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 Quantum
of Solace continues the high octane adventures of James Bond (Daniel
Craig) in Casino Royale. Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007
fights the overwhelming urge to make his latest mission far too
personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the real truth, Bond and
M (Judi Dench) interrogate the evil Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) who
reveals that the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more
complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined. Forensic intelligence
links an Mi6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken
identity introduces Bond to the stunningly beautiful but feisty Camille
(Olga Kurylenko), an unyielding woman who also has her own personal
vendetta. Camille leads Bond directly to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric),
a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious
organization. On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South
America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of
one of the world’s most important natural resources, is also forging a
deal with the exiled General Medrano (Joquin Cosio). Using his
associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts
within the CIA as well as the British government, Greene promises to
overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the
General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece
of land. In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies
with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth.
 As
he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of
Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists... and
even M... to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organization.
Daniel Craig was quick to praise Marc Forster at the helm of his second
Bond film. "It has a very different feel to it. I mean, just having Marc
on set; Marc’s a very calm and controlled human being... or at least he
appears to be, anyway. There’s no point in going into a movie like this
without making an effort to make it different. To make it a separate
entity than the previous one. I was incredibly excited when Director
Marc Forster got involved. I mean, if you watch his movies, his
versatility is quite astounding. I mean, you look at Monster’s Ball to
Neverland to The Kite Runner and they’re all such different, but equally
wonderful movies. And that he is bringing to this in spades because he’s
very particular. Every shot counts. Every part of this process is
important to him. And it’s very easy to work with people like that. He’s
cares— simply put." The film is indeed another intricate layer to a much
more virile and versatile Bond. Craig continues, "It starts, in film
time, about 20 minutes after the last one finished," says Craig of the
film’s relation to 2006’s Casino Royale. "And it takes us to the
conclusion; an emotional conclusion, but also to finding out who the bad
guys are and this organization, which is having a serious go at taking
over the world."
 Daniel
Craig used to be a character actor, valued for his versatility and
the powerful intensity of his performances. Now he has become a brand,
an icon, a figure from modern mythology, and the expectation follows him
around that perhaps he should be like Bond off-screen, in his private
life, all the time. Bond is supposed to be invincible, so when word
finally gets out that Craig has his arm in a sling, a pack of
photographers appears and tries to run him off the road— this is the
ordinary madness of his new life, and if he ever starts to think of it
as normal, that is when he will know that he has completely lost touch
with reality. "It's a labial tear,' he says of his injury. A kind of
separation of the shoulder. I've had it for years and I've probably
aggravated it by jumping around on Bond movies. I've had it fixed now.
It wasn't an essential operation but if I don't do it now, I could do
something on the next movie and rip it out of its socket. It's just a
pain in the arse, really, and it'll be a long wait before it heals
properly." Daniel Craig had been a James Bond fan ever since his father,
a publican in Cheshire, took him to see Live and Let Die at the cinema,
but when he was first offered the part, in late 2004, he thought
probably not. The producers, Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, didn't
have a script yet and he was troubled by the smoothness and perfection
of Bond.
 As
an actor, he had always found it difficult to play a character with
no flaws. It was also true... although you won't hear it from Craig,
that the Bond films had been gradually becoming sillier and more
gimmick-laden for years. After the first round of negotiations, he told
the producers to forget it, and went off to play a South African-Jewish
assassin for Steven Spielberg in Munich. "Everything I brought to this
character comes straight from Ian Fleming," Craig says. "I went back and
read all the books and found that Bond's always in trouble, Bond's
always fighting with his inner demons, and I thought, 'There it is.' The
other thing I wanted to instill in the part, which also comes from the
Flemings, is the idea that Bond has just come out of the service and
he's a killer." On the set of Munich, and again during the filming of
Casino Royale, Craig met some real spies and assassins— Mossad agents
and British secret service— who were there as advisers. "You can see it
in their eyes," he says. "You know immediately... oh, hello, hey, he's a
killer. There's a look. These guys walk into a room and very subtly they
check the perimeters for an exit. That's the sort of thing I wanted for
Bond."
 Of
all the actors who have been 007, Craig is perhaps the least
Bond-like off-screen, and he seems particularly distant from his own
volatile, dangerous, coiled-spring interpretation of the character in
Casino Royale. He is not as ripped and hulking for one thing, having
lifted fewer weights and done a lot more running, and his face, so
rough-hewn, proud and flinty on-screen, looks a little more tired and
much more honest in the flesh. He does have those extraordinary,
piercing, glacial blue eyes but he keeps them turned down on low most of
the time, and listening to him talk... in a generic London accent that
clings on to a few last syllables of his native Wirral... the hotel
suite melts away and you eventually hear a bloke chatting away over a
pint in the pub, friendly and affable, lively and intelligent, laughing
a lot in a contagious sort of chuckle, swearing exuberantly but keeping
a very close watch on himself for signs of pretentiousness... or being
far too large for his perfectly tailored tux. To further illustrate his
regular guy essence again, Craig was heavily involved in the stunt
sequences. "I really think it makes a huge difference," he says. "No
matter how good the CGI is, however good the double is, if the audience
can see it's you, and they have that moment of, 'F&%k me, it's him!'
they get more involved in the movie. So then it comes down to getting
the balls to do it. I'm not good with heights. I'm not an athlete,
although I've always enjoyed keeping fit in between bouts of minor
alcoholism. So it's a big challenge. You're up there on top of a
building and it's a long way down, and the explosion is going to go off,
and you have to go on 'Action' and look cool while you're doing it. I go
for it because I'd be pissed off with myself in the future if I didn't.
