Vesper's Portrayal

I recall many had issues with the way Vesper was portrayed in CR, or just an issue with the actress. What irked you about Vesper in the film version?

She should've been far more mysterious. Bond films have never had a really mysterious woman before, have they? Unless you equate mystery with lack of character development.

Tracey was mysterious, a sort of an enigma that Bond never solved.

The problem with Vesper is that a) her characterisation was inconsistent. She goes from being a spoilt little bitch to a lovestruck schoolgirl, with no real development in between. We're told stuff about their relationship through the lame dialogue, but rarely ever shown. Bond tells us he loves her, but I don't believe it for one second. There's no chemistry between the two either, only a series of smart arse two and fros.

Vesper should have been more like Kim Novak in VERTIGO. Distant and dreamlike, like an illusion. Someone who's hiding something from the poor sod who falls for her.

b) Eva Greene's a piss poor actress. Lovely jugs fo sho, but the girl should have been dubbed by Miriam Margolyes..

I can't really put my finger on my problems with it... Maybe I just need to reread the novel.

There was something lacking in her overall charm, I think....

That's not to see I don't think Eva Green has some amount of charm, it just wasn't what I expected, I suppose.

She just didn't strike me as the woman Bond would truly fall for. Unlike Tracy, as Sharky mentioned. That I believed.

Sharky wrote:

She goes from being a spoilt little bitch to a lovestruck schoolgirl, with no real development in between.

Bingo.

Never thought the romance between her and blondie was believable at all. Green was about as interesting as sawdust. Not to mention her terrible accent. Basically a wasted opportunity to bring a really interesting character to life.

What made Vesper an interesting character?

Sharky wrote:

Tracey was mysterious, a sort of an enigma that Bond never solved.

The problem with Vesper is that a) her characterisation was inconsistent. She goes from being a spoilt little bitch to a lovestruck schoolgirl, with no real development in between. We're told stuff about their relationship through the lame dialogue, but rarely ever shown. Bond tells us he loves her, but I don't believe it for one second. There's no chemistry between the two either, only a series of smart arse two and fros.

Vesper should have been more like Kim Novak in VERTIGO. Distant and dreamlike, like an illusion. Someone who's hiding something from the poor sod who falls for her.

b) Eva Greene's a piss poor actress. Lovely jugs fo sho, but the girl should have been dubbed by Miriam Margolyes..

I think that about sums it up, she nestles very close to the bottom of my Fave Bond girl list.

She did not convince a James Bond tragical love, Tracy was much more convincing in OHMSS. I am not sure if Eva Green did get the right material to shine as the tragical Vesper. The sinking house scene was indeed the last nail in the coffin of her performance as Vesper. While she is a decent actress the writers of CR failed her thoroughly in given her a very bad tale. They should have stuck closer to the Fleming character instead of going for an "equal" to 007.

Bond and Vesper is one of the flaws of the movie who not realy be answerd for me, als Daniel Craig and Eva Green have flaws with promotion the movie.
The remourd delete scene about them in the sea should have been in the movie. Never believed Bond be in love on her. Atleast Brosnan his Bond be from the start clear he yusing Elektra too and he feels something. In specialy he showing this at the end. The only moment that i finaly see Bond starting feelings (not in specialy for Vesper) be in QOS, because he faild again to save her.

MBalje wrote:

The only moment that i finaly see Bond starting feelings (not in specialy for Vesper) be in QOS, because he faild again to save her.

I think the distinction here is that the emotive stuff in QoS is slightly more performance based, in CR we are simply told what the sentiment is periodically without any real consistency or continuity to the events/behaviour around it.

saint mark wrote:

She did not convince a James Bond tragical love, Tracy was much more convincing in OHMSS. I am not sure if Eva Green did get the right material to shine as the tragical Vesper. The sinking house scene was indeed the last nail in the coffin of her performance as Vesper. While she is a decent actress the writers of CR failed her thoroughly in given her a very bad tale. They should have stuck closer to the Fleming character instead of going for an "equal" to 007.

Tracy was much more convincing, but I still cant figure out exactly why. If CR is a reboot of the franchise, Versper is certainly a reboot of the Tracy character and storyline. Vesper was fine as a generic Bond girl, but I didnt buy the tragic Bond love interest part of her character.

I think one of the main problems is that the love story was at odds with the rest of the movie. This was a fast paced, action filled restart of the franchise with a new actor playing Bond as a quieter and tougher and less refined Bond. Trying to also show him as this compassionate man in between scenes of him fighting African warlords with machetes and making comments about how he loves married women was too much for one movie's worth of intended character development.

The movie shoots itself in the foot at every turn - it's not exclusive to the writing of Vesper.

I don't think they should have made Vesper mysterious cause then you would have seen the twist coming more, or at least I think so. I already knew the surprise with her beforehand, but I think if she were made mysterious, it would have had unfamiliar viewers being able to predict her more.

Makeshift Python wrote:

What made Vesper an interesting character?

In the novel, Vesper is unknowable hence Fleming's now-notorious rape line. In the film, she's just some goth tart.

I actually think Eva Green would take that characterization as a compliment.

Hey, goth tarts are some of my favourite people. Just not right for Vesper.

She could've done with some red streaks in her hair and a spike-studded leather bracelet.

Christ, I miss the noughties.

The film character is not Feming's creation but merely a hodgepodge of plot advancement, the figure of the necessary girl character and suddenly in the last two reels revealed to be the motivator behind the entire denouement with little to no setup.

I love Green but feel that in US films she is given very little to do particularly in major releases. She would have been fine had they just...had Fleming's character as written. Vesper is an odd and enchanting mixture of professional and civilian-or fear and excitement that paired her with the not quite fully formed Bond extraordinarily well. This was perhaps the first instance of the "bird with a wing down" Fleming wrote of and all of the major book relationships were with similarly flawed, wounded or striking figures.
She looks the part spectacularly (stunning as always!) and it should have been great. But even the wardrobe didn't seem up to par whatsoever. Even when in the theater I thought the purple dress from the main gaming sequence and all the promo photos just looked off. Bond films are known for their great female wardrobes so for that to be so offputting was disconcerting.

As I understand it, Green was cast after filming was well underway. Can anyone recall who the other candidates were?

Erica Ambler wrote:

As I understand it, Green was cast after filming was well underway. Can anyone recall who the other candidates were?

Diana Riggs' kid. Her name escaped me until I googled it. Rachael Sterling. There were also some nonsense rumors about Angelina Jolie that I never believed.

Sterling was sick at the audition, though I don't think she would have been any better than Green. Interestingly, newspaper reports at the time reported Rose Byrne as winning the role. Michelle Ryan, below, didn't get beyond the initial round. Obviously Eon casting had decided how Lynd should look as there is a superficial resemblance between all four women.

Catherine Zeta Jones should have been Vesper, though not wasted on the 06 version opposite Cregg.

I can't see Stirling in the role. She'd be more suited to Moneypenny. Rose Byrne would have been interesting, actually.

Rose Byrne does sound like an interesting candidate.