Answering the question of who is the more evil, sadistic and sinister villain between Raoul Silva and Anton Chigurh... Why? - Because I can. I can't do this however without saying that I'm a big fan of this man, to the left, who has rightfully been described as one of the best actors of his generation, and weighing up pretty well against those in the 'best actors of all time' phantom category. The Best or scariest villainous characters are made even scarier when you toss them into the hands of a sublime actor (take a look at Hannibal, The Joker, Christopher Walken, hehe). To Javier Bardem then, and his two most infamous characters in English cinema. The Contenders: Anton Chigurh - A trained coldblooded Assassin who also happens to be a psychopath (he has tendencies akin to a sociopath, but I'd see him more as a slightly controlled Psycho, but I digress, he fudges the line... click here to compare the two types) Raoul Silva - aka Thiago Rodriguez, former top spy for MI6, now a vengeful sociopath. What they have in common (apart from Bardem):
What's different:
The answer: Creepy, evil, sadistic or just plain nightmare inducing; if you lucked out and somehow crossed paths with someone of either persuasion, then pray you rather meet Anton Chigurh... Why? - Because he's more likely to kill you quickly, via bullet to to the head, or chest. Raoul Silva then is the worse of the two, simply because he's more likely to toy with you and make you feel some of his pain - which is considerable. He's also likely to kill your spirit before he takes your life, slowly... It's a rather interesting dynamic, I thought so anyway. Chigurh has something of a skewed philosophy on life; that he is simply a tool - holding himself to the idea that he is somehow set apart from the rest of humanity, and that good or bad, your fate has already been decided. If he moves in a certain direction, he's likely to kill most he encounters, with an exception every now and then - to be decided by chance, in the form of a coin toss. Cormac McCarthy wrote the character to represent how nonsensical violence is - Chigurh then, is the personification of violence. Silva has no such philosophy - it's kind of like when a human killing machine has been broken on the inside, and somehow restarted with a reset guidance system, targeting its 'creator', with a will to break her ("M") in a similar way. If there is one thing he abides by though, however shrouded in his demented ways it may be, it is in the principal of 'survival of the fittest' - physical wreck's they may be, but he and James Bond are the last two, and hence strongest, rats remaining... (queue chewing sounds) Javier Bardem quotes On his work: Your work cannot come from your vanity…it’s more about, how do I help this story by portraying the character as it needs to be, on every level, for this story to be told?…As actors we have the room to express as many sides of our nature as we are able or willing to show. There is no danger in that…you can get lost, of course. You have to know how to come back. The difference between a person with mental problems and an artist is that only the second one has a two-way ticket. On Anton Chigurh's hairdo: From the haircut and all that? It’s funny, because I saw that photo and I didn’t pay attention to the haircut because it was more of the way he was dressed as well as anything, but I guess they [Coen Brothers] pay attention to the haircut. So, I went to the trailer and they cut it and I saw it and I said, ‘What the hell is that?’ But that helped a lot actually, because in a way he gave this reality to the character this dimension of being very methodical. Everything is in place. It’s kind of mathematical. Like perfectly structured which is the way I thought the character should be. Perfectly clean. I thought this could help, but not for my private life though. On Raoul Silva, and being cast and working on Skyfall: [I had to] put the person [watching] in an uncomfortable situation, where even James Bond could not resist. Watching the trailer for No Country for Old Men just remind me of how brilliant this film is - and why I own the DVD...
