A thought about Bond’s conscience, atonement, and lingering guilt over his dead wife, Tracy.
In The Spy Who Loved Me, James Bond delays the destruction of Stromberg and his sea base to conduct a very risky rescue of Anya Amasova. Could his decision, at least partly, be based on guilt he may feel from killing Anya’s lover, Sergei Barsov, during the story’s prologue?
The guilt could be deepened by that fact that Bond still feels guilty over the death of his wife, Tracy, and sympathizes for Anya. If Anya also dies, he would be connected to the deaths of both Anya and the man she loved.
Yes, he is a dedicated secret agent, and he’s already crossed some moral boundary by having sex with the woman of the man he’s killed. Professionally and morally Bond is par for the course in his world of grey. Also, two dead Soviet agents wouldn’t be frowned upon by his service.
However, he takes a longshot risk to his life to save Anya. Could it be that he’s really trying to save Tracy, in spirit?
Interesting observation. Never thought of it like that, but there could be undercurrents of those feelings to his motives, although James Bond usually tries to save the damsel in distress whether she’s a foreign agent or not.
A very sound reasoning from a character point of view, indeed.
On the other hand, as @Double-OhAgent already mentioned, it’s more or less THE default procedure for any hero to delay such a strike and rescue the hostage/lady/partner on their own.
It’s almost unthinkable in that situation - Amasova on Stromberg’s Atlantis, Bond on the Trident sub, strike order given - that Bond would not haggle with the captain to delay and move in on his own. Story-wise it may even be necessary to have Bond face-to-face with Stromberg regardless if there’s a woman/friend/fellow agent to rescue or not. I just don’t see Bond leaning back and let a torpedo sheaf do his job. All the more since Stromberg might escape in one of his capsules, which wouldn’t sit well with M in the debriefing.
Very true, yes. It is Bond’s M.O. to risk even more danger for his lady friends.
He certainly gave Stromberg some bonus bullets at the long table for his extra trouble. Maybe just breaking in the replacement Walther he got after escaping, yipes!
Worth pointing out both lairs are at sea and isolated. The inflatable ball entrance is more cartoonish than the wet bike, but both villains knew Bond was arriving and let him in. On that basis they’re the same.
Bond could have been thinking about Tracy, and I assume he does frequently in his private moments without anyone knowing. But that’s imposed on the films by the audience, and that’s okay.
Connery Bond in DAF has an air of casual cynicism about him: strangling Marie; slapping Tiffany; prepared to leave Tiffany to her fate.
Bond is there for his assignment, but doesn’t think it worthy of MI6 (which may be echoed by Connery being there for a sixth Bond film [and its paycheck], but believing he had outgrown–or need to outgrow–the role).
As I have noted before, DAF is an exemplary incoherent text (following Robin Wood). As he writes (of TAXI DRIVER): “The film cannot believe in the traditional figure of the charismatic individualist hero, but it can also not relinquish it, because it has nothing to put in its place.”
DAF presents its Bond as hero, but at the same time is cynical about the very notion of a hero (but Bond does not become an anti-hero–that comes further along in 1970s cinema–the disillusioned hero/savior). Contributing factors probably include: the disarray Eon experienced with the loss of Lazenby; the switching out of Bonds; Hamilton’s own cynicism; Mankiewicz’s connection to Hamilton, and their successful collaboration; Connery’s approach to the role, and the ease with which Hamilton permits him to assay it.
I always thought Bond’s rescue of Anya was more to show his sense of chivalry than to suggest any mental associations with Tracy. On the other hand, I understand the appeal of trying to get into Bond’s head to milk more out of a moment. For instance, I always wonder if, when he’s climbing up the cliff face in FYEO, he’s remembering it’s the sort of thing that killed his parents.
