James Bond and his martini

I was reminded thanks to the official Facebook page of Ian Fleming that today is his birthday. It was also, back in April, the 70th anniversary of the publication of of Casino Royal. The first adventure of James Bond. To celebrate, I share a picture from the FB page, which includes a quote from the novel, giving you the recipe for Bond's classic martini.

The birth of James Bond

So I suggested today a spy thriller to read. And I now feel very silly, because the official Facebook page of Ian Fleming (where I took the picture above) reminded me that today is the 69th anniversary of the publication of Casino Royal. Which makes it the effective birthday of James Bond.That would have been a more fitting reading suggestion. In any case, I want to celebrate it here. And on a side note: what is your favourite book cover?

Casino Royale in June

They shared this image on the official Facebook page of Ian Fleming, I wanted to share it here because I love to quote Fleming's prose from time to time. Also because both the novel Casino Royale and the movie adaptation are among my favourite Bond stories. And also and finally because the novel has some great covers and I am sharing a lot of them in one go with this image. Tell me which one you prefer.

Ten years of Casino Royale

It was ten years ago yesterday that Casino Royale was released in the UK. I have been a James Bond fan for many years and was waiting to see the film eagerly. After the controversial casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond, then two very promising trailers, I had high expectations for it. I first watched it in Liverpool, with my then girlfriend now wife. And my expectations were met. In fact, even my wife, who is certainly not into James Bond, really loved it. So I wanted to celebrate its ten years anniversary on Vraie Fiction. I will show two clips of the movie: the introduction of Craig as the new Bond (here beginning as a MI6 operative), so the extended pre-title sequence, then the opening credits, with the movie's song. If you have never seen the movie, you will I hope see why Craig is so awesome in the role. And it is just such an exciting introduction to a movie that completely renewed the role and the series.

Rising Spectre

Oh, goodie, goodie, goodie! The geek in me is so happy today! The James Bond fan, a thousand times more. If it is even possible. Because the Spectre teaser trailer was finally released. What can I say? First, as you can see, I love it. I love how the story will tie in with the previous three Craig Bond movies. I love that at least a good deal of the plot seems to be based on the short story Octopussy. Also, Eyes Wide Shut, one of Kubrick's most underrated masterpiece, seems to have inspired the meeting scene, down to the use of the James Bond theme. There is a neat little nod at ornithology, which gave Ian Fleming his inspiration for the name of James Bond, when you see Bond walking in the old house and the crows flying by him. Maybe I am reading too much about it, but I don't think so: Sam Mendes is good with making these kind of references.

 And of course there is Blofeld, the character I was looking forward to meet (again). Because I think it is fairly sure now that Christoph Waltz will be Blofeld, as I was expecting/hoping when we learned he was cast. Here, if he is not Blofeld, he seems to have the same function as him in the organization: chairman of the board, leader, literally the enemy in the shadow, the affable villain whose veneer of amiability does not hide his ruthless and cruel nature. If Waltz is indeed Blofeld, he is devoid of all the parodied elements of a certain spoof I will not dignify to name here. He is back to its roots. Anyway, here is the trailer for you to enjoy, if you have not done so. And tell me what you think.

Waiting for Spectre

People will forgive me for using an old poster of a nearly ten years old movie for the topic of this blog post. As my readers know since at least December, I am getting very excited about the coming of Spectre, the 24th Bond movie. Because it will see the return of a certain criminal organization of old, and very likely the return of its leader Ernt Stavro Blofeld, who is also Bond's nemesis. I have made a personal obsession about Blofeld, whom I consider one of the greatest villains of all time. I have been following eagerly the reports of the shooting. I did not have time before to make a post about it, so I thought I would do it now. We have been treated to our first behind the scene footage about two weeks ago. The return of Bond in snowy mountains makes me suspect that the story will be at least partially based on On Her Majesty's Secret Service. A novel which also featured Blofeld. We will see anyway, but as a Bond connoisseur, I have been so far quite good at guessing a thing or two about upcoming movies, if I may praise myself so blatantly. Anyway, I loved this behind the scene video. You can see/feel the sober glamor of classic Bond movies. So these videos and the glimpses of news we have will keep me patient until Spectre is released.

Casino Royale (the birth of James Bond)

''The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning.''

There is a birthday to celebrate today: 60 years ago, Casino Royale was published. A small book, a simple story about a British secret agent trying to thwart a Communist agent by ruining him in a French casino, learning through the process about love and then betrayal. The secret agent, of course, was James Bond. I have quoted the incipit of the novel, which illustrates Fleming's talent. Casino Royale is not the first novel of Ian Fleming I read, I actually started with Thunderball, the source of my favourite Bond movie. I read Casino Royale a few months before the movie was released. It was my second Bond novel. Now I read them all. And the first one is among my favourite. I will commemorate by reading a bit of the novel and watching bits of the movie tonight.

