2006 entered the history of the world film industry as the year of the “inauguration” of the new James Bond. Bondiana fan enthusiasts prophesied Colin Farrell, Orlando Bloom, Jude Law, and Ewan McGregor to play the role of chief spy of all time, but the director of the film, Martin Campbell, had his own thoughts. As a result, in the guise of a new agent, 007 appeared in front of the audience Daniel Craig, a 37-year-old actor, formerly known as the performer of the roles of murderers and bandits. Attracted to work on the next episode of Bond's Casino Royale, the actors were at a loss for some time from the choice of director.
The first of the Bond stories
“Casino Royale” is the very first Bond story, it was created by Jan Fleming back in 1953. Unfortunately, the rights to the film adaptation of the novel were bought by television people, and the producer of the now popular franchise Albert Broccoli was left out of work. Nevertheless, the literary source was filmed in 1967, according to the plot of the picture Bond (David Niven), already retired, revealed his ins and outs. Five directors worked on the film at once, the actors who were at the peak of popularity at the time were playing in the movie “Casino Royale”: Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Charles Cooper, Orson Welles. But, despite the star cast ensemble (Charles Bois, Deborah Kerr, Ursula Andress, William Holden and J.-P. Belmondo should be added to the listed actors), the 1967 film was not a resounding success.
Return to the source
Daniel Craig is an actor who played Bond in the movie Casino Royale (2006). He was very different from the actors who embodied this character in the previous parts of the franchise. The choice of the director outraged many fans of the movie series. But it is worth considering that in the literary original the character was almost not like his on-screen movie double, he was more humane, not so pretentious, elegant, invulnerable and unperturbed. Therefore, the choice of Daniel Craig for the role of the new super spy was accurate. This is an author’s attempt to return to the screens of the original Bond. The only deviation from the literary work in the plot is the narration of the movie "Casino Royale", the actors and roles of which were selected by one of the co-producers Barbara Broccoli, to each other, is the main character's attitude to the weaker sex. In the novel, agent 007 was positioned as a convinced chauvinist, in Martin Campbell's film the romantic line is more mundane, sacrificial and deep.
Breathe new life
Actors of the movie “Casino Royale” D. Craig, E. Green, M. Mikkelsen, D. Dench, under the strict guidance of the director, breathed new life into the franchise. Such an innovation was not the first time for Martin Campbell; he had once before presented to the audience a spectator who had returned from oblivion D. Bond in the person of Pierce Brosnan in the episode of the Golden Eye epic. And then he managed perfectly. Critics applauded enthusiastically, the viewer was delighted with the cunningly squinting Bond. After the triumph, the director “was transferred to the reserve”, but did not leave his creative activity, having removed several excellent works, for example, “Mask of Zorro” and “Vertical Limit”. The producers of Bondiana remembered him just at that critical moment, when agent 007 once again needed a new face. And then Martin Campbell revealed to the world the sixth James Bond. Craig is not only not like Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore, but is more the opposite. This difference was noted not only by the film community - critics, viewers, but also the actors of the film involved in the filming. James Bond "Casino Royale" brought to a new level - this is how he described the acting game of Craig Campbell.
Casting thorns
The super agent at Casino Royale performed by Craig dropped his starched shirt-front with a bow tie. Now 007 is stocky, without a tuxedo he looks like a boxer thanks to Craig's interesting texture. It seems that the hero "came down from heaven" and became closer to the people. Embodying the plan of the creators, the actor appeared before the viewer not a seasoned Superman, but an uncontrollable adventurer. Actors of the movie “Casino Royale”, imbued with the atmosphere of the picture, hoped for the understanding of the viewer. Worried no less than the other performer of the role of the girl Bond. French actress Eva Green, who embodied on screen Vesper Lind, the lover of agent 007, for some reason seemed to the director the most suitable option among all the applicants. The actress is familiar to the viewer from the films "Dreamers" and "Kingdom of Heaven."
Acting Ensemble
The creators for some time intentionally fanned the hype that accompanied the shooting of the project. They started the filming process without the approval of the actors for the role of the Bond girl and the main antagonist Le Schiffre. It was speculated that Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were invited to play the Bond-girl role, but they rejected the offer. The most insistent role was predicted by Thandy Newton and Rose Byrne, but Vesper was played by Eva Green. The actress has become a magnificent decoration of the spy story told by the authors in the episode "Casino Royale". Actors taking part in the filming noted the real professionalism of Judy Dench, she was incredibly good in the role of head of the MI-6 agency. Each appearance of the actress in the frame was a small celebration for fans of the franchise.
Chief Antagonist
The image of the main antagonist Le Schiffre, according to the writer, was written from the British occultist Eleister Crowley. The role of the main villain Le Schiffre in the movie "Casino Royale" actors, already approved by the producer, prophesied Ulrich Mattes. But the image of the villain with a melodic name was embodied on the screen by the Dane Mads Mikkelsen. He gave the Bondinians another negative hero - a charming villain, whose highlight was bleeding eyes - dysfunction of the lacrimal glands. Mikkelsen played the role of the villain who financed the terrorists. His character is cunning, brutal and uncompromising.