James Bond, Russia, and the Cold War Part 3

From the very beginning the James Bond movies had minimized the degree Russia and Russians were a threat. In the 70’s, they went so far as making 007 cooperate with a Russian agent. The 80’s were a different era. In the early 80’s, Russia became both more present, and a more active threat. Russians also began to feature as either primary or second string villains. On the other hand, General Gogol continued to be positively portrayed.

For Your Eyes Only

A British naval vessel sinks with an ATAC The ATAC’s important because it  allows the British submarine fleet to coordinate and communicate. Russia wants to get it. England originally sends Timothy Havlock to secure the device. When he is assassinated, Bond has to save the day.

Russia plays an antagonist part, but it’s what I would call justifiable antagonism. The USSR did not directly sink the ship. Yes, Aris Cristatos arranges for Melina’s dad to die. Yes Cristatos is working for the KGB when he does it, and he may very well have sunk the St.Georges. However…Russia’s only  guilty of doing exactly what all important players did during the cold war.  The found, nurtured, and utilized different assets in different countries. Whenever possible, England, Russia, America and others tried to stealthily undermine each other.

Cristatos is undoutably a manipulative man, who smuggled drugs, hired ruthless killers, and sold out his supposed allies out to Russia. That makes him a bad Greek, not a bad Russian. The film never shows a Russian official directly giving him a single order. This leads me to infer that everything he and the man working for him do to get the ATAC is a choice that they are directly responsible for.

Just as importantly, the ATAC would be a very valuable prize from the Russian point of view. I also remember James Bond stealing a Russian encryption machine back in From Russia With Love.

General Gogol’s return

Russia’s croaky erastz M makes his return. He goes to Greece to meet Cristatos in person and get the ATAC. This establishes him as a hands on manager, usually an admirable trait.

He is understandably disappointed when James Bond destroys the ATAC. That being said, he’d rather call it a draw than murder Bond and all of his allies. For Gogol, the cold war was business, but gentlemanly business. We’re not talking about  Conklin from The Bourne Identity here. Gogol was a professional antagonist worthy of fear and admiration.

Octopussy

Octopussy has never been a  favourite. There are however, several interesting angles to break it down from, one of which is the way the movie treats the Cold War. Russian General Orlov hatches a plan with Kamal to use his circus to smuggle a nuclear bomb into (checks wikipedia)  West Germany. The plan is to detonate the nuclear bomb at an American Air Force base. West Germany would suspect that an American nuke had gone off by accident, and the hope was that European countries would massively disarm. If they did, it would make a Soviet invasion of Central Western Europe possible.

General Orlov

Octopussy makes it clear in Orlov’s introductory speech that he is a military extremist. Orlov thinks that no matter how hot or cold your war is, you are either gaining land, or you are losing.  When his superiors reject his plan, he allies with Kamal behind their backs to accomplish his aims.

Orlov is even willing to lend Kamal genuine Russian treasures for faking and smuggling, thus lay the framework to get his bomb into Berlin. He’s ruthless, patient, and 110% committed to what he sees as necessary. In these ways, he’s a little like a Russian General Ripper from Doctor Strangelove, played completely straight.

General Gogol Part 3

Gogol is still in charge of the KGB in 1983. What’s notable is how the movie uses him as a representative of the less warlike, more pragmatic people in the KGB government. He strongly denounces Orlov’s plan as unnecessary bloodshed. Gogol suspects Orlov enough to have him further investigated.

This was Gogol’s last appearance. He was still a gentlemanly cold warrior, his aims were adjacent to Bond’s. By allowing Russians to be both heroes and have their own adgenda’s, Octopussy was probably the most nuanced take on Russia the Bond series had yet served.

The Cold War in the early 80’s

A lot had happened between The Spy Who Loved Me and the production of Octopussy.  Jimmy Carter became president of the United States. In 1976, he had said “We cannot be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of the weapons of war”.

He backed up his words with actions. The SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) II treaty was part of that. It was a pact signed by America and Russia, where both sides agreed to detailed limits of what kind of weapons both sides could build, and how many new ways they could deploy new weapons. This showed the two superpowers trying to de-escalate and live amicably.

On the other hand, the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and started a ten year war there. In response, America and several other countries boycotted the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow and the rhetoric between the two powers became more bellicose. The election of Reagan helped strengthen this.

When polish shipworkers struck and formed the Solidarity Union, the USSR declared martial law to crush them. With all of these taken together, it’s not surprising that the Bond series was more willing to portray Russia as a threat.

We’ll be covering the end of the 80’s in another article. As always. thank you for reading.