Parodie de Goldfinger par Mozinor

J'ai trouvé il y a quelques mois cette parodie de la scène classique dans Goldfinger. C'est l'oeuvre d'un certain Mozinor (connais pas). C'est surtout du doublage, mais il y a aussi des images retouchées. Et ça a beau être bête, je trouve ça hilarant.

Cinderella drowning in the sea

This blog entry is inspired by this one and it is a sort of follow-up. As you all know (you, my very small number of readers), I am a big fan of James Bond. My wife has to put up with it a lot, but it makes it easier for her to buy me presents for my birthday and Christmas. One of Ian Fleming's best novels, and one of the least appreciated of the Bond films adapted from his work, is On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I have never been a big fan of George Lazenby who took over from Sean Connery, but he did have some qualities and in spite of all his flaws and the movie's short comings, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is still a very good Bond movie. I particularly love the first scene. Lazenby's Bond is introduced beautifully, and so is the leading lady, played by the great Diana Rigg. She has the role of Teresa di Vicenzo, who will become the one and only Tracy Bond before being gunned down by Blofeld. I hope I haven't spoiled everything for you here, but the ending of the movie is one of the many reasons that makes this scene works. There is also the fact that it is an echo of the introduction or Honey Ryder in Dr. No, except Tracy does the opposite movement: instead of rising from the sea, she goes in it, in a botched suicide attempt. Bond saves her life, but unknowingly he sets in motion a chain effect that will result in her death later on, leaving him heartbroken. Tragic irony: she will die only after she will have learned to appreciate life and abandon all thoughts of suicide. I think Fleming wanted to link both Bond girls introduction, as in the novel he gave Tracy the physical appearance of Ursula Andress (who is mentioned in the novel). But both Bond girls are very different. Honey Ryder is a survivor who had a rough life, Tracy lived in luxury but is self-destructive. While Honey Ryder was for Bond a flicking romance after he had gone through the dangers of Crab Key, Tracy will be a significant relationship to him. After Bond saves Tracy, he is assaulted by two men, whose involvment in the story is never made clear (are they Draco's men? Were they following Bond under Blofeld's orders?). In the novel, they are sent by Marc-Ange Draco to protect his daughter and bring Bond to him. Anyway, fight ensues, one of the most violent and exciting fight of the series and Tracy runs and then drives away, leaving her shoes behind her. Bond mutters "This never happened to the other fellow", which is a nod to Connery and a breaking the fourth wall moment I never cared about much. The important thing is that he picks up her shoes, like the prince would have done with Cinderella's. Like in the Cinderella story, it will ultimately lead to a wedding. Unlike the Cinderella story, wedding will quickly be followed by her death. Then there are the opening credits, with flashbacks of Bond's past missions, linking Lazenby's Bond to Connery's. I therefore give the pre-title opening sequence of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the opening credits. I hope you appreciate them.

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.