But is Bond gallant? That’s the question. I’m not sure we know. Roger is a gent, but it’s certainly a bit harder imagining Connery’s Bond sticking his neck very far out for a damsel in distress, though that’s kind of what his one-man raid on Palmyra is about; rescuing Paula from the lion’s den. As Dustin says, in TSWLM the rescue and mission kind of go hand-in-hand: he wants to make SURE Stromberg is dead, and he can rescue Anya in the process. It’s like LALD where he goes in to save Solitaire as much as to kill Kananga.
Where we seem to cross more of a line is when Bond takes on a ridiculous level of risk to save Octopussy and then Stacey in gallant but nutty actions that seem more Gallahad than Bond.
Until Mr KiddWint pointed it out, I never stopped to think that in making that spectacular high dive off the oil rig, Bond is in fact leaving Tiffany behind to take her chances. Maybe the fact that he did, plus the fact that I never noticed after decades of viewings, says something about what a 'blah" character she was, but it also proves that the dive was pointless; if she could survive without it, so could he. My impression was always that the filmmakers realized the “epic finale” was underwhelming by the usual Bond standards and figured they could jazz it up with a “Weissmuller Tarzan off the Brooklyn Bridge” moment.
It took me years first to recognize, and then work out, the (il)logic of the events on the oil rig.
Bond arrives at the rig.
Blofeld does the standard villain monologue.
Bond refers to Tiffany as the “Dragon Lady.”
Blofeld offers Bond a tour. Tiffany slips the music tape back to Bond (no longer a "Dragon Lady).
More standard villain monologue. Bond switches tapes, slipping the control tape inside Tiffany’s bikini bottom.
Bond releases the weather balloon to signal that the invasion can start, breaks free, but is subdued before he can escape the oil rig. Releasing the balloon indicates that he is leaving Tiffany to her fate. @David_M Bond definitely not being gallant.
Tiffany tells Bond that she switched the tapes, and he berates her.
Bond is imprisoned.
Attack commences.
Tiffany tries to exchange the tapes, is caught, and led away.
Attack helps Tiffany get free. She takes cover.
Bond escapes captivity.
Blofeld decides to flee.
Bond reaches the rig’s platform.
Blofeld gets into Bathosub, and crane moves it.
Bond takes over crane’s controls (mirroring his earlier attempt at figuring out how to maneuver the moonbuggy).
Tiffany emerges from hiding, and joins Bond at crane.
Tiffany’s fires machine gun, and the recoil sends her backwards. Tiffany falls sideways off the oil rig (and despite hitting the water at what must have been an awkward angle, emerges unscathed).
Bond tells Tiffany to jump, and realizes she isn’t there. He finishes with Blofeld, and does his swan dive.
Unseen:
Bond and Tiffany are rescued. No hard feelings on either side.
Holy mackerel, I even forgot she fell off the rig. Jill St John is a gorgeous gal, but Tiffany is so darn forgettable.
“You stupid twit!” Bond at his absolute least affectionate towards any Bond girl. I think this and Mary Goodnight is where we get most of the “Bond is a misogynist” trope.
I would not automatically conclude that by releasing the weather ballon that James Bond is leaving Tiffany Case to her fate. I would think based on all we know about him that he would search for her as long as he could before jumping off the oil rig.
But with the imminent deadline for destroying Washington, D.C. counting down, Bond has to release the balloon when he does to give his assault team the best chance (and most time) to stop Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s plans. The longer he waits, the more likely Blofeld will succeed in his endeavors AND get away. If he and/or Tiffany dies, in the process, so be it. The important thing is the mission. Bond is always willing to sacrifice himself for his country (and often the U.S.) on his missions as long as he ultimately succeeds. But Bond will not leave the damsel in distress without doing everything he can to save her.
Both directed by Guy Hamilton. Connery Bond in DAF has both 1) a harsher edge toward women than before; and 2) a less predatory sexual m.o. than in previous films. Again, DAF is an incoherent text.
