Katherine Haddon
MR BOND, we’ve been expecting you. Fans got a glimpse of what awaits in the new James Bond film Spectre late last week, raising hopes that it could revive one of the most iconic Bond villains, Blofeld.
The film is named after the sinister Spectre organisation run by evil cat-stroking genius, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, which featured in early Bond films starring Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
During a presentation at Pinewood Studios, director Sam Mendes revealed that, as well as Daniel Craig in his fourth adventure as 007, it would star Oscar winner Christoph Waltz plus Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux.
“A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation,” a brief plot summary revealed.
“While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre.”
That, plus the unveiling of the new Bond car, an Aston Martin DB10, suggests that Spectre, the 24th Bond film, will stick to the winning formula of stunts, seduction and exotic locations.
Bellucci, an Italian actress seen in the Matrix trilogy, said Bond represented “the ideal man – the man who’s a protector and generous, but at the same time mysterious, dangerous, sexy”.
Seydoux, a French actress, suggested her character could embody an evolution in the portrayal of Bond girls: “She needs to be sexy, she’s strong, she’s tough – but I think that now she’s more sensitive. She’s more vulnerable.”
It was the possibility that Waltz, known for playing villains in movies like Inglourious Basterds, could play Blofeld that got diehard Bond fans most excited.
The Austrian actor brushed away questions about the precise nature of his role: “Everybody’s seen the Bond movies from childhood on. It’s legend, practically modern mythology. To participate in that, come on, you don’t have to think, you just do it,” he said.
He is confirmed to play a character called Oberhausen who, in Ian Fleming’s original James Bond books, taught Bond to ski and climb while he was a schoolboy.
But the prospect of Spectre without Blofeld is unthinkable for many Bond fans and Waltz would be a strong contender to take on the role.
“For the next year or so, Waltz and everyone involved with Spectre will have to field endless ‘You’re Blofeld really, aren’t you?’ questions,” British movie magazine Empire reported on the launch.
Blofeld has not featured in an official Bond film since 1981’s For Your Eyes Only due to a legal rights dispute which was resolved last year.
The Spectre acronym stands for Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion and the conspiracy’s symbol is an octopus.
The movie will be shot at Pinewood and in London, Mexico City, Rome, Tangiers and Morocco’s oasis town of Erfoud, plus in several mountain locations in Austria.
Actors returning for the latest movie include Ralph Fiennes, promoted to spy chief M, and Ben Whishaw, who played the Secret Service’s technological whiz-kid, both introduced in Skyfall.
Andrew Scott, best known as the villain Moriarty in the BBC’s Sherlock TV series, is also in, along with wrestler, Dave Bautista.
Bond has previously been played by Connery, George Lazenby, Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. – Sapa-AFP