Sunday, September 28, 2008

Octopussy


I once read a review of something that described it's topic as "easy to fault; impossible not to love" and that's a pretty accurate summary of Octopussy. There are moments that are absolutely cringeworthy in the film, and some very misjudged ideas, but at the end of the day, you can't help but walk away thinking how entertaining the movie actually was.

I want to start my review by talking about the script for this movie, which comes from a different place than most of the Bond films. An author of historical fiction, George MacDonald Fraser, came up with the story and first draft of the screenplay before veteran Bond movie author Richard Maibaum, and executive producer Michael G Wilson took to it. Rather impressively, it actually does make use of it's source material - in this case the short stories "Octopussy" and "Property Of A Lady". The former is recounted by the titular character, though it's actually about her father; while the latter becomes the source of the jewellry smuggling in the film, and the auction at Southerby's. As a consequence of this, the movie actually has a rather complex story which works extremely well and gives the major characters not only a lot to do, but also interesting motivations.

In addition to this, John Glen's direction is also very skillful. The entire idea of the travelling circus is very creepy in an "The Avengers" style, but more importantly than that, scenes that could be made quite ridiculous never turn out that way. 009, dressed as a clown, fleeing from two knife throwers, before ultimately being killed and carrying a Faberge egg, reads rather stupidly, but the scene turns out to be quite disturbing. In a similar manner, at the end of the film when Bond is dressed as the same clown and the nuclear bomb is counting down is simply a recipe for disaster, but Glen manages to inject a great deal of tension into the scene. It's also interesting to see another scene where Bond disturbs a group of birds, similar to a moment in For Your Eyes Only - could this be Glen's calling card? We'll have to see in the next movie.


And seeing as we are gushing about the production crew to start with, we should also note Director Of Photography Alan Hume and Production Designer Peter Lamont. Hume is given two rather exoctic locales in the form of India and Berlin, and he films them very beautifully - particularly India. From the opening scene of Bond's plane touching down on the river, to the fight sequence in the streets, Hume makes India a place you really want to visit. Add to that Lamont's set design - taking heavy inspiration from Ken Adam - which is nothing short of visually spectacular, notably the Russian War Room which is an amazing set. In the world of Bond, huge rooms and minimalist furniture is definitely the "in" thing.

So let's talk about the actors. Roger Moore, quite honestly, is beginning to look just a little too old to be playing Bond in this movie, and this is not helped by a number of other details. Lois Maxwell is obviously in the same position as Moneypenny, and to counter this a new secretary is brought in - Penelope Smallbone. Clearly all this does is make Maxwell and Moore's age all the more obvious. Similarly, we get a new "M" for this movie - Robert Brown. Brown and Moore don't recapture what Lee had with Connery (or even Lazenby or Moore), and again this is a problem due to the fact that Bond looks older than "M" does. It's difficult to be crusty and grumpy when you're best agent is your senior.

Digressing for just a moment, it's interesting to speculate about the new "M". The first question that arises is: is he supposed to be Sir Miles Messervey? Are he and Bernard Lee playing the same character, vis a vis the various Bonds. OR, is this a new "M", who shares a lot of his predecessor's characteristics? Could this actually be Admiral Hargreaves from The Spy Who Loved Me? (Admittedly only thought of because Hargreaves was also played by Brown). But back to Moore...

Despite his age in the film, Moore actually gives a rather brilliant performance, though the Bond he plays is more the one from TSWLM than Live And Let Die or FYEO. That said, Bond is still a far more gentle person towards women, giving them the same respect he gives everybody else (with the exception of Sadruddin, head of the Indian brance of MI6, where he rather racistly remarks "This will keep you in curry" as he throws him some of his winnings), and he does also have the ruthless edge when he coldly assassinates one of the knife throwing twins, avenging the death of 009. It's a rather satisfying moment. However, it is the relationships that give Moore the edge in this film. There is a really nice moment when, after Vijay is killed, Bond hears someone repeat what Vijay said to him and the look on Moore's face plays out the emotion beautifully. Equally, despite Louis Jordan getting all the best lines in the film, Moore owns the backgammon scene, which he plays to absolute perfection. Also it's nice to see Bond actually doing some spy work again - for the first time since LALD he actually checks his phone for bugs. And General Orlov doesn't recognise who he is! A pleasant change to realism.

Maud Adams makes some sort of history as she becomes the only actress to play a major Bond girl twice, and she is a rather good actress, to her credit, making Octopussy a very different character to Andrea Anders. On the downside she still gets smacked across the face, but at least this time it isn't Bond who hits her. What's really good as well is that, at the end of the film, she performs a circus move which at least gives some validation as to why she is running a circus. Octopussy is a great character; very commanding and at some points in the movie, apparently Kamal Kahn's boss, but I'm not entirely certain what the point of keeping her face hidden was - it's not like we'd been waiting anxiously to see it, so there is a build up to nothing for some strange reason. Kristina Wayborn plays Magda, who is essentially Octopussy's henchwoman in the film, and while Wayborn is a very beautiful woman, she gives a very strange performance, her voice coming across as extremely subdued.

Louis Jordan plays the urbane and very well mannered Kamal Kahn, and as I said earlier, gets all the best lines in the movie. His delivery is slightly off beat but adds a certain bizarreness to his character. His henchman is Gobinda, a very effective and terrifying mountain of a man who crushes dice in his hands (in the same way that Oddjob crushed a golfball in his).