Moore Bond is more straight-up misogynist vis-a-vis Goodnight, and though he plays it well, I think Lewis Gilbert’s retooling of Moore Bond was essential to Moore’s success in the role.
The film indicates otherwise. Bond releases the balloon, continues forward with his escort, breaks free, and runs in the direction opposite of where he knows Tiffany to be.
Once he breaks out, and is back on the platform, the chance to get Blofeld and destroy the control center is his priority. Tiffany joins up with Bond on her own. Bond’s effort to save her consists in telling her to jump after she has already fallen off the oil rig.
I still don’t think you can say that he “abandons” Tiffany. Yes, he may head in the opposite direction, but that’s because that is the only possible route of escape. He can’t turn back toward the command center where Tiffany is because there is a guard with a gun standing in the doorway. He can be seen in the background. It’s the same black guard who directs him out of the command center before Bond is collected by the two outside guards who Bond soon tries to get away from.
We pretty much concur on what happens after Bond breaks out of the “brig”. Although I’d add, he does tell her to shoot at the bad guys for what it’s worth–which also allows her (accidentally) to escape from the oil rig, seemingly unscathed.
There‘s a fundamental difference between Tiffany and Anya.
Tiffany is a smuggler, in cohorts with the villains until she sees Bond as a way out. Still, when Bond arrives, she does look as if sunbathing on Blofeld’s rig is her preference again. Bond does not really see her as an ally or a damsel in distress.
Anya is pursuing the same goal as Bond, and he feels indebted to her for killing her lover. He rationalizes his act, and he is correct about the situation having been a binary choice (one of them would have ended up being dead in any event). But still, the mission against Stromberg unifies Bond and Anya. When she gets kidnapped at the end it would have been totally against Bond‘s code of honor to not try and save Anya.
Apart from that, it makes the ending so much more interesting.
I agree Anya is a special case; she’s his partner on the mission. I feel like Felix, Tiger or Kerim would have received the same consideration. Of course it’s more complicated with Anya because she has to do double duty as “the girl,” which means that the competence and effectiveness she exhibits early on as Bond’s rival unravels almost immediately once they’re officially paired and she needs constant rescuing. Also just to reinforce her transition to “damsel” mode, Stromberg puts her in that tight outfit with the peek-a-boo cleavage window. The imagery says “save the girl” rather than “save the team-mate.” (Plus, where did Stromberg get that dress, given that he seems to have forgotten to include any females in his “rebuild the world” scheme? Does he sometimes slip into it himself when he’s alone in that aquarium room?)
Octopussy and Stacey, again, I feel are much more clearly in the “damsel in distress” camp, and Bond’s actions to save them are borderline insane. Yes, Kamal is in the plane and Zorin’s on the blimp, but the idea that by clinging to those aircraft, unarmed, he’s somehow going to bring about their deaths is either the height of deluded hubris or a meta-type self-realization that as the star of the show, his invincible plot armor will always save him.
Is that not why she doesn’t die though? Duality of DAF it’s internal logic dictates that because she’s not a damsel in distress she doesn’t become a victim. She’s sunbathing because she knows, in the end she’s making it to the boat to sail indefinitely with DAFConneryBond.
She and he, seems to have access to the script as characters. It’s very meta
Tiffany Case is ultimately a survivor. She will do what she has to do to survive. She was that way in the novel and to a similar extent in the film. She makes the most of her situation while she is “captive” on the oil rig doing what Ernst Stravro Blofeld wants from her in the hope that it will be enough to survive her present situation. But once James Bond arrives on the rig, she knows her best and only way out is through him so she “switches sides” once again.
But I think once she sees that Plenty O’Toole was mistakenly killed in her place, she knows that Bond is her best hope to get out of her predicament alive so from that point on she is always leaning toward being on his side.
go back to England and live together. She’s still there near the start of Goldfinger. Their break-up is wonderfully portrayed in the start of Trigger Mortis, by Anthony Horowitz.
