Melancholy in the movies

Melancholy is one of — if not the chief — characteristic of Fleming’s books. From the very first chapter of CR with Bond smoking and sitting “motionless, gazing out of the window across the dark sea” Bond’s world is bathed in melancholy whether it be the “quick melancholy” of the tropical twilight in LALD or the “melancholy whistle” of the train in FRWL echoing back to Bond and Kerim as they stand in the corridor of the Orient Express.

Obviously this reflects the man Fleming himself. He once described himself as “rather melancholic and probably slightly maniacal as well.” His friends thought much the same, too, saying he was “a natural melancholic, subject to bouts of gloom.” William Plomer in specific is quoted as saying that as the years wore on Fleming’s face “looked like the sculptured mask of melancholy.” Etc.

To me it seems the films have largely ignored this facet, though. Not entirely, and it is maybe not entirely surprising that the characteristic would seem relatively absent — Eon has always fiddled with the things which make up Fleming’s work, setting one dial to here, tuning in another to there. But I do think for how large a role in plays in the books it does seem disproportionately ignored.

The ones I can think of:

- There is Laz in OHMSS staring out the window, thinking of Tracy.

- Brosnan staring out to sea in GE

- Brosnan meditating over his drink with his Walter on the table beside him in TND. (Is Brosnan’s Bond the most melancholic film incarnation?)

- Craig drinking with Mathis and talking of Vesper in QOS.

Those seem the major ones. We can maybe add the scene in LTK where Felix tells Della that Bond was married once a long time ago as the taillights of Bond’s car fade away into the distance. Though I’m unsure about the label “melancholic” for that moment...and that’s part of the issue, I guess, is how much we can avoid talking past each other via the label “melancholic.”

Maybe part of this is that, to me, melancholic necessitates some meditative, brooding property and the films usually don’t slow down enough to generate that.

But I turn it to you. Are there other examples? Am I just missing them or is there an actual lack?

I think there are just the right amount and probably do lack the scenes if you wanted that in the character.
I don't think the directors or actors are talented enough to really pull of that kind of a character study.


wouldn't much of the Craig era be considered melancholic?

I guess that’s part of what I’m asking. To me much of the Craig era is somber, sad — but I think melancholic is something more than just sad, it’s contemplative, tranquil. There’s some elegance, maybe?

I think the difference between true melancholy and the sad/depressing aspects of the Craig film is a gulf as wide as that separating Fincher's Se7en from most slasher pics. Forster is the one guy who should have gotten that, but the thing is just too cut-happy, even at the slowest of times.

Well, I take that back; I was just thinking back to an early Martin Campbell film for HBO, CAST A DEADLY SPELL. (It's a movie that quite1 actually ran out of money on the last day of shooting, and as a result, the climax of the film was never shot, so the ending is massively compromised as a result.) Since it is a noir piece -- Horror Noir, I guess, since nearly every character except the lead played by Fred Ward engages in some form of magic as a shortcut to success -- he of course has the obligatory moping drunk flashback about Julianne Moore, a la Bogart, but to me there is more to it than that. Don't know whether to credit Campbell or Ward, but it has something that feels more genuine than merely obligatory.

I think that if Dalton actually got to play that 'nature of evil' scene in CR that feels to me like he was born to do, you'd see a melancholy air mixed with wistfulness over paths not taken.

Great thread.

Melancholy is indeed one of the literary Bond's most persistent characteristics. I suspect given film is a different medium and the Bond movies have always been mostly light in tone (until recently) it's not touched on very much.

Connery and Moore were usually happy-go-lucky and their Bonds moved at a million miles per hour, never really taking a moment to pause and reflect.

Dalton exhibited the trait somewhat, but interesting points you raise around Brosnan, Somerset. Perhaps his was the most melancholy of the Bonds, drawing on and reflecting, I daresay, his Irish roots.

Craig's Bond was an angry, superhuman brute. Not quite what I'd describe as melancholy, maybe just violently misanthropic.

Somerset wrote:

I guess that’s part of what I’m asking. To me much of the Craig era is somber, sad — but I think melancholic is something more than just sad, it’s contemplative, tranquil. There’s some elegance, maybe?

