A Second Evil Empire The James Bond Series, “Red China”, and Cold War Cinema SEBASTIAN GEHRIG 1 On 17 September 1964, the James Bond flm Goldfinger premiered at the Odeon Theatre, Leicester Square, London and as soon hailed b! man! critics as the ar" chet!pical Bond ad#enture $see %hapman &''7, 49() The flm re#ol#es around the #illain *uric +oldfn,er, superbl! pla!ed b! +ert -röbe, ho attempts to det" onate an atomic de#ice in the /S ,old depositor! of -ort 1no2) 3imsel0 a mil" lionaire and obsessed ith ,old, +oldfn,er hopes to increase the #alue of his o n ,old reser#es ten0old b! renderin, the /S reser#es unusable. Shortl! before the assault on -ort 1nox, +oldfn,er re#eals his plan to Bond, certain that the lat" ter ill die in the raid) Bond con0ronts +oldfn,er ith the 0act that it is im" possible to transport all of the ,old deposited at -ort 1no2 to another place be" 0ore the /S militar! sends rein0orcements to 0oil the scheme. +oldfn,er then discloses to Bond that the 4red"%hinese5 ha#e supplied him ith an atomic de#ice to carr! out his plan, and that he does not intend to remo#e the ,old bul" lion at all $1964, scene startin, at 16&76&'() As in the frst and f8h James Bond flms, Der. No $196&( and You Oily Livg Twicg $1967(, the 9eople:s ;epublic of %hina 1 ;esearch 0or this article as supported b! the %luster o0 <2cellence 4*sia and <urope in a Global %ontext5 at the /ni#ersit! o0 3eidelber,) Sebastian Gehrig is Senior /ec)urer in 1odern Europe2n His)or3 2) )he -ni5ersi)3 o6 Roehampton7 /ondon% Volume 2 · Issue 1 · Spring 2019 ISSN 2514-21 ! "#I$ 10%24! &'bs%45 Dis)ribu)ed under ++ B, 2%0 -. $9;%( appears as the dri#in, 0orce behind Bond:s opponent) The creators of the cinematic Bond lin=ed the frst 0e flms in the series to the risin, threat of 4;ed %hina5 in %old >ar politics of the time. ?ndeed, onl! one month afer the premiere of Goldfinger, the 9;% ould test its frst atomic bomb at the Lop @ur test site on 16 October 1964) ;ecent scholarship has hinhlinhted the pi#otal role flms ha#e pla!ed in shapin, >estern imaninaries of the %old >ar di#ide.& The role of cultural products in mouldin, popular understandin,s of the %old >ar as an imaninar! ar is a crucial puAAle piece in understandin, ho people and societies ha#e dealt ith a conBict hich ould most li=el! ha#e resulted in nlobal annihilation had it e#er turned 4hot5)7 ?n terms of shapin, popular understandinns of %old >ar ad#ersaries, the representation of the 9;% in >estern flm has so 0ar attrac" ted little attention $a notable e2ception is +reene &'14, 9C-1C'() Det 4;ed %hina5 became a central theme in one of the most prolifc bloc=buster series: in the 196's, the James Bond 0ranchise. The producers of the James Bond flms built on an alread! ell-established trope: 4;ed %hina5 had ser#ed as one of the major threats to the >est in representations of Asia in /S flms of the 19C's. The Bond series 0urther pla!ed an important role in reconf,urin, older literar! and cine" matonraphic tropes of the Dello 9eril into a distinctl! communist 4red"%hinese5 threat $Fick &'16, chp) G() The depiction of 4;ed %hina5 in the James Bond series helped to reassure >estern #ie ers of the -irst >orld:s henemonic position and, in particular, as %!nthia Baron has noted, represented 4British stratenies of sel0" defnition in the Hpost-colonial: era5) Baron arnues that James Bond:s exploits re" mained steeped in the discourse of an 4Orientalism hich positioned the East as & -or a discussion o0 the understudied aspect o0 audience reactions to James Bond flms in particular see6 Fodds &''6, 116"17') -or the role o0 cinema in shapinn imaninaries o0 %old >ar ad#ersaries bet een <ast and >est see6 Sha and Dounnblood &'1'I Sha &''7I Sha &''1) 1laus Fodds has noted the importance o0 flm in shapinn “popular ,eopolitics5 and popular understandinns o0 4neonraphies o0 threat and danner5) See6 Fodds &''C) This scholarship ties into broader debates ithin historical scholarship on %old >ar culture and ho the cultural histor! o0 the %old >ar is rit" ten about and documented) -or studies centred on the /S see6 >hitfeld 1996I 1uAnic= and Gilbert &''1) -or a leadinn collection on *sia see6 Zhenn, 3onn, SAonyi &'1') ?n recent !ears, a 0urther debate has emer,ed as to the a!s in hich the cul" tural histor! o0 the %old >ar has been ritten as a series o0 entannled perspecti#es 0rom the ,eopolitical <ast and >est) See6 Ko inc=el, 9a!