(directed by John Glen)
A ‘lovely girl with the cello’ as all Bond needed to follow
his nose during his latest assignment. With the Russian General Koskov (Jeroen
Krabbé) expressing desire to defect for the West, 007 (Timothy Dalton) was
tasked with protecting the general from any possible snipers lurking around the
opera house in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
where Koskov was to occur, Bond identified the only shooter in the
vicinity to be the same beautiful cellist performing in the show prior to the
intermission period. Unconvinced that she was a true KGB sniper specialist,
Bond elected to merely fire at her weapon rather than dispatch her.
The entire affair grew immensely more complicated when
General Koskov was snatched back by the Russian right under British noses from
a safe-house, but not before he could divulge controversial information
regarding a certain high ranking KGB official, Pushkin (Jonathan Rhys-Davies),
who was apparently responsible for the ‘Smert Spionem’ assassination programme
(Death to Spies). Bond was assigned to arrive in Tangier in two days time, but felt
it wise to return to Bratislava and make contact with the cellist, Kara Milvoy
(Maryam D’Abo) whom it turns out was Koskov’s girlfriend of sorts. 007 posed as
Koskov’s friend, promising to reunite the two while in actuality he was hoping
to find out what Koskov’s true role in entire affair was. At this point, 007
was convinced Pushkin was not the threat but rather Koskov. Travelling from
Bratislava to Vienna, to Tangier and finally to Afghanistan, Bond and Kara
learned that Koskov was a close associate of Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker), an
infamous arms dealer. Through wild circumstances, 007 and Kara eventually found
themselves fighting with the Mujahidin against the Soviets in the Afghan
desert...
Out with the old and in with the newer. At 43 years of age, classically trained actor Timothy Dalton
was no spring chicken when taking on the mantle of the famous James Bond 007,
but two things need to be considered. First, remember that only two years prior
the actor playing Bond, Roger Moore, was 56 years old. Bond has suddenly been
physically rejuvenated by well over a decade. Second, Dalton brings a totally
different style to the character, thus distancing his debut, The Living Daylights, from most of
Moore’s efforts. Even director John Glen, who has a tendency revert to rather
ridiculous moments of humour of the ‘eye-rolling’ variety, straightened up for
this 1987 film. The end result is a Bond picture that feels vastly different
from those which had grace the screen for the previous 14 years (1973’s LALD being the first Moore Bond).
As is the case whenever a new face becomes 007, we shall
begin by discussing the actor at the center of everyone’s attention: Timothy
Dalton. Interview snippets, be they in print or captured on video, divulged
some very interesting information regarding the Welshman’s interest in the
character of James Bond as well as his preferred manner of interpreting him. He
never made it a secret that the 007 which appears on screen should capture the
spirit of the 007 found in the original Ian Fleming novels. This alone opens up
a whole can of worms for some people. For starters, the Bond of the books is
most certainly not the Bond of the films, at least not the most recent Roger
Moore films. The literary Bond, while a great admirer of fine food and finer
women, is more bitter in spirit. The single scene in all of the Bond films up
until this point that best demonstrates what a film version of the literary
Bond would be like is a brief one. It happens in Dr. No when Bond, Honey Rider and Quarrel are hiding from a guard
in a swamp. 007 creeps up behind the guard and stabs in the back. Shocked,
Honey asks why he did. Bond coldly replies ‘Because I had to.’ There is a malaise about the character in the
books. There is no pleasure in taking a life, he just happens to be damn good
at it.
This more hard edged interpretation of the character can be
and is an immediate turn off for some. Timothy Dalton certainly relished the
opportunity to bring to the silver screen a more human Bond, a man with a
harder edge to him when it was required but maybe also a man who could
demonstrate some feelings and be romantic. So what does all of this mean for the film
under review today? In essence, The
Living Daylights gives viewers one of the more fascinating looks at 007 in
a long, long time, possibly ever. There is a special intensity to Dalton’s
performance that feels perfect for this movie. It is as if he was operating
with a chip on his shoulder, disgruntled at the stuffiness of the pathetically
regimented missions he must embark on. This is obvious from the outset when he
meets his contact Saunders at the Bratislavian opera house. Saunders scorns
Bond for arriving late, but the latter immediately retorts back that they still
have time. Later, when the two are upstairs in MI6’s safe house and Saunders
provides 007 with a fuller briefing of the Koskov defection operation, Dalton
plays the role with powerful determination. Anything misstep and the entire
ordeal is a waste. Precision is of the essence, not tasteless one liners. And how about that ‘he can stuff his orders!’
line? Great stuff. I applaud Dalton for being so willing to shed Bond’s
cinematic past and simply do what he felt right, which is also something
apparently no one had wanted to do for the better part of 20 years: make a
cinematic version of the original James Bond. He may have only starred in two
007 films, but I remain a strong Dalton supporter till this day.
