Explaining that “Quantum of Solace” is a direct sequel to “Casino Royale” (2006), the filmmakers were honest enough to suggest that viewers might want to refresh their memory of the previous installment for a more comfortable viewing experience. It’s not just about forgetting who killed whom or who betrayed whom over the past two years; it’s about the internal timeline. For James Bond himself, only an hour has passed since he shot Mr. White, responsible for the death of Vesper Lynd, the only woman Bond loved, in the leg. The active fury that possesses the agent with a license to kill is the engine of “Quantum of Solace,” propelling the action forward at such a pace that you occasionally want to step out, grab a drink of water, and collect your thoughts.
Starting with a fierce chase along a winding road, the film continues with a shootout in a mysterious basement. During the interrogation, Mr. White laughs in Bond and M’s faces, stating that his organization has people everywhere. This is immediately confirmed when a traitorous guard pulls out a gun and starts firing. Bond’s path of revenge and duty takes him to Haiti, where he encounters a picturesque company of villains: Mathieu Amalric, the head of a secret organization that changes governments for profitable concessions, and a villainous Latin American general who aspires to become president. The key to the conspiracy for Bond is Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a vengeful daughter of a simple Russian woman and a Bolivian politician, brutally murdered by the ambitious general. Bond takes no prisoners, leaving only corpses behind, which constantly hinders the uncovering of the conspirators’ true intentions. However, in the end, amidst explosions and fires in the center of the desert, everything becomes clear.
The Evolution of Bond: From Cold War Relic to Human Agent
Paraphrasing an old joke about Stirlitz, the one where “Bormann shouted and resisted,” one could say that Martin Campbell, the director of the previous film “Casino Royale,” successfully pulled Bond out of the stuffy vault of a franchise that had grown tired of itself and into the new millennium. Bond shouted, resisted, but went along. After that, the creators faced a dramatic question: what to do with the super-agent next? Campbell himself refused to answer this question and left the project without clear explanations.
The question was indeed very serious: what makes Bond Bond? Why isn’t Xander Cage from “XXX” Bond? Why isn’t Ethan Hunt from “Mission Impossible” (1996) Bond? Do you really only need the respectable mustiness of the Cold War era, irony, and a martini with vodka? By filming “Casino Royale,” Campbell performed a miracle, making not only one of the best films about 007 but also finding the answer. Bond is not gadgets and conquered women; it’s the balance point between dirty reality and the brazen self-sufficiency of style. Between the very real horror of a nuclear catastrophe and Sean Connery’s bow tie, roughly speaking. And Campbell maintained this balance perfectly. As Vesper Lynd said after Bond was beaten with a rope in a very sensitive area: “Even if all that was left of you was your smile and one finger, you would still be the best man in the world to me.”
Lost in Translation: The Shortcomings of “Quantum of Solace”
Forster, an intelligent director who had previously made smart, slightly dry dramas like “Monster’s Ball,” “Stranger Than Fiction” (2006), and “The Kite Runner,” failed to maintain the balance. On the one hand, reality got in the way: mythical villains changing governments seem weak after Guantanamo, 9/11, Yugoslavia, and Iraq. On the other hand, style got in the way: there isn’t a single quotable line in the film. There’s a frantic carousel of locations and clashes, excellent work by the production designer, a rather naive Kurylenko, and an impeccable Craig, who, like an entire world, turned out to be not enough. And the main idea of the franchise reboot – “humanizing” Agent 007, giving him passions, desires, and human appeal – turned into a cold-blooded marketing strategy.
Symbolically, the last scene of the film takes place in the cold and unattractive city of Kazan – Bond returns to his roots.
But this happens in the days when an African American becomes the President of America, the British “Chelsea” is owned by a Russian, and India launches a rocket to the Moon.