Let’s get the easy stuff done with first: Daniel Craig is
back as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the
longest-running film franchise of all time. There that’s done.
Review:
Excellent, probably the best of the franchise, the cast
exceptional, the film's texture involving, and the action – well it is a Bond
film. So I give it a 8.7 out of 10.
But:
What I really liked was the urban travelogue and the
outstanding photography that engaged the viewer, if the director was looking
for extremes, he found it. The depth of the night filming was extraordinary
and the stage settings left you wondering how real they really were.
Istanbul
The movie opens here and involves the whole city and a rail
line. When I visited Istanbul a few years ago I was struck by the crowds and
hurried chaotic bustle of the city. This came across in the movie, the roof top
chase gave dramatic glimpses of this incredibly dense Asian city. The “Blue
Mosque” and the Grand Bazaar and the chaotic feel of the highways and traffic
brought it all back in a far too real way. Every city has its beautiful
neighborhoods as well as its, let’s say, less than desirable blocks. Skyfall
did a good job with Istanbul.
Shanghai
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| Shanghai |
Without a doubt the most dazzling images were the aerials
shot of Shanghai at night. I have not been to Shanghai but if it is anything
like what’s shown, it has moved up my list of places to visit. The sparkling
architectural shots have already been added to the world’s premier
architectural firms’ (who designed many of the buildings) web sites and resumes
by now. This has been a city that over the last fifteen years has changed its
downtown more than any city in the world. Others, more easily, have developed from
almost nothing, like Dubai. It is difficult, even in a city like Shanghai; to
build within the existing urban structure, after all it is the largest city in
China and most probably the largest city, by population, in the world. And
Shanghai is old (born circa AD 960), even under European ideas of old cities.
Wait for the aerial shots (not CGI enhanced I understand) – they are worth it.
By the way many of the sets were filmed in London even though supposedly in
China, well that’s the way it is with budgets.
London,
Is my favorite city in the world. The contrasts to
Istanbul and Shanghai are intentional according to the PR on the movie –
dazzling new to staid old. The comparisons of the rooftop shots at the film’s
conclusion to the rooftops of the Topkapi Palace are intentional. The glassy
skyline of Shanghai in contrast to carved and detailed stone of London –
intentional. There is a solid feel to London: empire, law, parliament, governed
civility. It all comes through in direct contrast to the dead city of Raoul Silva, the Bond villain.
Silva’s Dead City
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| The Real Dead City - Hashima, Japan |
The evil characters in Bond movies all have to have
homes. Dr. No, Le Chiffre, Goldfinger, Blofeld, and 18 others, all had some
place to call home. But not many spook an entire city out its homes and apartments
and move in, such is the power of a Bond villain. The imagery is outstanding, the
villain's derelict city seems to sit on an island, worn and abandoned. The sets
are littered with crushed bikes and debris. Broken statues litter the plazas,
there is a feel of a Eastern European cold war city, crushed and
broken, abandoned out of fear (maybe radiation?), and our bad guy moves in. Not
exactly the best way to make a real estate investment. But surprisingly the
exterior shots are real; it is an abandoned city on Hashima Island in Japan.
The story is bizarre and so is the city (GO HERE), scroll down a bit for the info.
And speaking of
real estate,
Think of Scotland, think of The Highlander and Braveheart. Then think of owning a chunk of that real
estate and a baronial home that is a hundred miles from the nearest Safeway.
Yes, this is the anti-urban set for the final dramatic scenes of the movie – in
great contrast to China, and Turkey and London. Having been there I can attest
to the simple fact that no computer graphic can make it as shockingly barren as
Sam Mendes (movie director) achieved filming the real landscape. Well done.
HERE is a great site with some discussion of the sets and
shots of locations for the film.
While the movie has its flaws (what Bond movie hasn’t),
it is always a magnificent travel guide to the great cities of the world. Sit
back and enjoy.
And by the way, my
latest book in the Sharon O’Mara Chronicles, 12th Man For Death, is now available at Amazon Kindle. Just click
on the book cover and you will travel to San Francisco, Baghdad, Venice, and
Paris in a Bond-like adventure of international espionage, murder, and high
fashion.
Stay Tuned . . .
