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Play It Again, James Seriality in the Craig Bond Films

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Play It Again, James Seriality in the Craig Bond Films Play it Again, James Seriality in the Craig Bond Films ANETTE PANKRATZ AND SVENJA BÖHM Thank god, now it all makes sense. Spectre (2015) reduces the confusing colour codes represented by the essrs. !hite, "reene, and #il$a to the black-and% white formula of the criminal mastermind pitted against &ames 'ond. Ernst #ta$ro 'lofeld confronts 00) with the pure and simple truth* + e. ,t was all me, &ames. ,t-s always been me. (1*/1*0/-1*/2*25). 12er almost a decade of paranoia, characterised by anonymous, in$isible, and ungraspable terror networks, the !estern world is safe again. 3ot only do all e$ils boil down to the machinations of one person, his moti$ations are also all too human. 12er all, hating one-s father and ri$al sibling belongs to the con$entional 4edipal repertoire. !ith this reduction of complexity comes a resurrection of 'ritishness, of 6nion &acks, 7erce bulldogs, and references to high culture (8orte 201/, )2%)0). ,n that respect, it also helps that 'lofeld was born 9ran: 4berhauser, speaks with a "erman accent, and looks like the e$il 3azi from ;uentin Tarantino-s Inglourious Basterds (200<). 3ational stereotypes are put 7rmly back in place and so are gen% der norms. no longer stands for + other., but for robust +Masculinity. em% bodied by the Arthurian "areth Mallory ( cMillan 2015, 1<)). All of this seems to propel Spectre far back into the 'ondian past of the 1<=0s. 'ut, according to The Importance of Being Earnest, +the truth is rarely pure and ne$er simple.. >ike Casino Royale (200=), Quantum of Solace (200?), and Skyfall Anette Pankratz is Pro3essor o3 Bri.is4 0ul.ur5l S.udies 5. Ruhr%2ni6ersi.7 Bo8hum9 :erm5n7* She 45s 8o%edi.ed Das Kleine Bond-Buch: From Cultural Studies with Love ;!""&<* Svenja Böhm is Assis.5n. Pro3essor o3 Bri.is4 0ultur5l S.udies 5. Ruhr%2ni6ersi.7 Bo8hum9 :erm5n7* Her re% Volume 3 · Issue 1 · Sprin !"!" se5r84 in.eres.s in8lude .he J5mes Bon/ series9 popul5r ISSN !#1$%!1&' 8ulture, 5nd .he m7.h o3 =ondon>s E5s. En/* DOI) 1"*!$'&&+,bs*#3 Dis.ribu.ed under 00 B1 $*" 2K (2012), the world of Spectre is still shaped by neoliberalism, an5ieties about (cy% ber-)terrorism, whistle blowers, and inimical friends. ; and oneypenny may ha$e been back since Skyfall and with them some traditional comic relief, gad% getry, and ostentatious @irting, but by casting 'en !hishaw (who is gay) and 3a% omie Aarris (who is of Trinidadian%&amaican heritage) in the roles, the 7lms also contain a Buantum of Bueerness and hybridity (Smith 201=, 1/)). oreo$er, Caniel Draig’s 'ond has maintained the general characteristics of the reboot since Casino Royale* he is still reluctant to e5ecute his main opponent1 and fore% goes the ironic swagger of his predecessors. !hile the other 'onds usually li$e from 7lm to 7lm,2 Draig’s 'ond is endowed with a more sustained serial memory and is, moreo$er, also burdened by the traumas of his past ( urray 201=, )). ,n short* the series’ reduction of complexity in terms of the constellation of characters and constructions of 'ritishness stands in a dialectical relationship with the enhanced complexity in terms of plot and strategies of representation. This article will analyse this dialectic as an efect of multiple seriality. ,t will show how the Draig 'onds go beyond the standard practice of repetition and $ariation pre$alent in the 'ond franchise. ,n particular, Skyfall and Spectre de$elop a spe% cial serial memory, looping back into the 1<=0s and constructing their $ersion of the Dold !ar, at the same time erasing traces of ideological complicity with the phantasms of terrorism and the commercialisation of the 'ond franchise. Durrently, the 'ond franchise is +the longest running series FGH in the history of cinema. (Dhapman 200?, 100I #trong 201?, 1). The commercial success of the 7lms in the 1<=0s as well as early global 'ondmania pro$ided an easy incenti$e for producers 1lbert J. 'roccoli and Aarry Salt:man to keep on in$esting in 'ond. ,ndeed, the $ery 7rst 7lm, Dr. No (1<=2), was not planned as a stand-alone. The producers had bought the rights for se$en stories from ,an 9leming, with the option to acquire more (Dhapman 200), /0I 200?, 10)). 9leming’s 'ond no$% els had by then also been serialised, were being sold as paperbacks, and had been turned into a comic strip (Dhapman 200?, 10)I Tesche 2002, ?)). 12er 1<=2, the 7lms boosted the success of the no$els and created a $ery lucrati$e form of mi5ed%media seriality (#trong, 0). As we will discuss below, the no$els and 7lms also entered into a direct dialogue with one another. 