Q and A with 'A Close Look At A View to a Kill' author Andrew McNess

As a companion to our competition thread [clicky], we will be posting a Q&A with the author himself about his AVTAK analysis and his wider James Bond fandom. Check back regularly for this. We will then open up the floor for him to answer questions from the good folk at Bond and Beyond, so feel free to post any questions now you may have for an authority on AVTAK.

My questions would be:

How does Stacey compare to other Bond girls and is she unduly criticised? Asking as an unashamed Stacey fan.

How well do you think GoldenEye used and developed the threat of the electromagnetic pulse as outlined in AVTAK's mission briefing scene?

Here's part 1 of our exclusive Q/A with A Close Look At A View To A Kill author Andrew McNess, conducted by Bond and Beyond. A few more questions to come, and Andrew himself will drop by to answer any questions from members, also!

Only a couple of days left to get your entries in for the competition. For details and to enter, click here

Andrew McNess wrote:

Let’s get a couple of the obligatory questions out of the way. Favourite Bond?
Oddly, perhaps, I have favourite performances from Bond actors: love Pierce in Die Another Day, Roger in AVTAK, Sean in Never Say Never Again. It's that effortless quality ... which I imagine is quite a challenge to achieve.

Favourite film? How could I not say A View to a Kill? Licence to Kill is hovering, though. As is Dr. No.

Favourite Bond girl? Berenice Marlowe. Great "spooked" performance.

Favourite villain? Franz Sanchez

Favourite henchman/woman? May Day

What was the first James Bond film that you watched? Thunderball... on TV. I think The Man With The Golden Gun was televised the week later.

What do you recall about watching AVTAK for the first time?
I remember enjoying it, but it wasn't quite what I expected. It had a dramatic heft to it that I wasn't anticipating. In terms of moments that particularly resonated: the airship floating over San Francisco Bay, May Day lifting the agent over her head, the expression on Bond's face as May Day takes control in bed, Zorin breaking into laughter as he is machine gunning his workforce. I remember overhearing people in the foyer afterwards saying "Well, that Zorin was an awful man." That was interesting; usually I'd expect to hear "Wasn't that stunt amazing!"

What made you look at AVTAK in depth?
I felt the film contained a lot of interesting details and it was the Bond film that had me writing notes afterward. It evolved quite naturally from there.

You mention in the book that one of AVTAK’s impressions is that an ‘ominous, almost pessimistic tone had eventually overtaken the playful, escapist one. Could you elaborate on how this idea manifests in the film?
In its broadest sense, we have a Bond film which starts with California Girls accompanying a section of action, and in its concluding passages has the super-villain murdering his workforce. Primarily, though, I think the idea manifests through Zorin, a super-villain who is not of the safely theatrical type. He's fun, but scary, too, a dead-eyed void of a man. He views the world as his plaything. I think that ultimately the essence of that psychosis colours the film. Don't get me wrong, the film is escapism through and through, but the film has a surprising edge.

You’ve identified ‘family’/‘domesticity’ as being a recurrent theme in AVTAK. Why do you think it was necessary for the filmmakers to explore this in the film?
In a formula piece - a genre film - I think filmmakers typically want to add some interesting touches and flavours. They want to add something a bit offbeat or unexpected, without straying too far from audience expectations, either. I think there are interesting illusions to family and domesticity. I don't think they are overt. They're subtle, on the whole. I speculate that Moore's incipient retirement, the sense of a spy reaching his end, influenced some of these touches. But there's also a sense of family with the villains; Mortner as Zorin's de facto father, crying out for his son as he realises the inevitability of Zorin's demise, being a more vivid example. Integral to the narrative of the AVTAK villains is a monumental betrayal in the final act, and I wonder if once that plot point was settled upon by the creative team, the illusions to familial-type connections between the villains developed naturally.

According to The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, communism in Soviet Russia alone had claimed approximately 65 million lives by the mid 1960s. A question posed in A Close Look At A View to a Kill refers to whether Zorin personifies the villainy in the ‘enough is never enough’ version of capitalism, and whether that is the true enemy of the modern world. With a growing re-emergence of Marxist thought, could you expand on your take on the capitalist v communist debate?  
I felt the film was evoking issues the Western world was struggling with: amassing of wealth, greed, the individual vs the collective, and, within that latter point, the individualist's surreptitious exploitation of collective ideologies. And I think the world continues to struggle with what it means to be both an individual and part of a wider collective.

What do you like most about AVTAK?
I think it's moment where the airship is sailing over San Francisco Bay, with Bond clutching the mooring rope, Zorin anticipating his doom, and John's Barry music giving us a dramatic rendition of the title theme.

If you could change one thing about AVTAK, what would it be?
Haha. That's a tricky one. I wouldn't know if I was wanting to change something for myself or to appease others. There are things I don't want to change so much as I would like to see alternate versions. I'd be interested to see Stacey Sutton played by Priscilla Presley. Or see Zorin essayed by David Bowie.

A version of AVTAK without Roberts' Stacey is like a version of Goldfinger without Auric in my eyes. Can't be done.

Interesting read! Eclectic answers for the first couple of questions, which is refreshing to read. Good to see more love for both Brosnan and Moore in their last films (isn't that right, MP?  ).

