I gave FRWL a watch yesterday and took some time to write down my thoughts:
The PTS has a great tense atmosphere and gets the audience feeling uneasy. Bond is vulnerable. He misses a shot, is being stalked and finally gets taken down. The mask twist doesn’t make logical sense but from a filmmaking point of view it works. It sets the tone of Bond being in SPECTRE’s crosshairs. Grant using his garrotte on the Bond double becomes more foreboding when he almost succeeds on the real target aboard the train later in the film. Short, sweet and effective.
Setting up Kronsteen, Grant and Klebb before we even meet Bond strengthens the film. Their plan is the bedrock of everything that follows, setting the trap that Bond will walk in to. It’s fitting the first time we see Bond properly he’s relaxing by the river while his enemies are hard at work. Sylvia Trench was a fantastic character and it’s so good seeing the very Fleming inspired 1935 Bentley. Forget about period piece movies - we already have this and it won’t be beaten.
For it’s day the car phone and pager were cutting edge technologies. These aspects may seem dated today but the series has always been at the forefront, and it should continue to be.
The Q briefing is interesting in the sense Boothroyd is playing it straight. It’s his first official scene in the series and he’s getting to know Bond. He knows he’s been away all day, seemingly late for the meeting - but he gives him the benefit of the doubt. It makes sense he only changes his tone to impatience once equipment has been damaged or destroyed in the subsequent films.
The hotel room inspection is the laid back pace I’d love to see return one day. It’s not an action scene but nonetheless it receives the James Bond Theme playing over the top. There’s no way you’d see this today but it works. This is young, engaged Connery and I don’t think it can be topped. He looks great and exudes charisma. He’s tough when needed but affable and not uptight, shown singing and laughing at various points in the film.
After all these years Kerim Bey stands tall as the greatest ally in the series. He’s just so likeable and genuine. When Bond says “how can a friend be in debt” you feel those aren’t throwaway words. Tania is also like this. You can’t help but fall in love with her good heart and sense of innocence despite the knowledge of who she’s working for.
The gypsy camp sequence is a perfect showcase for how I think Bond should fight. He has the aura similar to an observer, entering a battlefield where he’s outnumbered but still managing to have a big impact. Bond isn’t Superman and FRWL knows it. If he can avoid strenuous activity it makes sense to do so. He’s mostly relying on shooting long range targets, and those who come too close for comfort.
He’s a killer and that’s how Bond should be. But he’s always looking to use the environment to his advantage, which he does numerous times: collapsing the tent over the fighting men and sending the flaming carriage towards others. The times he does use his fists it’s for quick takedowns. The OHMSS beach fight touched upon this style of fighting, but FRWL did it first.
I admire the espionage tone we receive, from Kerim’s periscope, filming Bond and Tania’s lovemaking, the consulate blueprints, and various other things. Much like the effective use of shadow in the PTS, the shooting of Krilencu has a great atmosphere and the “she should have kept her mouth shut” quip is just perfect. Very matter of fact but hilarious, segueing nicely into one of the most famous Bond scenes of all time: Bond meeting Tania, the template for all those Bond auditions.
The train sequence is an all timer, and if there could only one in the series I’d choose this. It’s where the Bond and Tania dynamic flourishes, all alone together inside the cabin. The fashion show and general lounging around is “charming” as Kerim himself put it. Grant entering the scene changes the tone yet again, with their meeting outside ripped straight off the pages of Fleming. Once again a very moody atmosphere.
The standoff with Bond on his knees is no doubt Connery’s single best piece of acting in the role for my money, or in this case 50 gold sovereigns. He’s both impressed and disgusted, but very much done for. It’s talking that keeps him alive. He uses a gadget but he still has to work for his survival with one of the most ferocious scraps put to film. I have no idea how many times Grant said “old man”, but Bond’s singular use of it has me punching the air with satisfaction.
After the nighttime sequences on board the train it’s a visual oasis to see the wide open green fields with Bond being chased by the helicopter. Those close call passes, particularly the one that nearly decapitated Connery, are special to me. Now that is a commitment to real stunts, way back in 1963. I like how we have attaché case popping up again to show it’s far from a single use item. I know people call this and the boat chases tacked on, and perhaps they are. But I wouldn’t change them for the world. By this point I think the film has earned this type of expansive action, and it emphasises the lengths SPECTRE are going to.
In a world of bigger is always better, it’s a breath of fresh air for the film to end with a low key confrontation inside a hotel room. The Bond/Tania relationship that was built up beforehand is tested, and again, Bond was moments from death. That’s what FRWL does best right until the end: solid character work, vulnerability and a sense of desperation.