Yes,and it can be quite a beautiful feeling at the same time.  I've only felt it a few times in my life and for that reason tried to really hold onto the emotion when it did come.
it feels like you would need a Bergman to capture it

There are some examples of Bond being clearly more affected by death than usual (Kerim, Lisl, Vijay and Della, to pull 4 off the top of my head) but overall there's little 'dwelling'.

Great thread Somerset!

I think you’ve nailed the four most prominent examples of a more melancholic Bond. I agree there’s a certainly a distinction to be made about melancholy as something more elegant than the faux-gritty, emotions-on-the-sleeve sadness/anger as demonstrated in the Craig era. I mean, it’s highlighted in the beautifully named chapter, Reflections in a Double Bourbon. That said, as much as I despise the film, the moment after the stairwell fight in CR06 where Bond downs the whiskey and uses it as antiseptic I’ve always felt to be a nice character moment of melancholy. But it’s captured much more efficiently and stylistically in the moments you mentioned above.

Interesting observation in these moments of melancholy mirroring Fleming himself, for I cannot see Fleming reacting in a manner similar to Craig-Bond’s outbursts so it reaffirms how un-Bondian his 007 is. This might be a little controversial (I’m sure I’ve mentioned it in the past) but I feel Bond’s reaction to Della throwing the garter and the ensuring chat is a little on the nose for me. It’s a great bit of continuity in the series, highlighting that Dalton’s Bond lost Tracy too. But playing the problem in the scene just feels forced. He didn’t need to make her feel uncomfortable, particularly given Leiter’s ‘it was a long time ago’ and that we hadn’t seen Dalton with Tracy in a previous film. Compare that to Brosnan’s reaction to Elektra’s ‘have you ever lost a loved one’... His avoidance speaks volumes.

I’d love to see more of it in the series. What does the toll of this job have on Bond? One or two vignettes per film is enough. Maybe even including Benzedrine too. We just don’t have to dwell on it.

CJB wrote:

Dalton exhibited the trait somewhat, but interesting points you raise around Brosnan, Somerset. Perhaps his was the most melancholy of the Bonds, drawing on and reflecting, I daresay, his Irish roots.

Roger Ebert did say that Brosnan’s Bond felt more “psychologically complete” than the others. And it wasn’t something the filmmakers dwelled on. There’s certainly something in that: how can Bond’s melancholic side be explored while ensuring the equally important sense of joie de vivre?

Always been the interesting duality of the character, prone to melancholy and boredom and filling the hole by... err, filling holes ... and cigarettes, fine food, drink etc. Much like the creator.

Echoes of how Holmes would turn to drugs to relieve boredom when without a suitably taxing case to solve.

trevanian wrote:

I think that if Dalton actually got to play that 'nature of evil' scene in CR that feels to me like he was born to do, you'd see a melancholy air mixed with wistfulness over paths not taken.

Dalton’s face is certainly the most melancholic of the lot.

I was thinking about the ever-fantasized faithful CR adaptation: it’d be brilliant to invoke the melancholy of that opening chapter by having Bond return to his hotel room and just include like a minute of him staring out the window and smoking, nothing else. (I’m kind of thinking of the slowness in Lynch’s third season of Twin Peaks, just five minutes of a guy sweeping the floor). They’d never do it, but it’d do wonders for evoking the book.

CJB wrote:

Dalton exhibited the trait somewhat, but interesting points you raise around Brosnan, Somerset. Perhaps his was the most melancholy of the Bonds, drawing on and reflecting, I daresay, his Irish roots.

Yes, and the life experiences he brought to the role (not being raised by his parents for a time, losing his young wife) might’ve allowed him to make some personal connection to the character that the others didn’t have.

Sarai wrote:

Yes,and it can be quite a beautiful feeling at the same time.  I've only felt it a few times in my life and for that reason tried to really hold onto the emotion when it did come.
it feels like you would need a Bergman to capture it

I wouldn’t have thought to call it beautiful but I like that. You’ve only felt it a few times? I’ve never particularly felt like a melancholic person but I’ve felt it on and off throughout life, for sure.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

There are some examples of Bond being clearly more affected by death than usual (Kerim, Lisl, Vijay and Della, to pull 4 off the top of my head) but overall there's little 'dwelling'.    

Yeah. It’s mostly like, “Damn this one’s dead. And now for the next bit...”

