaquín Cosio who plays General Medrano. The same is true about Mathieu Amalric as the cheif villian Maurice Green. But they are both established actors. So, if the roles are well written they should do good.

Now for the Bond Girls (Women for you PC freaks). Gemma Arterton plays Agent Fields, an MI6 field agent who operates in Bolivia. At 21 she may be the youngest spy in the series. This is only her 4th movie. But she has been in demand in England, so she holds some promise. Then there is the main Bond Girl, Olga Kurylenko as Camille. Camille also has revenge on her mind, but why? I can come up with a couple of good reasons, going back to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. & the later novels. But, from what I've read, it isn't too likely. But if they do take a bit of the plot from John Gardner's For Special Services, remember, you read it here 1st.

The 1 big question that remains to be seen is the theme song. Quantum of Solace does lend itself to a song title. But, it doesn't have to be used. It depends on the artist they get to do it. I just hope it, & the song are decent.

From what I have seen of the early filming & the story line, I am impressed. As I said at the start, this promises to be a worthy sequel.

Is it 7 November 2008 yet?

Note: In doing some checking out of the reactions to the title I came across a lot of griping about the title. It reminded me of the comments made about the choice of Daniel Craig as Bond before Casino Royale came out. I wonder how many of these people who hate the title, & for the most part didn't seem to know that it is an Ian Fleming title, were the same people to criticize the selection of Craig before the movie came out?

As for me, I like the title. As I point out above, it makes perfect sense to me based on the title's origin. The short story is 1 of my favorite Bond stories. So, maybe I am a bit prejudiced. Still, I think it works. So, to those of you who don't like it, get over it!

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