Friday 5 October 2012

goldfinger

The latest installment of the quintessentially British institution, the James Bond films, is set for release on the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of Sean Connery as Agent 007 in the adaptation of Ian Fleming’s espionage novel Dr. No.

The franchise, played by a Scotsman, Australians, an American and now a Briton, is unsinkably English but the line has endured because of the cosmopolitan sophistication that can ingratiate itself internationally. Much ceremony and patent looks go into the formula, and the breach or the relaxing of traditions has made for some forgettable incarnations—but the tribute and rites, true to the original, have had just the opposite outcomes. I think we all hope that the world’s balance of power is really maintained by a dapper and charming spy, rather than the autocracies of government and business. Another necessary element is of course the soundtrack, and some spectacularly memorable numbers have been recorded both by established artists and newcomers that cemented their careers by this association and honour: Die Another Day, Nobody Does it Better, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, London Calling and many big and brassy derivative works. The band The Scissor Sisters composed a lilting ballad, complimented by a very swank video in the style of the opening credits of a Bond film called The Land of 1000 Words, which I think, though not in the main arch of the stories—it is hard to say, however, what exactly is canonical about 007 who’s sort of like Dr. Who for continuity—makes for another powerful homage.