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

the moment after the stairwell fight in CR06 where Bond downs the whiskey and uses it as antiseptic I’ve always felt to be a nice character moment of melancholy. But it’s captured much more efficiently and stylistically in the moments you mentioned above.

I think that’s a good one to add to the contenders list. I know there must be several more lurking.

Another possible one I was thinking about today: Bond and Melina on the terrace staring out over a slightly hazy Corfu, talking about her life and her saying she hasn’t been able to look at her father’s stuff since he was killed.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

I feel Bond’s reaction to Della throwing the garter and the ensuring chat is a little on the nose for me. It’s a great bit of continuity in the series, highlighting that Dalton’s Bond lost Tracy too. But playing the problem in the scene just feels forced. He didn’t need to make her feel uncomfortable, particularly given Leiter’s ‘it was a long time ago’ and that we hadn’t seen Dalton with Tracy in a previous film.

I agree it’s not my favorite moment. And I don’t think melancholic is what Glen was going for. But that single shot of Bond’s taillights pulling away into the dark with those words having just been said kind of evokes it.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Echoes of how Holmes would turn to drugs to relieve boredom when without a suitably taxing case to solve.  

That's true, but my name isn't Holmes...

Somerset wrote:

Yes, and the life experiences he brought to the role (not being raised by his parents for a time, losing his young wife) might’ve allowed him to make some personal connection to the character that the others didn’t have.

Good point.

Without plumbing the depths of Creggian melodrama, Bond is a fundamentally tragic character with a tragic story. He's unable to hold on to any lasting joy and must instead seek temporary pleasures, knowing full well that either an enemy operative or his hedonistic lifestyle will catch up with him.

I think Dalton and Brosnan managed to subtly convey this element of the character, but with Cregg it was badly written and handled (not surprising as many modern screenwriters have trouble writing adults who act like adults). The hamfisted navel-gazing was front and centre for five movies and nobody gave a shit by the time those cartoon ACME rockets landed on his noggin.

CJB wrote:

The hamfisted navel-gazing was front and centre for five movies and nobody gave a shit by the time those cartoon ACME rockets landed on his noggin.

Speaking of those last moments, doesn't it seem like if Babs had any of the balls she is supposed to have in order to hold the reins on the Bond films, that she'd have flown against political correctness and contrived some hokey but meaningful way for Bond to guide the rockets in, like voice and light and heat? All he has to do is stagger over, take up position, grab a pack of smokes and a lighter off a dead guard, take a puff and look up, saying 'Bond - James Bond.' (and maybe 'forgot how good these things taste.')

Bond comes full circle from his DR NO intro, and you suddenly have an actual moment instead of just a contracted and desultory result.

The failure of so many films in the last couple of decades to stick the landing, especially series films, really makes me wonder, because with so many projects controlled or manipulated via committee, how is it NOBODY hits on a good answer? I always felt this way about STAR TREK NEMESIS, which ended the TNG feature sub-franchise (and nearly the whole thing for several years.)
They had a moment at the beginning of the film when all is frivolous and light when Picard rather cheerfully tells Data to shut up. Doing a callback to that at the end, as Data saves Picard's life and sacrifices his own, would have gone a long way toward offsetting what a steaming pile the rest of the film had been. And I came up with that sitting in the theater on the first viewing, even before the credits rolled! How can these kinds of things NOT occur, especially given how everybody in the biz knows it is good (and convenient) to tie in beginnings and endings, even if it isn't fully earned..

trevanian wrote:

Speaking of those last moments, doesn't it seem like if Babs had any of the balls she is supposed to have in order to hold the reins on the Bond films, that she'd have flown against political correctness and contrived some hokey but meaningful way for Bond to guide the rockets in, like voice and light and heat? All he has to do is stagger over, take up position, grab a pack of smokes and a lighter off a dead guard, take a puff and look up, saying 'Bond - James Bond.' (and maybe 'forgot how good these things taste.')

Bond comes full circle from his DR NO intro, and you suddenly have an actual moment instead of just a contracted and desultory result.

That's certainly an improvement!

Yep. Some sort of 'People used to say these would kill me' and a little ironic chuckle after sparking up would've worked too.