0 Comments
Everyday seeds of espionage, or just self defense. by Steven Benjamin Think of this as a loose, tenuous, bare skeletal blueprint of the skills needed to be a spy. Needless to say extra âsignsâ are always welcome, like an undying penchant for extreme sports like skydiving and bungee jumping, as well as the ability to undertake great physical challenges which test your mental toughness⦠Oh, and maybe the natural gift of knowing how to dress well, wear a tailored suit, or in the case of a femme fatale, control a room with an elegantly subtle evening number. 1. Do you have an eye for detail? 2. Are you something of a loner? 3. Are you a good poker player? 4. Are you physically fit without advertising the fact? 5. * Do you happen to know the 5 strongest or best natural tools (read weapons) your body possess (even without martial arts training⦠and by association, are you then aware of the main weaknesses of the human body?) * 6. When entering a room, do you first suss out the exit points? 7. How good is your general knowledge and memory, and are you capable when it comes to applied knowledge and resourcefulness? 8. Are you good with your hands, beyond simply decent hand-eye coordination? 9. Do you like adventure and traveling long distances? 10. Are you a good driver? If you're interested in the know how of the Spy world then visit these handy sites for tips on how to be a spy and how to spot one. > Spot a spy > Be a spy [ * Our bodies 5 best weapons (handy for self defense)
Top 5 weaknesses (easier to spot)
Depending on where you are, Skyfall is either out or still coming (very soon), either way I hope it does the job of in some way rectifying the sad year weâve had in terms of film releases. Aside from a couple of big budget superhero sequels there hasnât been much to be excited about â and Iâm on the side of those who was disappointed by The Dark Knight Rises (it says something that The Avengers had better box office earnings than TDKR)⦠so sad, lets end the year on a high. << Coming soon! In the coming weeks I will be featuring the talents of some of my artistic friends, focusing on poetry, art, photography and film-making. Stay tuned! >> So, by way of an update, and to explain my absence; last week I was in Pretoria, South Africa (our dear nations capital) for a week long workshop organized by the African Renaissance Foundation. So, as of last week I'm an African Renaissance writer, but more on that later, because before I get into the nitty-gritty's of what all that means, I'll distract you with some amazing and fantastical news like a magician casting a spell... something to look forward to later this year where I hope it will meet and exceed expectations, unlike The Dark Knight Rises (although still a good film - I was expecting more than just good). I speak of course of Skyfall - the latest in Daniel Craig's Bond capers. An interesting titbit to wet the tastebuds,and the um, earbuds... earlobes then. Adele is on board for the intro theme song. (A day or two late I suppose but it's still news worth spreading)
Hopefully this will rectify the fiasco that was the Quantum of Solace Alicia Keys (shake your head, "tut-tut" and close your ears) and Jack White (I liked his parts) scream fest. As is the case with all such things, a bit of controversy was infused when she announced the exciting news on her twitter account... and the track was released early (read pirated), alas, the sky will fall. I'm holding out until the official release of course, or until I see the film. Few would pick him, I know, and yes, there have been so many before me who’ve embarked on this topic, though most have done so in jest. Firstly, I am a very big fan of Daniel Craig, but for the sake of this article, I’ll regard his era as a sort of stand-alone franchise… Let me dive right in as to why I think Timothy is the one; of all the pre-millennial bonds, he was probably the only one, apart from maybe Sean Connery, who could throw a legitimate punch. I say this because all the others looked very staged in their action sequences. I’ll give Sean the benefit of the doubt because for that time period it was acceptable – it seemed more about the ‘threat’ of violence than the actual partaking in it, and the style of filming was very different back then... From a purely “agent-world” perspective, the lesser known Dalton provided the most legitimate turn, whereas the others were quite obviously actors playing a role. Connery had all the looks and swag to make the character iconic on the silver screen, but in terms of James Bond being an action man, agent and super spy, Dalton is the real deal. Let us not even touch on the farcical Roger Moore era (okay the early few were good, but he hung on – or they hung on to him – for far too long). Floating down a river in a fake crocodile – REALLY! Everything became too comical and spoof-like, and then there was his age: he just looked too old to do anything (believably) worthwhile fro Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Can anyone confirm whether or not Lazenby’s Worchester Sauce is named after the actor? Where Pierce Brosnan went wrong was in that scene in Tomorrow Never Dies, where he’s controlling his car with his mobile phone (though truth be told he could claim to be the victim of time appropriate script writing and the explosion of the technological age) – resulting in the Achilles heel of the story: an over reliance on technology and cliches. I actually enjoyed that film mind you, although Golden Eye was better (those were the best two of the Brosnan era – forget the other two where they took Bond to a new low with non-actresses Halle Berry and Denise Richards; great to look at, but seriously lacking talent wise). The thing of it was though, that Brosnan’s era suffered from a similar syndrome to that of the Moore era – getting caught up in unrealistic, sometimes farcical, and generally generic storyline habits. They’d find a formula and drone it out until there was nothing left to be had. (*even Brosnan has come out and said in hindsight he's somewhat embarrassed by some of his later turns, in light of Daniel Craig's steely version) Getting back to Dalton though; Eva Green mistakenly claimed (in an interview for Casino Royale obviously) that it was the first time we would see blood on James Bond’s face. But of course Timothy Dalton’s Bond can lay a legitimate claim to that, although Craig is a lot grittier and dirty, I still think Dalton tried to do with Bond, what Craig is doing now… it’s just that his production crew weren’t on the same wave length. So, the reason I say Dalton is the best, is because he was the first who attempted to draw closer to the character penned by Ian Fleming. After all, the reason many weren’t, or aren’t a fan of Timothy is because his was the atypical Bond, the first to wear a suit without a tie… it was brash, and perhaps a little too brazen for some of the fans of the more old fashioned ‘swirl your Martini and lean on the bar’ style. He was seen more in the company of the British SAS and has been referred to be R. Moore as hands-down the best actor (talent wise) to fill the role. Although his two films had there faults, as many do, I believe, for these reasons above, that Timothy Dalton’s – his version at least – was the best Bond, preceding Daniel Craig – the first real hard edged/nosed agent, with just a dab of suave. The Bond Vacation [courtesy of L.A Stretch Limos]:
|
[Banner illustration by Joel Kanar]
WRITING
|