=, Lindenber,er &'1&I MaEor and Mitter &''4) 7 Matthe +rant and Benjamin Ziemann ha#e recentl! examined the %old >ar as an imaninar! ar b! explorinn the central trope o0 the atomic bomb in post" ar thounht and culture) See6 +rant and Ziemann &'16) 2 In)ern2)ion2l 8ourn2l o6 82mes Bon* Stu*ies · Volume 2 · Issue 1 · Spring 2019 m!sterious, incomprehensible, and patholonised in order to Eusti0! >estern im" perialism5 $&''7, 17C() ;ead 0rom this perspecti#e, the James Bond flms trans" lated traditional, popular stereot!pes of a m!stical East depicted in the Dello 9eril literature of the late nineteenth and earl! t entieth centur! $such as Sax ;ohmer:s Fu Maichu series( into the %old >ar era. The appearance of 4;ed %hina5 in the James Bond flm series mar=ed the peak in popularit! of >estern flmma=ers: use of Maoist %hina as a %old >ar antanonist to the >est bet een the end of the Second >orld >ar and the beninnin, of the so-called Second %old >ar in the 19G's. 3o e#er, there as no uni0orm manner in hich %hina as depicted ithin >estern cinema. Arthouse and lef" in, flmmakers close to the emernin, stu" dent mo#ements of the late 196's #ie ed the rise of Socialist %hina in a diMerent linht) >hen the %ultural ;e#olution benan to inspire lef" in, opposition to mainstream politics in >estern <urope and the /S, Laoist themes also had a short hone!moon amonnst radical le8" in, audiences $%onner! &''G() Maoism $or Mao Jedon, Thounht( as central to the %hinese %ommunist 9art! $%%9( and Maoist ideolony as promoted as the 4spiritual atom bomb5 of the t entieth centur! $see %ook &'14a and Leese &'11() ;adical lef" in, acti#ists across the >est #ie ed this ne re#olutionar! anti-imperialism as the ideolonical touch" stone in their opposition to the Kietnam >ar, the remnants of the colonial era, and the conser#ati#e social mores hich dominated their societies at home $+ehri, &'11I +ehrin, Mittler, >emheuer &''GI >olin &'1'I %onner! &''GI <l" baum &''&, 41"CGI %ook &'14b() >hen adherence to Maoist ideolony took hold in the >est, cracks ithin the radical lef emer,ed hich caused diplomatic ri8s bet een the 9;% and some >estern European ,o#ernments. * comparison of those bloc=buster flms produced at the time $such as the James Bond series( and se#eral arthouse and lef" in, flms demonstrates the extent to hich cinematic stereot!pes $such as the threat of the Dello 9eril( are simultaneousl! crafed, contested, and deplo!ed 0or a number of political ends. This article explores the a!s in hich the rise of Maoist %hina in interna" tional %old >ar politics, as ell as the ideolonical threat posed to the >est b! the %hinese %ultural ;e#olution, transformed %hina into a prominent ,eopolitical antanonist ithin >estern post" ar cinema. ? contrast prolifc %old >ar flms such as the James Bond series ith flms 0rom <uropean lefist directors to illus" trate ho the reimanined Dello 9eril of 4;ed %hina5 impacted >estern %old >ar popular culture. >hile bloc=buster cinema of the period had a broad ap" peal, arthouse and lef" in, cinema as made 0or $and reached( a much smaller S. Gehrig · T4e 82mes Bon* Series, 9Re* +4in2:7 2n* +ol* ;2r +inema < cross-section of the public. 3o e#er, these diMerent t!pes of cinema ne#erthe" less 0ormed an important part of the >est:s cultural production of %old >ar imaninaries; these flms became 4critical determinantNsO of the %old >ar5I not simpl! 4adEunctNsO to diplomacy and militar! afairs5, but a sinnifcant 0actor that 4shaped the meanin, and nature of the conBict 0or millions of people 0rom be" ninnin, to end5 $Sha and Dounnblood &'1', 6() >estern cinema anticipated and directl! reBected the rise of the 9;% in %old >ar politics. ?n turn, imanes of Maoist %hina depicted in >estern cinema impacted and shaped the cultural construction of the %old >ar 0or >estern audiences. Throunh this process, imanes of %hina mer,ed ith older >estern imaninaries of the -ar East into transcultural imaninaries $see 3erren, ;Pesch, Sibille &'1&() ?n the studio flms of the 19C's, <uropean or American actors usu" all! pla!ed 4red"%hinese5) Fistinctions bet een %hinese, Japanese, 1orean, or Ki" etnamese lannuanes, costumes, and objects used in these flms ere seldom made. This chan,ed ith the beninnin, of the %ultural ;e#olution that spar=ed intense le8" in, interest in Maoism as a ne source of political lenitimation $+ehri, &'11I +ehrin, Mittler, >emheuer &''GI >olin &'1'I %onner! &''GI <l" baum &''&, 41"CGI %ook &'14b() >ith the rise of the 9;% in orld politics, %hinese themes ere more accuratel! depicted than in the 19C's.