We kick off the first Super Psycho Saturday with a really cool super villain, by far the coolest James Band villain ever (with maybe honorable mention going to Goldfinger.
Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!
(Cue maniacal laugh)
Raoul Silva is masterfully portrayed by Javier Bardem.
Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!
(Cue maniacal laugh)
Raoul Silva is masterfully portrayed by Javier Bardem.
Not only is Skyfall one of the most successful Bond films, it was the second highest grossing film of 2012, and it is (currently) the eight highest grossing film I history. I’m assuming you’ve seen it. You can Google the details, but we’re here to talk about our antagonist…Mr. Silva.
I always tell my students they have to remember one thing about villains: The Villain is the hero of his/her own story. He sees the things he does as necessary to reach whatever goal is driving him. A good villain definitely has a goal...but a great villain also has a plan! That’s one of the characteristics that makes Raoul Silva such a badass Super villain. He’s always three or four steps ahead of Bond and MI6. Just when they think they got him, they realize too late that he wanted to be ‘got.’ And by the time they realize that, Silva has pulled another puppet string, and they’re dancing to his psychotic tune again. He’s a remorseless master manipulator.
Another touch that adds weight to Silva’s characterization is his motivation for his actions. It’s not a lack of empathy; he’s on a mission of revenge. Once the audience buys into that…he becomes a kind of fallen hero. He’s got his own lair…albeit a decrepit one. He’s intelligent. He’s charming in an effete sort of way. And he’s every bit the menace he needs to be. He succeeds because he’s the perfect foil for our hero. We know all this from his entrance (over an hour into the movie).
Another touch that adds weight to Silva’s characterization is his motivation for his actions. It’s not a lack of empathy; he’s on a mission of revenge. Once the audience buys into that…he becomes a kind of fallen hero. He’s got his own lair…albeit a decrepit one. He’s intelligent. He’s charming in an effete sort of way. And he’s every bit the menace he needs to be. He succeeds because he’s the perfect foil for our hero. We know all this from his entrance (over an hour into the movie).
Bardem’s entrance and our first introduction to him is a cinematic smorgasbord. Let’s begin with a little mise-en-scène, shall we? Bond (Daniel Craig) is tied to a chair, hands behind his back. Fans may recall the last time Bond was tied to a chair he was being mercilessly tortured by Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (one of the many Bond books I read in my youth. And let me tell you, that torture scene left me scared for life). But here Bond is cool, almost expectant. He’s dead center in a large room full of computer servers that look like something out of Frankenstein’s lab. Oh, there’s light in the room, but it’s main goal is to add shadow rather than illuminate. It’s a bare and dusty and sterile environment. If this is the womb where our villain is about to be given birth…it’s a woebegone, barren one.
The scene established, cut to Bond taking it all in when we hear a loud ‘click’ and Bond’s focus becomes razor sharp, looking straight ahead. Cut back to the wide shot of the room where we see across the distance an elevator coming down. It’s all very Godlike-being-descending-to-walk-among-the-masses kind of thing. Whoever Bond’s host is, he’s no slouch at creating effect.
The scene established, cut to Bond taking it all in when we hear a loud ‘click’ and Bond’s focus becomes razor sharp, looking straight ahead. Cut back to the wide shot of the room where we see across the distance an elevator coming down. It’s all very Godlike-being-descending-to-walk-among-the-masses kind of thing. Whoever Bond’s host is, he’s no slouch at creating effect.
The clanking sound of the elevator stopping coincides with another cut to Bond’s face. There’s a hint of a smirk. He obviously recognizes these cheap theatrics for what they are. He’s been here before.
They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. This, I feel, is what makes Raoul Silva so memorable. He doesn’t come out chewing the scenery or even all pissed off like we expect a super villain to be. His first words are, “Hello, James. Welcome. Do you like the island?” Then he gives a slight laugh, almost to himself. Silva recognizes the irony of the question almost as he asks it.
Then in a continuous longshot, Silva steps out of the elevator casually spilling a story about his grandmother killing rats and we’re like, “WTF?” This guy continues to talk nonchalantly as he glides slowly closer and closer. He’s dressed well; he’s wearing a jacket. He has blond hair. Okay. But as his story continues he comes closer and closer until he’s literally right in our face on a line about eating rats. The effect of the one long shot is to create tension, and that it does. The audience is not allowed an edit to release their focus. This may not seem like much, but it builds in the mind until we almost can't take it. Imagine not being able to blink for over a minute.
Ah, metaphor. My old friend. “The Two Survivors” story has a double meaning. How sophisticated, how intellectual Silva comes across. We realize the Two Survivors he’s referring to are Bond and himself that M has created. They have become two rats trying to destroy each other.
Probably the best walking villain entrance since Darth Vader emerged through smoke or the Joker walking out shooting in Batman: The Phantom Mask.
They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. This, I feel, is what makes Raoul Silva so memorable. He doesn’t come out chewing the scenery or even all pissed off like we expect a super villain to be. His first words are, “Hello, James. Welcome. Do you like the island?” Then he gives a slight laugh, almost to himself. Silva recognizes the irony of the question almost as he asks it.
Then in a continuous longshot, Silva steps out of the elevator casually spilling a story about his grandmother killing rats and we’re like, “WTF?” This guy continues to talk nonchalantly as he glides slowly closer and closer. He’s dressed well; he’s wearing a jacket. He has blond hair. Okay. But as his story continues he comes closer and closer until he’s literally right in our face on a line about eating rats. The effect of the one long shot is to create tension, and that it does. The audience is not allowed an edit to release their focus. This may not seem like much, but it builds in the mind until we almost can't take it. Imagine not being able to blink for over a minute.
Ah, metaphor. My old friend. “The Two Survivors” story has a double meaning. How sophisticated, how intellectual Silva comes across. We realize the Two Survivors he’s referring to are Bond and himself that M has created. They have become two rats trying to destroy each other.
Probably the best walking villain entrance since Darth Vader emerged through smoke or the Joker walking out shooting in Batman: The Phantom Mask.
What follows in the scene is a tour de force of tension building by two masters of their craft. The homoerotic sequence meant to disarm Bond is played perfectly by Bardem, only to be countered by Craig's responding in kind, tossing the proverbial ball back into his court. Once Bond calls Silva’s bluff, the game is over and it’s back to business and we, the viewers, are left feeling like we’ve just witnessed either a mating ritual gone horribly awry or two master spies quietly battling for the upper hand. It’s just a joy to watch and it makes us go form loving to hate the bad guy to hating that we have to hate him.
I could gush on and on, but suffice it to say there’s one more imperative scene that the audience needs. We kind of groove on liking Silva, even root for him on some levels. But how do we get the audience to stop empathizing with him or see his quest for revenge as justified (even though it may very well be)? The scene is when Silva removes his teeth showing M graphically how much pain she has caused him. It both justifies in our minds his goal, but does something unexpected (or completely expected from the storyteller’s point of view). His face seems to melt into an unrecognizable horror. We have been programed by fairytales to red ugly as bad. It’s a code so engrained in us that its part of the narrative process (think about Professor Snape from the Harry Potter series). The repulsion of Silva’s appearance swings us back to Bond’s side. We literally see him for the monster that he is. He is no longer our fallen hero seeking justice. He is a manipulative monster who is quite capable of bringing down our world with a single mouse click. And that, ladies and gents…is truly frightening.
The rest is all fun and plot resolution. My hat is off to Mr. Bardem for his excellent characterization of Silva. The part could have easily become a caricature in the hands of a lessor actor. For the remainder of this project, I will hold Bardem’s Raoul Silva up as our template for the movie psycho.
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