The Background of James Bond

I recently rediscovered the official website of the movie Casino Royale. Apart from the usual promotional stuff, there is a lengthy backstory of James Bond, written in the form of reports to MI6, which is an updated yet strongly inspired by his literary one. Back in 2006, when I was eagerly waiting for the movie to be released, I had as much fun listening those to these reports than watching the trailers. A lot of effort has been made in the modernized James Bond biography. Of course, since then Skyfall explored Bond's past, but it is Casino Royale that started it. I love the biography as it gives dimension to the character. Action heroes seldom have dimension, and while James Bond was developed in Fleming's works, it rarely showed on screen. Things are different since Daniel Craig took the role. But anyway, this was my geek moment of the week, finding this still available. Listen to it/have a look at it and tell me what you think.

You Know My Name

I thought I'd put another Bond song here. As you know, I love Casino Royale. I was not the biggest fan of Chris Cornell's You Know My Name when it got released, but I grew to love it. You can find the original videoclip here. That said, I find the song particularly efficient in the movie itself. The title sequence of Casino Royale is brilliant as the animation is an narrative in itself. Here it is for you to enjoy:

Quantum of Solace

My wife and I went to see Quantum of Solace this afternoon. It was good, but not nearly as good as Casino Royale. I guess we ran out of Fleming material, so it's more difficult to get something as intelligent as the previous movie. That said, Daniel Craig is excellent as usual and the casting is flawless. Mathieu Amalric is absolutely disgusting as Dominic Greene, he is a great villain. But I think I will need to watch this movie again to fully appreciate it, especially since the action scenes were way too frantic.

Citons Ian Fleming...en français

Je m'étais promis de ne plus revenir sur l'affaire Paul McCartney et le 400e, mais un texte d'opinion dans La Presse m'a fait bondir. Je viens de lire ce torchon pédant (y' a pas d'autre mot) de Daniel Laprès, sorte de ramassi de clichés, de vagues accusations contre les méchants nationalistes qui ont osé critiquer la présence de Sir Paul et de citations. Oh qu'il cite, Daniel Laprès! Ah pour ça, il sait citer, Saint-Denys-Garneau, il le cite en long et en large. Après avoir cité, accusé, cliché, il ne reste plus grand temps pour construire un argument digne de ce nom. Oui, certaines des interventions contre la présence de Macca n'étaient pas brillantes, mais ça ne veut pas dire qu'elles étaient fautives sur le fond. Enfin, j'ai déjà donné, j'aimerais bien argumenter un peu plus mais ma femme risque de s'impatienter, alors je vais me contenter de citer un Anglais (citation pour citation, celle-ci en vaut une autre). C'est tiré de Casino Royale, le roman d'Ian Fleming, qui fait dire à James Bond, en français if you please, cette délicieuse phrase: "N'enculons pas les mouches". L'affaire était anecdotique, et n'essayons pas de se donner trop d'importance en la commentant. Ce n'est pas une affaire d'État et on a le droit de trouver la présence de McCartney à Québec incongrue sans se faire accuser d'être des apôtres de Lionel Groulx. N'enculons donc pas les mouches.

Quantum of Solace as a title

This entry was quite popular in French, so I will write here an English version. I have read this on cyberpresse last Friday, which made me jump. I then read the original article/column here and was apalled by the ignorance and lack of judgment of Jack Lechner. Friom what I see of his background, he should know better. Quantum of Solace is an excellent title for a Bond movie, regardless of the quality of the film (I am pretty confident about it, but that's not the point). Titles should not be obvious and generic. Quantum of Solace works because:

1)It's a Bond movie. Even if it was a bad title (it isn't), people would come and see it.
2)The title is evocative and atmospheric. It's not an easy title, as it's meaning is not obvious, but you don't need a dumb, obvious title. Nobody knew what Thunderball meant exactly, or Moonraker, both movies were very successful. Both titles were as cryptic as Quantum of Solace.
3)The title describes perfectly the state of Bond/his situation after the death of Vesper and the events of Casino Royale. Good that they didn't try to give it a stupid, generic title that could be tagged on any action movie. Die Another Day was a really dumb title (adequate for the movie, I guess), I am glad viewers can actually build their vocabulary a bit with Quantum of Solace.
4)The title comes from Ian Fleming. It doesn't make it a good title per se, but at least they get back to the source material. I am happy that they get elements from the mind of the creator of Bond, and not just superficial things that average viewers associate with Bond.

Quantum of Solace

Lu ceci sur cyberpresse, ce qui m'a fait bondir. J'ai lu l'article original, qui m'a fait bondir à nouveau. Jack Lechner ne connait pas grand chose à Bond s'il croit que Quantum of Solace est un mauvais titre:

1)C'est un James Bond, alors le nom du personnage principal est suffisant pour faire venir les foules.
2)C'est un titre évocateur.
3)Le titre évoque l'état d'esprit de Bond après les évènements de Casino Royale, pas un titre générique qui essaie d'être catchy.
4)C'est un titre qui vient d'Ian Fleming. Ce qui n'en fait pas nécessairement un bon titre, mais au moins on sait qu'il a déjà marché. Et c'est heureux qu'ils prennent du matériel du créateur de James Bond.

J'ai très hâte au 7 novembre 2008.