Excellent topic. Generally speaking, the Craig films are the most downbeat of the series. But that may not necessarily be what you mean by melancholy, Somerset. Nevertheless, confining myself to the Craigs:

Bond and Vesper in the shower (CR)
Bond frantically attempting to resuscitate Vesper (CR)
Camille in QoS is the very definition of melancholy. Most scenes with her and Bond are tinged with melancholy, particularly the scene in which they part company.
M's death scene in SF
Kincaid describing Bond's reaction to his parents' death in SF
M staring out the window into the rain after Moneypenny says "Agent down" in SF
Bond and Severine ("I'm sorry!) being separated just before her execution in SF
Bond leaving the mortally wounded Ronson in SF's PTS, and later confirming Ronson's death with M
Sciarra's funeral in SP
Bond and Lucia's love scene in SP
The burning bits of paper (letting go of the past) sequence in NTTD
Bond abandoning Madeleine in NTTD
Bond brooding at Vesper's tomb in NTTD

Sarai wrote:

 I think there are just the right amount and probably do lack the scenes if you wanted that in the character.
I don't think the directors or actors are talented enough to really pull of that kind of a character study.


wouldn't much of the Craig era be considered melancholic?

In a word, yes.

Sarai wrote:

Somerset wrote:

I guess that’s part of what I’m asking. To me much of the Craig era is somber, sad — but I think melancholic is something more than just sad, it’s contemplative, tranquil. There’s some elegance, maybe?

Yes,and it can be quite a beautiful feeling at the same time.  I've only felt it a few times in my life and for that reason tried to really hold onto the emotion when it did come.
it feels like you would need a Bergman to capture it

You must not drink.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Sarai wrote:

Somerset wrote:

I guess that’s part of what I’m asking. To me much of the Craig era is somber, sad — but I think melancholic is something more than just sad, it’s contemplative, tranquil. There’s some elegance, maybe?

Yes,and it can be quite a beautiful feeling at the same time.  I've only felt it a few times in my life and for that reason tried to really hold onto the emotion when it did come.
it feels like you would need a Bergman to capture it

You must not drink.

I'm due for a scotch now that you mention it.

There always was an undercurrent of grounding in the original films-but since they were conceived as a different experience to the original novels they thus played differently.

It was in GE where they first made it more obvious in specific moments most notably the beach scene and Trevelyan's speeches. In the ensuing years by hitting the audience over the head with "darkness" and "complexities" people now discuss it as if it hadn't existed in the earlier films. Yet it was always there along with Bond's inner monologue if one cared to look closely enough. We may have not gotten Fleming's intensive internal Bond musings but in the lead actor's performance especially when combined with a Barry score cue it's all right there.

Early on it was done in the manner that Maibaum referred to as "pulling the balloon down". You had to ground the audience and pull them back down hard to earth by raising the stakes after a bit of fun or when you think Bond's gotten out of it. Key examples would be Kerim's death, Jill's death or Tilly's death right after the DB5 chase. (That moment in the Criterion Goldfinger commentary is where Mabaium coins the pulling the balloon down phrase.) Paula's death in TB is another but it is undercut by the quickness of the scene and that most of her scenes went out with the rest of the second act jettisoning. As you can see this became very much tied to the sacrificial lamb characters for most of the series.

In terms of Bond himself just being melancholy you have to do more introspective readings of scenes where Bond is alone and away from society in some fashion. It wasn't until OHMSS that they allowed for more genuine emotions to come to the fore and get more Fleming humanized DNA in there-but since the film was deemed a failure it quickly got swept over for years until a few flashes came through here and there.

Fleeting: Mrs. Bond mentioned in LALD eventually becomes the TSWLM masterfully woven in mention by Anya while recalling Bond's dossier. This is the precursor to the gorgeous LTK moment and the manner in which Roger changes so suddenly and so completely shows just how amazing he was. It's the first inkling of Bond's humanity outside of deadpan humor for Anya and 007 immediately reorganizes himself and reassumes the posturing for keeping her at bay while attempting to get to Kalba.

I find passages in MR very melancholy. The moments when Bond leaves Corrinne and Holly late in the night-still alone and disappearing into the night dressed in black while leaving the bed empty. Barry's cues for these scenes are some of the most hauntingly gorgeous mood pieces in the series.

AVTAK does have some bits like Fiona leaving Bond in the shower and 007 knowing the whole time that the scene is a ruse. Swan Lake playing in the background really heightens the drama of that little bit for me.


