Our creative writing student Abbigail Mulleavy shares her experience of a recent special screening of Casino Royale at the Regent Street Cinema. Abbigail is a third-year student studying English and Creative Writing. She is an aspiring novelist who enjoys reading and crocheting in her free time.
The special screening took place two days after Global James Bond Day, and was preceded by a discussion – Can Bond be Forever – of why Casino Royale continues to be such an impactful film by a group of superfans, including Charlie Higson (author of five Young Bond novels and of the recent On His Majesty’s Secret Service), David Lowbridge-Ellis (creator of the Licence to Queer project), and our own Dr Monica Germana, a Reader in the School of Humanities and Course Leader for the MA Creative Writing: Writing the City.
Monica’s book 2019 book Bond Girls: Body, Fashion and Gender (runner-up in the Emily Toth Award for Best Single Work in Women’s Studies) explores the critical intersections of fashion and gender in relation to the treatment of Bond Girls in Fleming’s novels and their cinematic adaptations (you can also read Monica’s top 5 Sean Connery-as-Bond films here: https://theconversation.com/sean-connery-his-five-best-bond-movies-rated-149240).
“James bond. Casino Royale. Free wine. You in?” I texted my roommate about three minutes after Monica’s email reached my inbox. Shewon, lover of anything Daniel Craig (especially but not limited to the Bond series), responded immediately with a “Hell yes!” As university students with empty wallets it’s not surprising that we don’t go out often to luxurious events. So, we had to make a show out of watching a Bond movie in the cinema for the first time; we exchanged our trainers for heeled black boots and wore our smart trousers. The Regent Street Cinema is exactly where I’d want to watch Casino Royale, any other cinema and we’d be overdressed and anxious about carrying an actual glass of wine.
With full drinks and a bag of popcorn, we were excited to hear what the panellists had to say but didn’t expect to walk away with a new perspective on one of our favourite movies. Through the panellists’ analysis of the books and movies, they encouraged us to look at the Bond series as a coming of age story rather than hero vs. monster. I hadn’t viewed James Bond, specifically Daniel Craig’s Bond, as developing a character through his movies but rather assumed that the quality of the movies increase with technology, and so did his personality. One panellist in particular urged the viewers to pay attention to the mirror scenes, this is where James is forced to face his true personality and seems displeased with what he sees. After watching Casino Royale I was interested to review the other films to see how James grew comfortable with who he is; specifically in Skyfall, where we get to see James be more personal and vulnerable.
The discussions ranged from panellists’ first memories about their first encounters with the Bond franchise and whether or not they’d like to see the next Bond be portrayed by an actor of colour. This debate, although quick on the stage, had Shewon and I discussing the positive effect that diverse Bond casting would have on England late into the night. Fleming’s avoidance of political underlings in his writing allows Bond to become progressive through the retellings. We both agreed that the next James Bond needs to represent a wider range of British men, and thought Riz Ahmed would be ideal.
Westminster’s Bond night surpassed both of our expectations. The panellist allowed us to have deeper discussions than the ones we’d have after rewatching the film on our living room couch; not to mention we both got a chance to gawk at the beautiful Daniel Craig on the big screen. Shirtless.