Things become increasingly interesting later when 007 tracks
down the mysterious cellist girl, Kara Milovy, played wonderfully by the
inexperienced Maryam D’Abo. They do not make the most obvious pair, I’ll give
detractors that much. D’Abo was on her first major film set, and perhaps that
lack of experience shows at times. She does in fact play the part mostly wide
eyed and innocent, although that is also a function of her character, who
really has little to nothing to do with the actual KGB. When saddled side by
side with the intense and mature Dalton, one would think that no chemistry
should emerge, and yet surprisingly enough the two actors work very well off
one another. The relationship their characters share is very much in the mould
of an older style of love story, wherein the man is the knowledgeable,
experienced individual among the two and the woman is more girly, learning
things from the man and continuously impressed by him. For that reason it is
not the most provocative character piece the screenwriters have come up with,
but at least within the context of a Bond plot, it is light years superior to
what we have seen of as late, most of all because it has Bond and the leading
lady actually developing something. As the scenes move along, one can feel that
a modicum of genuine emotion is being felt between the two, something that
should not go unappreciated. When they finally kiss in Vienna in the amusement
park, it actually feels as if the kiss has been earned. When was the last time
we wrote that about a Bond picture’s love angle?
The films of the 1980s, with maybe one exception, have a
common problem in that they all try to overcomplicate their stories. In
essence, the scripts seem intent on having James Bond take the longest route
possible to arrive at his ultimate destination. Sometimes it feels like a mess,
other times it works alright. In the example of The Living Daylights is an unfortunate one if only because it is
arguably the lone time when the reason why
Bond goes the long way about is perfectly justified but the end result is a
letdown. The idea of having British intelligence, including Bond, fooled by
Koskov as the latter tries to deflect attention from his activities onto
General Pushkin with a story about the Smert Spionem assassination programme is
pretty clever. For once Bond is not necessarily on top of things and actually
must work on instincts while investigating into the matter. His gut leads him
to the girlfriend of the man who took them all for a ride. It’s a nice way of
sending the story into motion and everything in the first hour or so ticks
along like clockwork, providing audiences with a film interested in the spy
world and how it sometimes operates rather than a series of large explosions. Once
the setting moves to Tangier, the plot takes a few turns for the worse however,
as it becomes increasingly clear that what Koskov is after is not particular
inventive or provocative. It fact, once Bond deduces that Koskov is purchasing
arms from Brad Whitaker with the profits he makes selling which he obtains from
certain circles of the Mujahidin, it really does feel like a lot of huffing and
puffing for very little.
This is addition to the film having mediocre villains at
best. Joe Don Baker is about as uninteresting as they come as Bond antagonist. Director
Glen and the screenwriters are merciful enough to award the character with too
many appearances, but on the few opportunities he does in fact get to shine, he
comes off more as a joke than anything else. I don’t even mean that in any
exaggerated way, for Baker actually does seem to be making the Whitaker as
dopey as possible. Jeroen Krabbé is ever so slightly more pertinent as lead
villain General Koskov. When his character ‘defects’ early in the film, one
wonders how in the world this man ever earned the rank bestowed upon him. While
Whitaker fails to impress mostly due to the poor actor playing the role, Koskov
is a far more bizarre creation because of Krabbé’s light touch on the role.
This chap looks far more like a sissy than a war general. But then of course
the viewers discovers with 007 that all that was merely a distraction, all
playacting, thus explaining why Koskov was behaving the way he did. The odd
thing about what happens next is that Krabbé never really succeeds in having
that goofy facade from the beginning melt away. John Rhys-Davies is obviously
not playing a true villain in the picture although he is a general in the enemy
ranks, but he survives the proceedings nicely. Davies is always solid,
regardless of the role offered to him. He can play a dwarf, a Moroccan contact
for Indy, or a Russian general. The only fault I can think about his role is
that it is too limited. A film with more screen time allotted to Joe Don Baker
and Jeroen Krabbé than John Rhys-Davies? That just doesn’t feel right.
Whatever faults that plague the second half of The Living Daylights, the movie more
than makes up for it in the final stages, with some incredible action set
pieces (a now obvious staple of the John Glen directed films) and what is, in
hindsight, one of the stranger turn of events in a Bond film ever. For the
uninitiated, and also to be as brief as possible since this is not a history
lesson, the 1980s, the same decade which saw the slow yet certain crumbling of
what was once a powerful Soviet Union, featured a prolonged, costly and
ultimately futile war of attrition between the Russian army in Afghanistan
against the Mujahidin. For those more familiar with American history, one could
call it the Russians’ Vietnam. There was a time when the Mujahidin were not
viewed as the enemy by many in the West, which now seems like so long ago. For
that reason, The Living Daylights will
forever be stuck in a time capsule. Seeing Bond align himself with the
Mujahidin to combat the Soviet forces is a lot of, if weird with the benefit of
hindsight we are privileged with. As far as the action goes, the highlight of
the sequence is the fist fight between Bond and Necros (Andreas Wisniewski) as
they grapple with a large netting
hanging from the open back door of a plane in midflight.
The Living Daylights
is not perfect. In fact there are some decidedly poor aspects to it. Yet, the
positives outweigh the negatives to the point where I like the movie a lot.
Timothy Dalton provides delivers a Bond which is more intense than usual but
also more human. The leading lady is not only attractive but is a perfect match
for the Bond we have in this instance. The movie’s first hour has a great
story, the locations 007 visits are all fantastic and, as per usual with Glen
films, the action is top notch. Lastly, I must admit to having John Barry’s The
Living Daylights score as one of my all time favourites. Not just in regards to
Bond scores, but all movie scores, period. It has a phenomenal mixture of
vintage Bond action cues but also offers some very romantic (in the exotic and
epic sense) cues. I think it is among his best efforts. Granted, not everything
about the movie sticks. The is an example where I’m willing to forgive the
movie’s faults because I enjoy the positives so much.
B+
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment