A very Scottish coup

Columnist and film writer

Tuesday 23 October 2012

COMPETING royal families play the Royal Albert Hall in London tonight when cinema blueblood the Bond franchise meets the Windsors at the world premiere of Skyfall.

LASTING BONDS: Skyfall cast members (from left) Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench, director Sam Mendes and Berenice Malohe.

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Alison Rowat talks to the powerhouses behind the new Bond movie

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will attend the opening of the Sam Mendes-directed 23rd in the series. Though the film does tour exotic locations from Istanbul to Shanghai, Skyfall is a very British, and particularly Scottish, Bond, with scenes shot in Glencoe.

"Sadly, we were only there very briefly," said Barbara Broccoli, one of the film's producers, yesterday. Filming in Scotland involved fewer headaches than in London she says, recalling that Skyfall's Whitehall scenes required a Sunday morning shoot. But she adds: "It's tricky. No matter where you are filming you are always inconveniencing a lot of people."It was Broccoli's father Cubby who created the franchise with partner Harry Saltzman 50 years ago with the first Bond film, Dr No. So who better than Ms Broccoli to answer the question of who is the better Bond, Scotland's Sean Connery or England's Daniel Craig?"I have to say that they are amazing bookends for the franchise, the 50 years so far," says Broccoli diplomatically. "If it weren't for Sean Connery we wouldn't be here. He obviously was the one who started the cinematic character. Daniel is the great counterpart to that, he is the 21st century Bond, he is the beating heart of the franchise."But if she had to choose? "Luckily, I don't have to choose." Mendes said shooting in Scotland was "a joy.""It was so spectacular, and the weather was amazing because we had all those low, low clouds. I wish we'd been there longer".Broccoli confirmed that Craig has signed up for "at least two more" films. "Once you are James Bond you are James Bond for life. As Pierce Brosnan said, more men have walked on the moon."The man himself recalled the shoot's spell in Scotland as "very wet but very beautiful". The location was all a far cry from where the Craig-Mendes collaboration began. Craig was talking to Mendes at a party, picking his brains about the next Bond movie. "As the conversation went on and on and we talked about the things we loved about Bond movies I offered him the job, which wasn't my job to do."Which was pretty sporting of him, considering Mendes once wondered aloud about his casting. "He apologised, we've moved on," laughs Craig. As for Mendes, he said yesterday: "It took me about 30 seconds of Casino Royale to realise I was completely wrong."Craig had told Mendes that nothing could quite prepare a person for being in a Bond film. A lot of stamina is required, says Craig. "Even long movies take three or four months to shoot, but this is six, seven, eight months of shooting. Thankfully Sam has an abundance of energy and an abundance of passion for this kind of thing. There is no bigger Bond fan."Asked why he had committed to two more films, Craig deadpans: "Money. No – I love playing it. It's an honour to play it, I really get a big kick out of doing it. I had an opportunity when they gave me Casino Royale to sort of wipe the slate clean."In making the character bleaker and more complex, it has been suggested that Craig was turning the clock back to Connery's days. Not so, he says, it's more to do with the original literary creation. "Fleming was conflicted about [Bond], he tried to kill him off two or three times in the stories. He's conflicted, but it's about how when he is knocked down how he gets up. I love the fact he takes a battering – and so he should, he's an agent. It's how he stands up to adversity in situations where he is one against many."Having said that, he adds: "I'm not going to outstay my welcome. Somebody else is going to have another crack at this."His co-stars in Skyfall include Oscar-winners Javier Bardem and Dame Judi Dench, but Craig's screen partner this summer was equally noted. "She did fantastically," says Craig of his Olympics ceremony turn with the Queen. Filming at the palace was surreal but very relaxed, he says. "We did it in about an hour."Bond's La Perla swimming trunks, as worn in Craig's first movie sold for £44,450 recently. There are not as many revealing shots in Skyfall, I suggest. Not so, he says. "I seem to be bare chested most of the way through it. I take my clothes off more in this movie than I did in Casino Royale." I didn't notice, I tell him. "Well I've failed miserably, obviously," he laughs. "I'm not going to do it in the next one, that's it. It's over."For Mendes, directing a Bond continues a career trajectory that began in the theatre and stretched to such Oscar winning films as American Beauty."I have my own, personal relationship with Bond, which began when I was nine or ten years old - when Live and Let Die came out. With Daniel's performances in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, James Bond feels like a real man in a real situation again. It reminded me of the way I felt when I watched the Sean Connery movies."Skyfall opens on Friday and will be reviewed in The Herald on Thursday.

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A very Scottish coup

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