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A 2nd Look at Quantum of Solace

Actually, more like a half-dozen 2nd looks.

Over at Big Hollywood, I got into a short, pleasant exchange with another reader (dcase) about Quantum of Solace. In the end, we agreed that it was better the second time around, and then he made an intriguing statement, that it was as close to an art house film as a Bond film is liable to get.

Art house? Bond? Let’s work our way to that, and I’m afraid there are liable to be SPOILERS in this discussion. Sorry.

First, I was perhaps less than kind to QoS when I first reviewed it. Many of my objections still stand. The action is, more often than not, disjointed, an example of the extreme close-up, shaky cam, rapid cut “style” that dominates modern action films. It’s not a style, it’s a disease. Most people blame Michael Bay for this plague, but I think the real cause is Paul Greengrass and his two Bourne films. Action films, Bay aside, want to imitate Bourne. Bay always takes a moment or two to pull the camera back and remind you where everyone is; Greengrass never does. The action in The Bourne Supremacy is almost comprehensible, but in The Bourne Ultimatum it’s ludicrous.

Bourne is appropriate for this discussion because so many critics saw QoS as Bond imitating Bourne. On a cursory level, that’s true. Speed up the action, make the filming a twirling blur, and voila, Bond is Bourne. But that’s not really the sort of film QoS is, and watching it again (and again) made that clear.

QoS is a James Bond procedural more than an James Bond action film, and I think that’s what puts people off (including me) on first viewing. He is constantly working clues and following leads. Nothing illustrates this better than the entire opera sequence, from Bond’s arrival to his departure. This sequence is sheer genius in how it unfolds, from how Bond acquires a tuxedo, to his infiltration of the villains’ meeting, to his identifying key members of the antagonist organization, and to his facing off with Green. This is brilliant filmmaking and easily one of the best sequences of any Bond film.

It’s important to see that Bond’s efforts aren’t to hunt and kill, but to find and uncover and answer. Yes, he does kill, but pay attention: His key targets are left alive (at least by him). He works his way up the food chain, so to speak, to get the information he needs. At the end of the film, Bond has a better understanding of the enemy he faces. Presumably he passed this information onto M, and we’re set for the next film.

Notably, though, the audience isn’t let in on the secret, and I wonder if this is where the “art house” allusion comes from. Things aren’t wrapped up in a tidy package with a pretty bow. The film starts with the loose ends from Casino Royale and ends with several of those still loose while adding a few more. The fight that Bond, MI-6, and perhaps the civilized world, find themselves in is too large for a single, or even a pair, of films.

At the end of QoS, we know the bad guys are an organization called “Quantum.” (Maybe.) We know they are engaged in something called “The Tierra Project.” (Possibly.) We know they’re big and they’re everywhere. (Apparently.) And that’s about it. We don’t know their motivations. The film’s villain, Green, states that they are non-ideological, that they work for (and against) the left and the right. Aside from being nihilists, we really don’t know much about them. If they turn out to be some shadowy corporation doing this all for money I will be terribly disappointed. On the other hand, they could be the rebirth of SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), and that would be very, very cool.

Director Marc Forster is content to leave these questions unanswered. He is focused on Bond and Bond, in this film, does not solve all problems. Instead, he evolves. Casino Royale showed Bond achieving his “double-oh” status and sent off on his first mission as 007. Quantum of Solace resumes that mission, but more on Bond’s terms. He appears to have gone rogue, but instead, by film’s end, he’s achieved several major goals. He also clearly states, in words and in actions and despite all cynical appearances and statements to the contrary, that he has never left the service of Queen and country.

The film’s end is remarkably quiet, that lingering shot on a necklace discarded and left in the snow. Bond has solved his internal issues and is now ready to do his duty. His relationship with M is one forged in fire and ready for action. At the end of QoS, he has become the Bond we first met on the big screen in Dr. No.

So QoS holds up remarkably well, even after several viewings. Being more than an action film, it gives you something to think about, even if it’s only little nuances of Bondian character, or the nature of the world he inhabits. My anonymous friend at Big Hollywood stated that QoS is, and will remain, the only direct Bond sequel, and I think that’s a shame, because I’m ready for the next, direct chapter in this unfolding saga.

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