Tagged: Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace – Felix Leiter’s Striped Shirt
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter in Quantum of Solace (2008)
Vitals
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, cynical CIA agent
Bolivia, Summer 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
The brilliant Jeffrey Wright was the first actor to reprise the mercurial role of Felix Leiter in consecutive Bond outings, appearing as the reliable if cynical CIA agent in Quantum of Solace two years after his introduction in Casino Royale. (David Hedison is the only actor to have played Felix twice: first with Roger Moore’s Bond in Live and Let Die in 1973, then reprising his role with Timothy Dalton’s Bond in 1989’s Licence to Kill.)
Ian Fleming wrote Felix Leiter to be the closest thing to a friend that James Bond would have, first described as a lanky Texan in the first literary Bond adventure Casino Royale. Leiter reappeared in the next novel, Live and Let Die, where he lost his leg in an incident that fans of the 007 cinematic universe would recollect from the events of Licence to Kill. Continue reading
Quantum of Solace – Bond’s Brown Suit
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Quantum of Solace (2008)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, rogue British government agent
La Paz, Bolivia, August 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
The last post found us sailing down to Bolivia with the Sundance Kid, so let’s hang around and see what kind of trouble James Bond gets into in the same country for the 00-7th of April.
Exactly 100 years after Butch and Sundance met their fate in San Vicente, Daniel Craig’s rogue James Bond arrived in the country with his former MI6 handler Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), where they are immediately interrupted by the efficient Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton, who recently expressed that she wouldn’t take the role if offered it today). Continue reading
Quantum of Solace – Bond’s Polo and Cream Jeans in Haiti
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Quantum of Solace (2008).
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government secret agent
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Summer 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
Quantum of Solace ostensibly picks up minutes after Casino Royale left off (offering no feasible explanation of Bond’s radically different suit, though) and quickly establishes itself as the more action-oriented yin to the introspective Casino Royale origin story’s yang. The sequel was determined to feature every kind of chase possible; we are immediately treated to a pulse-pounding car chase along the mountains of Italy before the opening credits, and Bond finds himself engaged in a desperate foot chase through the town of Siena immediately following.
After a few relatively calm minutes of exposition in London, Bond is dispatched to follow up on a lead in Haiti where he engages in a deadly knife fight, motorbike chase, and – ultimately – a motorboat chase. All that remains is an air chase and, don’t worry, that’s coming later. Continue reading
Bond Style – Bolivian Desert Combat in Quantum of Solace
Daniel Craig as a dirty James Bond in Quantum of Solace (2008).
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, rogue British secret agent
Bolivia, Summer 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
Recently, I covered Butch Cassidy’s attire while in Bolivia. Exactly 100 years later, James Bond was wreaking havoc on the country in Quantum of Solace. Of course, real Bond fans know that the film’s version of “Bolivia” was actually filmed in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Some have complained about Bond wearing jeans for these scenes, but it’s actually very utilitarian and – come on already, people – this was 2008, not 1958. With some jeans costing thousands of dollars, albeit impractically, denim has come a long way from being the domain of the laborer. Continue reading
Bond Style – Bond Relaxes in Quantum of Solace
Daniel Craig and Lucrezia Lante della Rovere in Quantum of Solace (2008)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, rogue but relaxed British secret agent
Talamone, Italy, September 2006
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
After once again upsetting off his boss by killing a few folks in Austria, James Bond goes off the map, going rogue for at least the third or fourth time in the series. 007’s first stop is Villa Le Torre near Talamone, a Tuscan village where his old friend Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) now resides in retirement with his Italian girlfriend Gemma (Lucrezia Lante della Rovere). Brosnan’s Bond would’ve almost certainly (and unnecessarily) worn a suit for this occasion, but Craig’s Bond smartly wears a professional but indubitably casual cardigan and slacks for his apologetic visit. Continue reading