The second villain (but third member of the Octopussy triad) is General Orlov, a fanatically devoted Russian patriot, determined to see Russia restored to its great glory. Steven Berkov plays the part brilliantly over the top, chewing the scenary in virtually every scene, but at the same time seeing completely right for what he is doing. He has two henchmen in the form of the knife throwing Miskha and Grishka. Indeed, the whole villainous partnership is quite complex, with all four henchmen working for their bosses different partners at different points in the film, and Octopussy apparently having control over Kahn, and Orlov commanding them both, before Kahn takes control of the situation himself by the end. It's possibly the most complex of relationships between villains we have ever seen.
Orlov's fanatacism allows for us to see General Gogol in a new light, once again. This time he is the voice of reason of the Soviets, determined to win through a more subtle and peaceful manner, and not prepared to see Russia go into nuclear war simply to gain territory. Gogol has been one of the best additions to the series to date, and Walter Gotell plays him perfectly every time. The fact that it is Gogol who brings Orlov down is wonderfully appropriate. Not so much so Frederick Gray who turns up when Bond is briefed, but for no apparent reason other than to have the Minister Of Defence there. It's not even like he should be there.

The one other actor I think I should mention is Vijay Amritaj, the former tennis great who plays the part of...Vijay. It's all very well casting a celebrity, but when you have to hammer his real profession down the throat of the audience it gets rather stupid. The jokes about tennis are ridiculous, and the scene where he fights a man with a racquet, while the bystanders turn their heads to and fro is vomit worthy. However, the character is completely redeemed when he is murdered. Killing Vijay is a very brave move on the part of the movie makers, and by really running with it, they make it horribly effective.

Rounding back to the production crew, it's worth noting that John Barry has returned to score the movie, and clearly his time away has done him some good as he churns out an absolutely fantastic soundtrack, full of stirring renditions and new themes that bring the movie to life. Added to that, we get a very beautiful title song (lyrics provided by popular lyracist Tim Rice, no less), although it doesn't mention the movie's title at all. Cowards. Maurice Binder's title sequence is curiously effective, though a little generic in some places, with the standard "project 007 onto a naked woman" idea. But seeing Bond wrapped up by a number of arms is innovative, and the Doctor Who-like swirling vortex is interesting as well.

So let's wrap up with our traditional "find the faults" and "aren't they brilliant moments" bit. We'll start off negative.

The fact that Bond recognises the James Bond theme is a really, really bad idea. The union jack air balloon is a bit silly, and Bond doing a Tarzan call in the jungle - well the less said the better. There doesn't seem to be much point to Magda seducing Bond if Gobinda was just going to knock him out and carry him away. And the Faberge egg situation is a bit odd - Bond had the real egg, but Orlov later claims it is a fake, before smashing it. Happily Louis Jordan winces to indicate it was the real one destroyed, but why would Orlov not know that? Was Kahn betraying him much earlier on? Kahn's cheating at backgammon is very, very blatant - that old guy deserved to lose. And suddenly Bond has the ability to quickchange into new things - be they shrouds, alligator subs or gorilla costumes.

But there are some wonderful things to look out for in the film. The pretitle sequence is fantastic and the Minijet sequence is wonderful. In fact there are a lot of great sequences in the film including the plane fight at the end. "Q" gets to go out and do some fieldwork (though seriously, why would the Head of Q Branch actually do that?) and there is a brilliant little moment when Gobinda and Kahn are about to flee the nuclear explosion, only to find their car doesn't start. The look of relief on their faces when it does is priceless.

I have to say I really enjoyed this film, and it's a tough call for me to decide whether it is better than FYEO.
Favourite movie order: 1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service; 2. Dr No; 3. Live And Let Die; 4. Thunderball; 5. For Your Eyes Only/Octopussy 6. The Spy Who Loved Me; 7. From Russia, With Love; 8. Goldfinger; 9. You Only Live Twice; 10. Moonraker; 11. The Man With The Golden Gun; 12. Diamonds Are Forever
Favourite Bond girl: 1. Claudine Auger/Dominio; 2. Diana Rigg/Tracy; 3. Carole Bouquet/Melina; 4. Barbara Bach/Anya; 5. Maud Adams/Octopussy 6. Mie Hama/Kissy; 7. Daniela Bianchi/Tanya; 8. Ursula Andress/Honey; 9. Jane Seymour/Solitaire; 10. Lois Chiles/Holly; 11. Honor Blackman/Pussy; 12. Britt Ekland/Mary; 13. Jill St John/Tiffany
Favourite Bond villain: 1. Donald Pleasance/Blofeld; 2. Gert Frobe/Goldfinger; 3. Christopher Lee/Scaramanga; 4. Louis Jordan & Steven Berkov/Kahn & Orlov 5. Adolfo Celi/Largo; 6. Michael Lonsdale/Drax; 7. Yaphet Kotto/Mr Big-Dr Kananga; 8. Julian Glover/Kristatos; 9. Joseph Wiseman/Dr No; 10. Lotte Lenya/Klebb; 11. Telly Savalas/Blofeld; 12. Charles Gray/Blofeld; 13. Curt Jurgens/Stromberg

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