When Dalton comes in he amps everything up to 10000000000000% internally with it bubbling over externally and I just swoon. The melancholy of an assassin in the opening. The way he'll be smoking a cigarette in Q Branch when it's come to a dead end. How alone he looks when spying on Kara or watching her play. The emotional contexts of their first meeting. Being drugged. I could go on and on.

With Brozzer the melancholy and psychological aspects are there but they are played up much more in the scripts and become far too obvious as story points instead of being as intrinsic as they should be. In GE it makes sense Bond has a sort of pithiness as he's the old dinosaur still proving his worth in a world that has moved on. The whole film has a melancholy and psychological rhythm.
This disappears afterwards so that in TND some bits feel a tad forced here and there (the rushed hassle filled rewrite is to blame) but it also feels like some character growth has happened between films. This continues over into TWINE which promises a big psychologically motivated character drama but continually backs off into action movie parlance. DAD starts this way as well but deviates immediately.

Good write up there, Boot.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Excellent topic. Generally speaking, the Craig films are the most downbeat of the series. But that may not necessarily be what you mean by melancholy, Somerset. Nevertheless, confining myself to the Craigs:

Bond and Vesper in the shower (CR)
Bond frantically attempting to resuscitate Vesper (CR)
Camille in QoS is the very definition of melancholy. Most scenes with her and Bond are tinged with melancholy, particularly the scene in which they part company.
M's death scene in SF
Kincaid describing Bond's reaction to his parents' death in SF
M staring out the window into the rain after Moneypenny says "Agent down" in SF
Bond and Severine ("I'm sorry!) being separated just before her execution in SF
Bond leaving the mortally wounded Ronson in SF's PTS, and later confirming Ronson's death with M
Sciarra's funeral in SP
Bond and Lucia's love scene in SP
The burning bits of paper (letting go of the past) sequence in NTTD
Bond abandoning Madeleine in NTTD
Bond brooding at Vesper's tomb in NTTD

I was mentally sifting your list here PK as I was reading it — “OK, I can see the case for that” (Bond and Vesper in the shower, M staring out the window in SF) or “Not what I have in mind” (resuscitating Vesper, M dying) — but at the end I realized even in the ones where I’m seeing the argument, I still think there’s an absence in most of that “beautiful” feeling Sarai honed in on. The “happy to be sad” stuff, or the feeling that I’d like to stay in that moment.

The biggest thing you made me realize was that there’s more melancholy in QOS than I’d thought. I mentioned the drinking scene but I agree — Camille is a perfect conduit for the melancholy. The scene in the sinkhole but even more so (even above the drinking scene with Mathis) I think is the montage of them walking back through the desert with Arnold’s guitar playing. Of course, too, their parting scene (though it doesn’t hold a candle to the end of Fleming’s MR). And then finally that last scene with Craig and M, and his dropping the Algerian love knot in the snow.

The other one I would feel most in agreement with is the Lucia/Bond love scene in SP. I think it does hit upon that quality of feeling sad, beautiful, and pleasant.

I have still yet to see NTTD again, so will refrain from that one for now.

hegottheboot wrote:

I find passages in MR very melancholy. The moments when Bond leaves Corrinne and Holly late in the night-still alone and disappearing into the night dressed in black while leaving the bed empty. Barry's cues for these scenes are some of the most hauntingly gorgeous mood pieces in the series.

Another great shout! Yes. Even that brief moment where Holly stands on her balcony looking out into the night.

MR is already quite meditative to begin with (does it have the least dialogue per minute of film in the series?), and maybe thus more easily lends itself to crossing over into this feeling.

hegottheboot wrote:

AVTAK does have some bits like Fiona leaving Bond in the shower and 007 knowing the whole time that the scene is a ruse. Swan Lake playing in the background really heightens the drama of that little bit for me.

I am also wondering about that scene where the movie kind of draws to a pause as Bond finds Stacey asleep. Have to give that moment another watch.

A feeling of total meaninglessness in everything is often present in the emotion I am talking about.

Sarai wrote:

A feeling of total meaninglessness in everything is often present in the emotion I am talking about.

Postmodern melancholy.

'to learn what postmodernism refers to one must first understand what modernism is' ...and I closed the window lol

hope it's not on the test