Film Dossier: Skyfall

Title Card:

Production:

• Released: 2012
• Director: Sam Mendes
• Screenplay: John Logan
• Music: Thomas Newman

Theme Song:

• “Skyfall” performed by Adele

Villain:

• Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem)

Evil Plot:

Silva, a former agent stationed in Hong Kong, exacts revenge on M and MI6 by first stealing and releasing a list of operatives. Then, his focus turns to murdering M.

Locations:

• London
• Turkey
• Shanghai
• Macau

Bond Girl:

• Severine (Berenice Marlohe)

Supporting Cast:

• M (Judi Dench)
• Mallory (Ralph Fiennes)
• Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris)
• Q (Ben Whishaw)
• Tanner (Rory Kinnear)
• Patrice (Ola Rapace)
• Kincade (Albert Finney)

Notable Moments:

• In the pre-title sequence, Bond chases Patrice on motorcycle through the Grand Bazaar.
• After living in hiding in Turkey, Bond sneaks into M’s apartment to inform her that he’s ready to be back on the job–though she she had warned him in Casino Royale to never break into her home again.
• Bond must demonstrate his fitness for duty through a number of physical tests, as well as a psychological examination that he quits during a word association. The doctor says “Skyfall” and Bond’s response is “Done.”
• Upon meeting Q in the National Gallery, Bond is less than impressed because of Q’s age. Bond questions his “competence.”
• Bond fights Patrice for a second time in a Shanghai sky rise.
• Bond meets Severine, Silva’s mistress, in a Macau casino, over “a drink.” Bond comments syays, “Only a certain kind of woman wears a backless dress with a Beretta 70 strapped to her thigh.”
• Bond fights one of Silva’s henchmen in a Komodo dragon pit.
• Silva lives on an abandoned island, where buildings still stand, possessions still litter the ground. He inhabited the island after scaring off the residents, by mere suggestion of danger.
• When Bond meets Silva for the first time, Silva tells him the story of how his grandmother got rid of rats by forcing them to eat each other.
• After Silva escapes his cell at MI6 headquarters, he is chased by Bond through old subway tunnels. There, Silva attempts to kill Bond: he blows a hole in the subway tracks above, causing a subway car to fall into open space, where Bond narrowly escapes.
• Silva’s attempt to execute M at a hearing is thwarted by Bond, when he shoots fire extinguishers, causing ta smokescreen.
• Bond and M hide out at Bond’s childhood home, at Skyfall, where they are hunted down by Silva and his henchmen. Bond kills Silva by throwing a knife into his back, but M dies from injuries sustained during an exchange of gunfire.

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