The other day, I
finally had the chance to watch From
Russia with Love, which has been exalted by many James Bond fans as one of
the best entries in the franchise’s filmography, if not the best. Released in 1963, From
Russia with Love stars the highly esteemed Sean Connery as Agent 007 and features
a wild assortment of outlandishly entertaining sequences, such as a frantic
shootout inside of a gypsy camp, an explosion-laden boat chase, and a brutal
fistfight aboard a passenger train. To quote the series’ beloved character Q, From Russia with Love comes equipped
with “all the usual refinements”: cloak-and-dagger espionage, colorful allies,
dangerous villains, evil organizations, and – of course – gorgeous women.
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| Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)
Even though I consider
myself a fan of the Bond films, I won’t even attempt to pass off the franchise’s
penchant for sexism as mere innocent fun. I freely admit that James Bond is a
pig, and for better or worse, that is part of the reason why he has become such
an icon. Do I condone sexism? Absolutely not, but I can’t condemn a film based
solely on one factor, however glaring it may be. Like any good film critic, I
like to dissect characters in order to better understand them; in the case of
James Bond, I believe that the character’s dual nature as both a paragon of
heroism and a flag-waver of sexism makes him a very important part of film
history. I can’t fully condemn Bond for his objectification of women because,
quite frankly, I inexplicably still root for him regardless. Just because Bond
is a womanizer, I just can’t bring myself to dislike him, and this begs the
question: why not? I consider myself a feminist, yet here I am, defending a
sexist character. I think that the answer lies within the character as a whole:
everyone has a dark side that some may view as unpleasant, while others may extol
it as an admirable trait. A more recent character like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander, for example, is
praised by many critics and moviegoers as a feminist hero, an independent woman
who refuses to yield to the expectations of men, yet she does deplorable things
like hacking private information and setting people on fire. The morals of
Salander’s actions are questionable, yet people continue to root for her, just
as they do for James Bond.
That said, I became
intrigued with the way that women are portrayed in From Russia with Love. Are they all objectified and/or stereotyped
for the viewing pleasure of men? Did their characters serve to “program” women
at the time of the film’s release as a way for men to dissuade the idea of an
independent woman? The answer is not so cut-and-dry. Take, for example, the
character Tatiana Romanova: she’s a very beautiful lady, and her job as a
Russian spy places her in an occupation roughly equal to James Bond’s.
Throughout the film, however, Romanova is used by both MI6 and SPECTRE alike as
a passive commodity: she is, after all, the key to obtaining the Lektor, a
Russian code machine sought by both sides. Further, Romanova basically serves
the traditional role of Bond Girl, arm candy for Bond to focus his sexual
energy, yet she is unlike more assertive Bond Girls like Pussy Galore (Goldfinger) and Jinx (Die Another Day). Romanova’s powerful
role as a spy is reduced to that of a submissive decoration, one that serves
more as the film’s MacGuffin rather than a fully realized, multi-layered
character. An example of this occurs during the scenes on the passenger train:
posing as husband and wife, Bond and Romanova settle down in a train
compartment with the Lektor safely in their possession. Her role as the key to
obtaining the Lektor complete, Romanova is now nothing more than a sparkly
bauble for Bond to keep hidden away in the compartment, which is now more of a
glorified safe than a place of comfort.
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| Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya)
By contrast, the
spidery SPECTRE agent Rosa Klebb serves as the femme fatale, yet her
unattractive physical appearance denies the male gaze in favor of obtaining a
more villainous quality. Further, the film seems to utilize Klebb’s implied homosexuality
as a way to establish her as “Other” and therefore more threatening, as
suggested by the mission briefing scene with Romanova. Dressed in a very
masculine-looking military uniform, Klebb threatens Romanova with death if she
refuses to accept her orders. Later, Klebb compliments Romanova on her body, lightly
touching her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder and entering Romanova’s
personal space. In addition to creating a threatening aura, Klebb’s implied
lesbianism places her in the same position as the heterosexual male viewer, a
vehicle for male desire to “interact” with the desirable Romanova. However, this
also feeds into Klebb’s villainous qualities because the heterosexual male may
be repulsed by having found common ground with such an uncanny, undesirable
woman.
There is much more to
discuss about the female’s role in From
Russia with Love, as it is a fascinatingly deep movie in political and
psychological ways. I fully intend to return to this idea and flesh it out
further. As for now, I hope this entry got a few gears turning in your heads.
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