The idea of domesticity/family never really quite registered until I read the book but it's an intriguing observation. I suppose this extends to Stacey as well, as someone who is deprived of a furnished home and her rightful inheritance, which is used as a driving force. I feel if it was a conscious thematic exploration perhaps they could have gone deeper in the overall film; I'd wager Stacey personifies this more than any other character, really. Perhaps AVTAK should have been the film that incorporated Bond's childhood home.

Fascinating Q&A from the off. Good to see some love for Sanchez and even May Day. Impressive answers beyond that. Feels refreshing to see a film like VTAK discussed so intellectually.

Hilly wrote:

Feels refreshing to see a film like VTAK discussed so intellectually.

Right! Good to see some discussion around the script and its themes rather than 'Moore's too old' and 'Stacey screams too much.'

Part 2 of the Q&A with 'A Close Look At A View To A Kill' author Andrew McNess:

Andrew McNess wrote:

Your interpretation of the Bond/Zorin dynamic identifies a crucial aspect of Bond post-Cold War: how can James Bond still remain relevant. In your opinion, how successfully has Eon kept 007 up with the times post-AVTAK? Is the essence of James Bond still there in the 21st century?
I think that with the cooling of the Cold War, there has needed to be much more of a play on Bond as "fish out of water", a bit out of his time, but of course by the end of each film, Bond has proven himself invaluable. In a way, the filmmakers have rather cannily used the ongoing commentary on Bond's relevance as an undercurrent in the films.

I think there's been a lot of rebranding of filmic Bond, but the foundations - the self-effacing wit, the travelogue, the oft-majestic music,  the action - remain pretty consistent. I think there is an essence that is threaded through the film series. That keeps me coming back.

One of the main criticisms of AVTAK, as you reference, is its overly formulaic plot. Is there a valid argument for Bond films sticking with a tried and tested formula?
I think in AVTAK's case, it was showcasing Moore in his seventh go around in the Bond role and it seemed there was a keenness, if not an impatience, in critical and audience circles, to see what a new guy could do, what new qualities he could bring to the tried and tested formula. I can't help but wonder what the critical reception to AVTAK's plot would have been been had, say, the film marked Timothy Dalton's debut. For instance, I suspect sharing a wine with Stacey and tucking her in for bed would have been deemed rather new and fresh. Zorin's betrayal of his workforce, meanwhile, would have been cited as a decisive introduction to a new, tougher element.

If you look at a series follow-up like EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, which is, tonally and content-wise, such a leap away from the elements that marked THE EXORCIST, the strong suggestion there is you shouldn't leap too far from the tree. At the same time, while I like AVTAK for its subtle play on the Bond formula, given it was yet another Moore film, it perhaps needed to be more overt - obvious even - in its variations to capture the esteem of a greater number of critics, if not audience members.

I think there are valid reasons to stick with the tried and tested, but equally you seem to need producers who keep a close watch on audience and critical response, and if a shake up seems necessary, they are onto it, if not for the next film, then certainly the one after it. I think we have that level of responsiveness with the Bond producers.

At the time of AVTAK's release, there were murmurings that Bond was reaching his end. Now, we well know the series has adjusted, endured, adjusted again and endured, and so on, so we can relax and just enjoy AVTAK for what it is. And I think the film enriches the Moore era.

And for the gamers out there: what did you think of Willem Dafoe playing Max Zorin’s nephew in the James Bond video game Everything or Nothing?
I haven't delved into the game much, but I felt Willem Dafoe was a rather inspired choice as he does seem to occupy the same offbeat, unpredictable universe as Christopher Walken.

You can purchase 'A Close Look At A View To A Kill' here:

https://www.bookdepository.com/A-Close-Look-at--A-View-to-a-Kill-/9781511620970
https://www.amazon.com/Close-Look-Andrew-McNess-2015-04-09/dp/B01K91QVHU/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2PM55N618BW73&dchild=1&keywords=a+close+look+at+a+view+to+a+kill&qid=1589496204&sprefix=A+close+look+at+%2Caps%2C644&sr=8-2

Good call on Willem Dafoe. I'd always thought he'd make a great Bond villain in the films and I think you've identified why: it is that offbeat, unpredictable nature to him which is why Walken is as effective as he is as Zorin.

Andrew McNess wrote:

I think that with the cooling of the Cold War, there has needed to be much more of a play on Bond as "fish out of water", a bit out of his time, but of course by the end of each film, Bond has proven himself invaluable. In a way, the filmmakers have rather cannily used the ongoing commentary on Bond's relevance as an undercurrent in the films.

It's getting a little bit repetitive, particularly in Craig's era. There was a case for it with GE and it answered it exceptionally: the world still does need Bond. SF used it in a more contemporary context and excelled because the writing was good. But SP, and to a lesser degree QOS, it's just lazy. It's been established Bond is indeed relevant, perhaps more now than ever (as SF highlighted), so let's move on and explore other ideas.

Yes, indeed. I feel as though between QOS and SF there must be some Craig-Bond missions that are just that, missions. No comment on relevancy required!

It was a bit of a jump from rookie Bond to 'played out' over the span of two films.

Bumping these questions from higher up in the thread.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

My questions would be:

How does Stacey compare to other Bond girls and is she unduly criticised? Asking as an unashamed Stacey fan.

How well do you think GoldenEye used and developed the threat of the electromagnetic pulse as outlined in AVTAK's mission briefing scene?