#11 ‘Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond’

Movie night date – 29/05/19. Post date – 31/05/19.

I’ll begin this post by saying I don’t generally start writing these till I’ve had a good sleep and the thoughts that follow watching a movie flow into my brain and dreams as I sleep. This special edition of a review however has been something I have been thinking about recently and I thought I would type some of this at least straight away. For tonight’s single pringle special of binge watching a whole miniseries, I watched the 2014 special ‘Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond’ that was directed by Mat Whitecross.

Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond – 2014 – Mat Whitecross – 180 Mins

Where to begin…my mind is already a buzz with so many things about this mini series. Let’s start at the beginning. I remember watching this series as it ran on TV. At the time, it didn’t do much for me. If I had to guess, I’d say I wasn’t looking hard enough at it to get what I get out of it. It wasn’t until later I would have a random thought of it and look for where to get it. Took a little time; I couldn’t find it anywhere until it popped up on TradeMe as a copy the Wellington City Library once owned so…shout out to them. The mini series follows the life of Ian Fleming, the man who would go on to write the 007 James Bond novels primarily focusing on his life during World War Two. Only when I looked back at a later time, and while looking up imagery for this post did I find that it focused on the split parts of his life. The image below will show what I am referring to. It followed the personal life of his, with focus on his romantic life and undertones of his work as a writer. It follows his work with the Navy and his work in espionage. The mini series ends each episode by saying ‘Based on a true story. Some names, places, and incidents are fictitious and have been changed for dramatic effect’. Regardless of this fact, I think the mini series is amazing. Let’s dive into it.

Off the bat I will say this; after having seen Lara Pulver in the BBC ‘Sherlock’, I will watch anything with her in it. What is it about Irene Adlers that I admire? Lara Pulver and Rachel McAdams both did their roles so well as her. Regardless, both great actresses. I like Dominic Cooper too. He did a pretty good Howard Stark in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ and ‘Agent Carter’. Thought I would cover those points before getting into the cool things I liked from the mini series. Throughout the whole thing, you can see references to the Bond films. From the beginning seen set in the 50s where Lara Pulver as Ann O’Neill is swimming in a bikini and Dominic Cooper as Ian Fleming fishes around her with a spear gun. The filmography gave me such Bond vibes. At this point, I should probably mention I have watched all the Bond films once when they were marathoning them one a week on TV. Does that mean I remember them all? No…but you remember the feeling of a Bond film, if not the film then the theme song’s opening credits sequences. This scene particularly reminded me of that. On top of that, there are other references Bond films. Ann leaves a note for Ian at one point saying ‘To The Spy Who Loved Me’, another Bond title.

Where the mini series does have fictitious elements which made me sad to learn, Second Officer Monday was made up; amalgamating people who would inspire Ian Fleming into making the character Moneypenny. On the flip side of that however, Rear Admiral John Godfrey was the basis for ‘M’ in the Bond books. While I can say I’ve only ever read one Bond book (‘The Man With The Golden Gun’…solid book if memory serves. Like a lot of the books, sadly very different from the films), he definitely seems like an inspiration for ‘M’. One of the more saddening references, or rather influences for Ian Fleming’s writing of the book ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. For the uninformed, I Googled to make sure this was the same from the film to the book. So ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ is the second book of a series of Bond books known as the ‘Blofeld Trilogy’, and James Bond does in fact get married like the film, only for Blofeld to kill her shortly after the wedding. Whether it is correct or made to feel that way in the mini series, I felt Ian Fleming’s short relationship with Murial Wright and how it was so swiftly taken away during an air raid definitely gave inspiration to it. He probably did feel like he had ‘We Have All The Time In The World’…probably one of the strongest Bond theme songs. Best? In my opinion, the one from my favourite Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, but people probably prefer things like ‘Goldeneye’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Live And Let Die’, or ‘Skyfall’.

One of the surprising things that I found with Ian Fleming is the mind behind the man. I won’t tip toe around it; sex and all it entails generally follows creatives around. Is it safe to say that? In the arts at least, it is a topic you have to be comfortable with. Well, to balance it at least. The ‘realist’ Impressionist Degas and his…uh, Ballet phase is questionable. I don’t know the full story there…bit before my time, you know? Anyway, moving on from my ramble about the arts and sex. While it’s not something all the arts will cover directly, writing is one of the ones that will come to it closely. The mini series definitely shows the sexual side of Ian Fleming. Does it surprise you? Probably shouldn’t, given the womanising and man-ising reputation James Bond has gotten. What would surprise you probably would be in the picture above having Ann O’Neill’s hands bound behind her… A tamer part of Ian Flemings sexual side from the mini series it is, but the sadomasochism sides are shown. What interests me about it?…I’m still thinking about it. Maybe it’s just a surprising thing I didn’t expect to find in the 40s. Maybe when people have their dark sides shown it interests me. To each their own, of course; more and more over time have I become less judgemental about people’s choices and let them do as they please. Maybe it’s an interest in what isn’t so common being known. A curiosity about what makes that person tick. Whatever it is, I love how the mini series doesn’t… I don’t wanna say beat around the bush following that topic but the ‘joke’ has to be said…doesn’t sugar coat Ian Fleming. They do indeed show a human being with flaws. Keeps the story down to earth, you know? Places a famous person in the realms of the relatable as opposed to being on a pedestal above the regular human. There are so many things I got out of this mini series for a blog post…I could ramble incoherently as all the strings of thoughts from my mind cross and are pulled along, but that would leave nothing but nonsense. Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the whole mini series. Would recommend to others.

Closing Thoughts

Oh man, my mind is buzzing by watching that…and it worked out perfectly! 3 hours is roughly two movies generally speaking…unless you’re watching a director’s cut of Lord Of The Rings. What will next week bring? To be honest…I haven’t completely thought about it myself. I would like to watch a Bond movie, but it’s hard to categorise them as I have seen all of the films but barely remember them…and they do get pretty long. I’ll figure it out. Next week might just have to be something else. Speaking of movies, I will be having a special weekend edition coming out this week as I’ve been invited to watch some Hugh Jackman movies at a friends. So keep an eye out for that. Ok, I’m out Internet. As always…

Hope you’re having a wonderful day and keep smiling.