Quantum what?
There is no much to say about Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond feature, a part that it is less Bond and more and more a copy of Jason Bourne’s franchise. It picks up from where Casino Royale ended, and it evolves in a rather clumsy intricate web of nonsensical plot-lines and run-to-die action-scenes. It lacks the intensity and drama that made Casino Royale a good movie, afterall. For a start, villains and heroes in the two stories are quite different. Le Chiffre in Casino was much more sadistic and interesting a character than the new villain in Quantum, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). Eva Green’s Vesper was more developed than Quantum’s bond gilr, Olga Kurylenko’s Camille.
The plot revolving around a thirsty-crazy businessman (Greene) and his obsession for water has something eco-friendly attached to it, (environmentalists will be happy) but its role in the overall movie narrative is confusing for the audience: it is never really clear what is it all about? What is Quantum? There are too many plot-lines to follow, and the fast-paced editing does not help: if you blink one moment you are lost. There is desperation, broken hearts, revenge, water supplies, third world economies, etc… etc… and yes, a mysterious organization whose shape and nature is never really explained throughout the whole movie. Quantum of Solace is too many movies in one. One thing must be noted though: notwithstanding that the movie is probably the less Bond-like movie of all times, Craig once more proves us that he is the perfect choice for the role of the British spy: he is charismatic, he is strong, he is dark, he is sexy. Nonetheless, in this movie, if he had been supported by a good script, with more lines and some sense of humor, he could have been excellent. I don’t remember smiling once during the all movie, let alone laughing. I understand that a spy-story mired into revenge and mourning cannot produce that many laughs. yet the script lacks at all any sense of humor, the kind that has made Bond a unique character in the history of Cinema.
Overall, Quantum of Solace is not too bad a movie, if you have nothing better to do. Anyone might actually enjoy it as far as you are in the mood for a bit of non-sense, you have plenty of pop corn and soda, good company, and you fancy either Daniel Craig or Olga Kurylenko, the rest is quite forgettable. Having said all of that, I must confess it – I am hard-to-die Bond’s fan, so I was a bit disappointed, but overall I enjoyed it (but the end). And judging from the box office results it seems that many more are quite enjoying it too. I wonder if the success is due to the good quality of the movie or is it simply good marketing, the bond-brand-machine never fails! But the question is …is this a Bond feature film? or an other piece of Hollywood junk fast-edited. little-thought through film? Is it more for the mindless than for the mindful? A hybrid in between would be the most politically correct answer. One certainty: It could have been much better a movie if supported by a better screenplay.
About the title:
This is for those of you who might watch Quantum of Solace and wonder what the heck the title means. I am not sure who will like the movie, but I am sure enough that if you watch it, there is not a chance you will get the meaning of the title, they forgot about explaining it. Not that it matters much, but when a movie dares to take such an unusual title it would be nice to know the meaning of it.
I found this good explanation on the web:
Quantum of Solace is the title of a story published in For Your Eyes Only in which James Bond plays a very small part. Bond is attending a dinner party hosted by the Governor for The Bahamas at the end of a week in Nassau before leaving for Miami, in which he feels completely out of place. Once the other guests have left, Bond and the Governor and make small talk to pass the hour or so before Bond feels he can also depart. When he makes a remark about wanting to marry an air hostess, the Governor proceeds to tell a story that he says Bond may find interesting.
The Governor’s story is about a man who meets and marries an air hostess after meeting her on a flight. However, after a posting to Bermuda their marriage began to unravel and when he finally leaves his wife, he makes sure he does everything possible to destroy her life. The story ends with the Governor telling Bond that a relationship “can survive anything so long as some kind of basic humanity exists between the two people” and that all kinds of obstacles can be overcome in a relationship, but not “the death of common humanity in one of the partners”.
He rather pretentiously calls this the “Quantum of Solace” – or as Bond explains it – “the amount of comfort… When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it’s obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero.”
The Governor then reveals that the wife had been one of the dinner party guests.
Quantum of Solace was first published in 1960 and seems to be a comment on the state of Ian Fleming’s marriage at the time, although according to Andrew Lycett’s excellent biography of Fleming, it was based on a true story he’d heard in Jamaica.
Since the film will be picking up an hour after Casino Royale ends, in which the love of 007’s life is not only dead but revealed to be a traitor, make your own conclusions as to what the title means.
Fom the web: original source here
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doozy said,
November 21, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I read that Daniel Craig helped pick the title for the movie and he said, “Like most Bond movies, the title makes absolutely no sense.” Ha!
I laughed once that I remember. It was when Bond let the Canadian agent go and she said, “Thank you.” I thought it was funny because enough Canadians were involved with the movie that a little Canadian courtesy made its way into the film :0)