Day 02 - From Russia With Love (1963) - Film Review

Starring: Sean Connery, Pedro Armendariz, Daniela Bianchi & Lotte Lenya

Screenplay: Richard Maibaum

Directed By: Terence Young

Certificate: PG

Day 2 of James Bond December and we have 'From Russia With Love'. Since the death of their agent Dr. No, international criminal organization SPECTRE has begun training agents with the target of killing James Bond. The organization hatch a scheme to play various intelligence agencies against each other in a plan that'll allow them to obtain a valuable Lektor cryptography device while also dispatching of Bond in the process. Meanwhile under orders from MI6, Bond arrives in Istanbul to assist in the extradition of Tatiana Romanova, a soviet agent wishing to defect to the British. But these events are far from being separate and Bond is about to face threat from various sides. 

One of the first things I picked up on in 'From Russia With Love' was a shift in focus compared to the last film. In 'Dr. No', the focus was very much on Bond himself rather than his adversaries and this time it appears to somewhat be the other way round. In fact the very first scene of the film sees SPECTRE being such baddies that it's almost cartoon-y, as they train up their assassins against someone wearing a mask of Bond. It's not until about twenty minutes in that the actual Bond shows up, so that time is instead dedicated to setting up SPECTRE's henchmen. The one with the most active role and who leaves the strongest impression is easily Grant - an assassin rivalling Bond's level of training and fitness. He's a constant looming presence and the pay-off of him and Bond finally meeting onboard the train is satisfying. It's a great performance from Robert Shaw and it's deliciously tense whenever he and Connery share the screen. Kronsteen on the other hand is a bit of a nothing character making very little impact, and while there's potential with Klebb, her long absence from most of the film doesn't do her any favours. Far better than both of them... we have the first on-screen appearance of SPECTRE's big bad, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I had no idea Bond's most iconic enemy was appearing so early on but the film loves to tease us with him. Seen only stroking his iconic white cat, Blofeld's face is never actually revealed and interestingly his very first appearance is shot in a way that's strikingly similar to Bond's first appearance in the last film. He's clearly being set up for future appearances and with just a voice and the stroking of a cat, my interest is peaked.

The idyllic Jamaican setting of the last film is here exchanged for various locations around Europe and the Middle East. With this change in setting, the political subtext is noticeably ramped up, and this definitely feels like a product of its time with its allusions to the Cold War and friction between the CIA and the KGB. While I enjoyed the escapism Jamaica provided, exploiting the razor-edge tensions between nations at the time and factoring it into the film is a move I can certainly appreciate. It can become tricky to keep up with who's working with who, who's deceiving the other etc. but that's very much deliberate. That's what the Cold War was. Bond's visit to Istanbul also introduces us to the head of the MI6 station there: Ali Kerim Bay, who is another utterly charming addition to the cast. Pedro Armendariz sadly passed away during production of 'From Russia With Love', and had that not been the case I really wouldn't have minded seeing him become a recurring character just like M or Q. You get a real sense of mutual friendship and respect between him and Bond, and it makes the character's death a genuinely upsetting moment.

But there's one pretty big issue that holds 'From Russia With Love' back for me, and I'm afraid we have to talk about the early films' attitude towards women again. Gratuitous sex and male gaze was unquestionably present in the first film, but here it's almost as though it's kicked up a notch. Alarm bells began ringing when the opening titles came up literally projected onto women's bodies, and even characters I really liked such as Kerim Bay seemed to be perpetually having sex with various women. What felt really insidious to me though was the suggestion that Klebb is attracted to Tatiana and the negative connotations associated with that. She compliments her looks, puts her hand on Tatiana's knee with further questionable touching around her shoulders. Obviously it's inappropriate, but if this is what all the men in this film are doing don't start getting iffy when other women start doing the same! And what I can't ignore is the way that sex in this film doesn't just serve a male gaze but actually begins to drive the narrative. Everything else ends up feeling secondary - Bond only goes to Istanbul because he's immediately attracted to a photo of Tatiana. We even stop the plot entirely for a good five-ten minutes to linger on a belly dancer seducing Bond and then for a sexy fight between two gypsy girls. The plot feels secondary to characters like Bond or Kerim Bay having a good shag. I don't want to go moaning about issues of gender in the Bond films with every one of these reviews, because I'm just rehashing what almost everyone already knows. We all know this about the early Bond films. But when 'Dr. No' at least has some restraint, there's no excuse for letting 'From Russia With Love' start getting so indulgent. 

When I first finished watching this, I was really surprised when I went online to read up about it and saw that so many people seem to regard this as one of the best James Bond films. Really? At the time of writing, I've barely begun getting into the series but 'From Russia With Love' is... fine. It's not bad by any means, but I found this to be a more flawed film than its predecessor. It isn't just because it gets bogged down with its male gaze issues either, as if I'm honest not even the action impressed me as much as last time. I seriously doubt this will turn out to be my least favourite Bond film or anything, but nor am I prepared to call it one of the greats.

6/10

NEXT TIME - Goldfinger