I'm 40 now and I can only give my body so much more punishment."
 Olga
Kurylenko, who plays the role of lead Bond girl Camille, revealed
that there couldn’t have been a better time when she learned she had
gotten the role. "I was incredibly excited. I was very happy. I finally
got a call on Christmas Eve and it couldn’t have been a better present.
I’ve been in heavy training from morning to evening for about three
weeks since I’m in London. I’ve been doing some stunts for the fight
scenes and also some weapon work and body flight for some aerial scenes
that I have and that’s really physically demanding and also physically
exhausting... but it’s very exciting also. I’m learning so many new
things." When speaking about her character the actress is very
enthusiastic, "Camille is a South American woman. She is strong-willed
and independent and she’s driven by revenge in this movie. She is very
persistent and very feisty." And... like Craig, Kurylenko points out
Forster’s seemingly endless list of positive attributes which make him
the perfect director for Quantum of Solace. "Marc is amazing because he
is so open and very thoughtful and very precise. He’s really into the
detail and very attentive. It’s really a pleasure to meet a person like
this and work with a director like this. Plus, I’ve seen his previous
movies and I’m so thrilled to be able to work with him."
"I’m playing Fields,
Agent Fields," states actress Gemma Arterton, the film’s second Bond
girl. "She works for MI6 and the British consulate in Bolivia and
basically just has to look after Bond— or at least try to. [she laughs]"
Arterton also briefly mentioned a few of her scenes that will apparently
be sticking in the minds of viewers longer than others... ‘I’ve done two
of my 'big, talked about' scenes. It was on the first two days, so I was
quite nervous, but everyone makes you feel so at home here. There’s such
a good feel on set."
 Dame
Judi Dench, returning for her sixth time to the series as ‘M,’
revealed that her character would have "more to do" this time around.
"You see a bit more of her house and there’s more confrontation with
Bond." When asked about working with Daniel Craig for their second film
together, she proudly replies, "I think he’s the most marvelous actor.
He’s very relaxed and it can’t be very relaxing for him, but he has a
knack for making you feel relaxed when you’re acting with him and that’s
a very nice trait." Director Marc Forster also spoke to UPBEAT
Entertainment News Syndicate about preparing for the film and the key
importance of pre-production, "I think the pre-production process is
when I create the movie, basically. It’s all about the pre-production
process. It’s all about locations to choose, how to develop the scenes,
and that entire journey is where the vision of the film comes together.
Ultimately, when you’re on the set, you’re jus executing the vision,
which is a whole, completely different step actually. It’s hard for me
to judge what kind of stamp I’m going to put on this movie. I'll let the
audience decide that. I just have my vision of the film and will pull
through and make the movie that is the most interesting and fascinating
to watch."
When asked about
the film's rather interesting title Forster quickly responds, "You know,
Quantum of Solace is a short story from Ian Fleming. I think it works
for the film; I think it works for the story. In a sense, I think it was
a good move to use an original title from Ian Fleming." Producer Michael
G. Wilson also agreed, stating, "The Quantum of Solace, being a Fleming
short story, means a measure of comfort. And I think it’s very
appropriate for this film because based on what happened to the
character of James Bond in the last film, he needs a quantum of solace,
considering his mental state." Wilson also mentioned the impressive
line-up of exotic locations for the film: "We’ve been here in the studio
and of course some London locations. And then we go off to Panama, then
Peru, then northern Chile, and then we’re back here and then we go on to
Italy and Austria. So there’s quite a number of locations and a lot of
them are very challenging for our production department and to get the
work done in the time we have."
 Staying
consistent with its innovative predecessor, the cool chase sequences
in Quantum of Solace are actually more magnificently dangerous (if that
were at all possible... and it was... apparently). And the daredevil
leaps and tumbles through glass rooftops are precisely as sensational as
the daringly splintering high-speed pyrotechnics. The integrated team
behind this "new way of Bond" is doing a phenomenal job of marrying a
progressive style with familiar elements. For the millions of
long-standing fans of the franchise right from its first outing there is
the tux, silencer, martini, country-spanning escapades and so on which
is and always will be so very treasured. But the new Bond philosophy
also doesn’t bog itself down in trying to stick too much to what’s
expected; it acknowledges what’s loved by the fans, even giving a few
nods of the head to them here and there, but make no mistake about it...
this is an entirely different beast. The decision to cast an actor who
looks frankly nothing like what Bond should be in the role was the first
sign that they’re planning on trying hugely different things, taking
risks if and when need be. And those risks pay off more than anyone had
ever expected them to... This franchise is heading in a bold direction
that is promising [and delivering] quality action from here on out.
Which leaves us with one final pondering... how much is a quantum
exactly? Less than a little and next to nothing. For example, In high
school I studied a quantum of physics. Or, as James Bond might say,
"I'll have a vodka martini, shaken not stirred, and instead of a side of
pretzels... just give me a quantum of solace." UB
 
 
 Action, Drama
Daniel Craig
Judi Dench
Giancarlo Giannini
Jesper Christensen
Mathieu Amalric
Jeffrey Wright
Gemma Arterton
Olga Kurylenko
Anatole Taubma
Joaquin Cosio
Jesus Ochoa
Fernando Guillen Cuervo
David Harbour
 
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