End of min 24
One more syllable
At the start of minute 25 of Casino Royale we are in the middle of Bond (Daniel Craig) and M (Judi Dench) having a discussion on how Bond found out M’s first name.
Bond: I thought M was a randomly assigned letter, I had no idea it stood for –
M: Utter one more syllable and I’ll have you killed.
Only when Bond tells M that he knows Double 0’s have a short live expectancy, and that her mistakes will be short lived, does M start to climb down. She then sits down so she can talk to Bond on a human level, almost maternal level, and not as his superior. M’s name in this film is Olivia Mansfield, as later discover in Skyfall when Bond is bequeathed his Royal Doulton bulldog.
On Fire
When M picks up the newspaper and tells Bond that,
‘These bastards want your head, and I’m seriously considering feeding you to them.’
I think Judi Dench is on fire in this scene. She delivers both candor, and hostility. She oozes authority and is unflinching.
End of min 25
Foreboding
This could be a pre-cursor to what she does with Silva and the Chinese in Skyfall. When an agent works beyond his brief, M has no compunction on cutting ties. But does she mean feeding Bond to the press, or feeding Bond to the Nambutu’s?
David Zaritsky from The Bond Experience and I break down Minute 25. Check out the individual minutes, thoughts and discussion points here. Listen on iTunes or Spotify, or the player below.
Tennis Match
The whole dialogue plays out like a tennis match, back and forth and M ends with telling Bond never to break into her house again. I’m going to lean into the next minute here because I think (using the tennis metaphor) that Bond wins with a drop shot. He says, ‘Mam’ before getting into the lift, and only then does M realise that Bond has been on her laptop and left clues for the trail he is on.
Images of Judi Dench & Daniel Craig from Casino ROyale (2006) Image rights held © 2008 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Danjaq, LLC. So don’t sue yeah? That would be great. Cos every man needs a hobby.
Song
All my bags are backed.
They’re from Globetrotter.
Cos I gotta lotta dough. Don’t you know
But don’t stereotype because I drive a prototype 2006 Ford Mondeo.
Yes M is Pissed
I better run
To the ocean club
To find Demetrius
I’ll nick his car shag his bird and stab him in the heart
Solange kiss me, my place is not too far
I’ll order champagne and beluga caviar
Don’t worry the treasury will pay
And I’m leaving on a water plane
Yes James Bond he will return again
Even though he’s been blown to smithereens
Feeling sexy, walking off a water plane
So sexy you won’t want Brosnan back again
Even M said its a young mans game
