James Bond takes flak over 'cynical’ funeral scenes

Quote :

When Sam Mendes was appointed as the director of the next James Bond film, Skyfall, it was said that the Oscar winner would give the 50-year-old franchise an intelligent new depth.

His efforts to bring a contemporary edge to the 23rd Bond film by including scenes apparently inspired by the military funeral repatriations that passed through Royal Wootton Bassett have, however, caused concern.

The scenes, which feature the bodies of eight servicemen killed overseas being repatriated and driven in a funeral cortege past hundreds of mourners lining the streets, worry the Royal British Legion.

“The last thing we want is a glitzy film," says its Royal Wootton Bassett spokesman. “Attending the repatriations started as a pure and simple tribute. How are the mothers and fathers of the fallen soldiers going to feel when they see this on the big screen? It is cashing in on people’s grief and is just cynical.”

James Gray, the MP whose North Wiltshire constituency includes Royal Wootton Bassett, says the scenes must be inspired by the town.

"Prior to the Iraq war, soldiers were buried in the countries where they fell,” he says. “When the repatriations started passing through Wootton Bassett is when great crowds began to attend.”

Roger Smith, a funeral director brought in to take part in the scenes, tells Mandrake that he was shocked by the film makers’ ignorance.

“The annoying thing was that the directors didn’t seem aware of the protocol for English funerals,” he says. “They wanted to do a Wootton Bassett-type scene, but had no master of ceremonies in front of the cortege to give the right speed. It was a real shame, a missed opportunity.”

The Bournemouth funeral director drove his firm’s Daimler hearse outside the Old Royal Naval College, in Greenwich, where the scenes were filmed.

“There were eight hearses and two limousines,” Smith says. “Daimlers are getting rarer, so they had to scour the country. All 10 of us had to try to keep the gap right as we drove past Judi Dench and about 400 extras.”

However, Gray says: “If this scene in the film reminds people of Wootton Bassett, then that can only be a good thing.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9029869/James-Bond-takes-flak-over-cynical-funeral-scenes.html

Is filming a fictional military funeral for a movie really disrespectful in and of itself?

We'd have to watch this scene in context. Hopefully no political preaching will be slipped in.

Ironically, the funeral director is being unprofessional in accusing his clients of being unprofessional. Surely he recognises that this is a film, and therefore some creative licence is needed? He cites a lack of a master of ceremonies as ignorance on the film-makers' part, but what if the scene does not require a master of ceremonies? What if the scene is simply Judi Dench watching the last few cars leave the funeral service, and we never see the head of the queue? If that is the case, why should production spend time and money getting a master of ceremonies together when they will no be seen on-screen and will not influence the scene?

Probably Eon using every trick to keep the press talking Bond 23, a bit of controversy here and there isn't nescessarily a bad thing.

CJB wrote:

We'd have to watch this scene in context. Hopefully no political preaching will be slipped in.

Of course there's going to be political preaching in the film. Pastor Daniel Craig-Broccoli will be officiating:

who cares!!

we want to know about the Sex Scenes!!

We want a couple of gratuitous sex scenes a la American Beauty!!

Remember Mena and Thora?

That's the j7wild I know.

j7wild wrote:

we want to know about the Sex Scenes!!

In the words of Vesper, who is this "we" that you are talking about? you want to know about the sex scenes. Mostly because that's the only thing you're capable of thinking about.

The rest of us may have varying degrees of interest in any sex scenes, but I don't think they're the priority for anyone else but you. It largely comes down to individual taste.

well, Mendes says he wants to make Bond 23 more Intelligent

so let's have some intelligent sex scenes

And how, exactly, do you have an intelligent sex scene? Should there be some kind of radio game show on in the background when Bond and Severine get stuck into one another? I can see it now - the host asks for the contestant to name the capital of Angola, and Severine says "It's ... it's ... it's LUANDA!".

Is that what you mean by an intelligent sex scene?

If memory serves, the only scene of Bond and his leading lady actually fully 'at it' in the entire series is in DAD (with Jinx in Cuba) ... somehow I doubt Skyfall will change that.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

If memory serves, the only scene of Bond and his leading lady actually fully 'at it' in the entire series is in DAD (with Jinx in Cuba) ... somehow I doubt Skyfall will change that.

DaD certainly gave us an excellent lesson in how NOT to be sexy what with Bond's bizarre gurning and the celebratory meal of partly masticated fruit being regugitated by the girl into Bonds mouth like he was some ravenous baby starling!

This kind of reeks of the thought-of-as-distasteful cashing in on reality complaint about CR with mi6 agent shooting down somebody on-camera, which I recall was parroting some real-life incident with a [uk?] citizen killed by some agent. Think there was a lawsuit over it as well.

Just Bond robbing stuff from other places again. Par for the course with the current tits at the helm.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

And how, exactly, do you have an intelligent sex scene? Should there be some kind of radio game show on in the background when Bond and Severine get stuck into one another? I can see it now - the host asks for the contestant to name the capital of Angola, and Severine says "It's ... it's ... it's LUANDA!".

Is that what you mean by an intelligent sex scene?

I doubt, since that intel has nothing to do with sex.

An intelligent sex scene would encompass something enthralling and sensual...not something brief, undetailed and :sleep:

Methinks Mr.Monkeys watches Jeopardy while wanking :face:

j7wild wrote:

well, Mendes says he wants to make Bond 23 more Intelligent

so let's have some intelligent sex scenes

Classic.

FACT: j7 would write a better Bond film than the deluded plonkers we're actually stuck with.

Lazenby. wrote:

FACT: j7 would write a better Bond film than the deluded plonkers we're actually stuck with.

The whole movie would be just the nude girls title sequence.

Still a better film than QOS.