'oth no$els and 7lms follow the strategies of a classical series. Each te5t forms a self-contained unit and can be read or $iewed as a single piece of workI at the same time, the 'ond uni$erse features a stable cast of characters and situ% 1 !ith the e5ception of Jaoul #il$a in Skyfall. 2 #ean Donnery-s 'ond e$en forgets that he li$es the same plot twice, in Thunder all (1<=5) and Ne!er Say Ne!er "gain (1<?0). ! In.ern5.ion5l Journ5l o3 J5mes Bon/ Studies · Volume 3 · Issue 1 · Sprin !"!" ations, making use of +repetition, iteration, FandH obedience to a pre-established schema. (Eco 1<?5, 1=2). They adopt a common pattern, popularly known as the +bang-bang, kiss-kiss. formula (9leming Btd. in Darpenter 2002, 1<0I cf. Dhap% man 200?, 1/1-1/2)* 'ond 7ghts and defeats a $illain, sa$es the !estern world, and gets the girl. Ae does so in e5otic locations while enKoying a consumerist life% style. 'ond ne$er dies, and nor does he age either too much or too ostensibly. 0 Torture and near-death experiences, such as those in Die "nother Day (2002) or Skyfall, may result in temporary lapses in his physical abilities, but by the end of each 7lm these are more or less forgotten. 1nd e$er since #rom Russia $ith %o!e (1<=0), the 7lms promise that +&ames 'ond !ill Jeturn. (Dhapman 200?, 10?). eanwhile in the real world, ageing actors are replaced by younger and 7tter ones, thus establishing smaller series within the o$erall series, defned by the leading star. Liewing or reading pleasure in a series deri$es from the +dialectic between order and no$elty M in other words, between scheme and inno$ation. (Eco, 1)0I cf. Sielke 2010, 221-222). The longer a series continues, the more it is under pres% sure to ofer something new ( &ahn-Sudmann and 8elleter 2012, 20=-20)). 3o$% elty for 'ond, by and large, means more spectacle. The production costs for each 7lm rise successi$ely, following 'roccoli-s imperati$e to +lay out money to make money. (Btd. in Dhapman 200?, 1//). 1ccordingly, new 'ond 7lms are usually promoted as the +'iggest 'ond of 1llN. or +9ar 6pN 9ar 4utN 9ar ore!” (Btd. in Dhapman 200?, 10?, 1//). This strategy of spectacularisation holds especially true for the later oore and 'rosnan 7lms (Aochscherf 2010, 001). !ith the Draig 'onds (and to a lesser extent those starring Timothy Calton), the attempts to re% boot and thereby to bring the series back to basics seem to mo$e in the opposite direction, aiming at more +authenticity. and +realism.. ,n both $ariants M dramaturgy of e5cess and puri7ed reboot M the series competes with other 7lms (and 7lm series). &oonraker-s (1<)<) space theme, for instance, is clearly inspired by the success of the 7rst Star 'ars (1<))) 7lm and Draig’s 'ond owes much to recent action heroes like &ack 'auer or &ason 'ourne (Aochscherf, 00/, 010)./ 1t the same time, the series also enters into a competi% tion with itself ( &ahn%#udmann and 8elleter, 20?). 1 7lm in the 'ond series al% 0 1part from Ne!er Say Ne!er "gain, the “unoOcial. 'ond 7lm, in which a decidedly aged #ean Donnery returns to the role. Aere, Donnery’s “vintage. is played for mild humour. / ,t is probably not a coincidence that all three action heroes share the same initials (#trong, 1?). This intermediality also ser$es as an example of hyperreality* &' simu% lates simulations of &' in order to boost his originality. A. P5n?r5.@ 5n/ S. BA4m · Pl57 i. A 5in, J5mes: Seri5li.7 in .4e 0r5i Bon/ Films 3 ways tries to be +more. than its predecessors M be it more spectacular or com% plex, more entertaining or realistic: in any case, more proftable. The series thereby de$elops certain +recursi$e dynamics. as well as a +meta-serial aware% ness. of itself ( &ahn%#udmann and 8elleter, 20), 20?I our translation). Especially in the case of the reboots, this correlates with a return to the no$els and to the processes of remediation, shi2ing between immediacy and hypermediacy (9ahle 2012, 1)0). The 7lms may be formulaic, but the formal frame allows for the en% hancement of complexity on other epistemic planes M for example, cinematic style, construction of the diegetic world, or character de$elopment (9ahle, 1)=% 1))). The longer the 'ond series continues, the more it accrues possibilities for $ariation, ofen simply by bringing 'ond in line with the politics of the extra- textual world M for example, by emphasising that the Dold !ar is o$er in GoldenEye (1<<5). 1t the same time, the series must maintain the brand-s core sta% bility ( &ahn-Sudmann and 8elleter, 20=-20)).
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