Venus rising from the sea

This is one of my favorite scenes from a Bond movie. You know the one I am talking about. You have probably seen it all. Maybe not the movie, but the scene, you sure did. Of course, Honey Ryder (played by then unknown Ursula Andress) rising from the sea is an iconic moment of cinema, but you have to take time to appreciate how much this scene works on so many levels. First because it is successfully constructed as an allegory: it is a modernisation of Venus Anadyomene. In the original novel, this is even more obvious as Honeychile Ryder is naked, save for a belt, just like Aphrodite in the myth. Like Aphrodite, Honey Ryder's appearance is associated with shells (but she carries them instead of being carried by one). Like Aphrodite at her birth, Honey Ryder is innocent. She arrives in Crab Key oblivious of the dangers the island is hiding. Andress has never been a great actress, but she displays perfectly the innocence of the character. It also works because of the subtext. There is this brilliant song which I talked about in a previous entry, Underneath the mango tree, in itself a sweet love song, is here a wonderful piece of irony: here is this girl, who has dreams of a simple family life, with a stable and loving marriage, who is going to meet her prince charming: a bachelor who has nothing but dislike of simple life, whose work is nothing like the thing she hopes for, and who is oblivious to notions of stable relationship, love or even sexual exclusivity. Bond will nevertheless use the song shamelessly to get in contact with Honey and in the meantime court her. Ursula Andress was dubbed by Nikki Van der Zyl for the dialogues, but by Diana Coupland for the singing part, so we should also give credit to Mrs. (Ms?) Coupland. She sure had a lovely voice. Sean Connery was also dubbed, because he couldn't sing a damn. Finally, before I show you the scene again, there are the brilliant lines and the beautiful surroundings that really make it stand out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy... It's not quite a song, but it's just as good for a feel-good Friday.