Why James Bond's next era should return to the Cold War
James Bond is an icon of the Cold War – we should see him back there...
How many more times can we have a Bond film where we have it hammered home to us just how much of a relic its protagonist is?
In case you didn’t know, James Bond is a "relic from the Cold War", something we’ve had spelt out in pretty much every film since Dame Judi Dench's M labelled him such in the 1995 film GoldenEye.
The character of James Bond, when he debuted on our bookshelves in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel Casino Royale, was a hero of his moment - espionage was the battleground in the Cold War and fitted in with the paranoia and international playing field of world superpowers. Joining this with British colonialism, misogyny, explicit racism, and brute force - Bond was truly a figure of the establishment.
Since the end of the Cold War, the James Bond films have explicitly addressed the now archaic leanings of Bond’s character but still played along with some of the old-fashioned tropes - including innuendo names for female characters.
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Most recently, Daniel Craig’s films attempted a complete reboot of the character for the modern age, starting out with a grittier realism that leant on other contextual fears around the character and how Bond’s colder penchant for killing was one of his few unique selling points, and actually going rogue against the system he was employed by often served a greater good.
The women became more emotionally rich and well-rounded and his relationships with them deeper, and if any were casual then it was mutually approached as such.
However, after two films about a fresh 00-agent, Bond swiftly soon became the jaded veteran agent who was treated as an artefact from a lost time once again.
The truth is that he is a spy from a bygone era now in the time of cyber espionage, drones, and recognition of systemic corruption - so the character is portrayed as an old-fashioned hero chafing on the restrictions and values of today while the films around him try to embrace the new in the present day.
The villains of the films also tried to capture some modern establishment anxieties - financial terrorism, environmental terrorism, cyber-terrorism, and anarchy.
Yet, that approach can only work for so long - as evidenced by the move towards antagonists with intensely personal connections to Bond or his loved ones.
Instead, the films should now take Bond back to the era in which he truly belongs and portray the issues of when he lived through a modern lens.
Getting to enjoy the retro styles and iconography of the 1950s and 1960s will also bring its own visceral pleasures - and likely trigger a renewed love of the era’s cultural touchstones.
However, tackling these with modern filmmaking and sensibilities could also allow a great depth to both Bond and the world he inhabits.
Of course, it could prove disheartening for some to see their hero thrust back into outdated political outlooks but perhaps this James would develop into a character with values which are not quite so archaic in his stances here, even if the world around him is portrayed as such.
'Purist' fans of the books and the lead character would likely baulk at a complete rewriting of Bond’s background - Eton-educated orphan, etc. - so why not embrace it and the privileges it has and perhaps show these issues and how they existed in reality?
The characters around Bond and those he interacts with could instead show a diverse array of backgrounds and walks of life, but in a harsher and more restrictive cultural context they could also give added depth of experiences and vision to Bond without impacting on the thrills, spills and automobiles, too. They could call out these issues in a time in which they were more obviously prevalent and draw parallels to modern-day struggles.
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This would help to keep realism alive and well too, showing the pressures of Cold War espionage without travelling too far into the realms of science-fiction as some more modern Bond films have in a bid to make him still feel like the person to protect Britain and the world from threats.
Evidently, many of the most highly praised Bond films in recent years have been the ones that embraced a slightly more grounded version of the character, with the likes of GoldenEye, Casino Royale, and Skyfall all existing a bit more in the realms of possibility but still offering blockbuster thrills.
Alternatively, it should be noted that such a change of era does not need to be a permanent change. We are used to Bonds lasting for a handful of films and with Craig’s more serialised era ending so abruptly and requiring a narrative reboot, it might be an idea for such an approach with each new iteration.
Perhaps a key possibility of venturing back in time for a period would be to also adapt and draw on the material of Ian Fleming that has also not been used to its full potential. For example, one of the most praised Bond novels, Moonraker, was never truly adapted for the screen but it does feel heavily reliant on his historical context to exist - Nazi-era villains, nuclear fears, etc.
The recent Bond novels by author Anthony Horowitz have further examined Bond in his original settings in the timeline of Fleming’s novels, further filling in the character’s backstory and approaching female characters such as Pussy Galore and Loelia Ponsonby (Bond’s secretary) with greater sensitivity and depth of character and without the inherent bigotry of Fleming’s texts when it came to issues such as race, sexuality and gender.
Perhaps these could also prove a starting point, even if not straight adaptations of these books then also to tackle issues in a similar vein to Horowitz's recently acclaimed work.
Also, in a subtler way, the franchise could still show the relevance of Bond today. As the modern Western world sees a rise in far-right extremism and increased nuclear anxieties, some of these issues feel more timeless than ever and this could address those problems without making audiences feel like they are losing escapism or having their hand held through real-world issues with heavily sign-posted analogues to contemporary problems.
Ultimately, in many ways, it would be time for Bond to go back to basics - embrace its rawest roots and tackle them head-on with a modern creative flair and renewed sensitivity and diversity of experience and thought - all while leaving us still shaken and stirred.
No Time to Die is available to stream on Prime Video, with other Bond films also available to purchase – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days.
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