Bond, James

The holidays are officially behind us now: the bins containing the Christmas decorations have been returned to their usual spots in the garage, the furniture has been returned to its usual configuration, and a general tidying-up has been performed.  Herself spent a significant chunk of yesterday rearranging two spaces in the house-- the arts-and-crafts closet and the cupboard under the stairs that traditionally has been a tangled, heaped mass of building blocks, tiny cars and tracks, and eight thousand other sundry toys with their eight million sub-pieces --so that all materials for crafty projects are now in one place instead of spread in three locations, and so that pantry items can also be stored in the cupboard.  It was a genuinely onerous task, and she is pleased to have accomplished it.

There was also a return to family movie night last night.  It is such a pleasant relief to get back into the ordinary activities which we enjoy so much.  Yesterday evening, we watched Casino Royale, the first Bond movie to star Daniel Craig.  It is by far the best Bond film we have seen to date.

Daniel Craig is a different sort of character from the other men who have played Bond before him -- he has a much greater physical presence than ever before.  (Herself admits that although he is not the type of man to whom she's physically attracted, he nevertheless is quite easy on the eyes.)  With his extremely muscular physique and pouting lower lip, he almost falls within what Herself considers the "meathead" category.  Nevertheless, he has a side of humanity and much less slick charm than the others, keeping him from being pigeonholed despite his brawn.

There is one scene where we get to see a unique side to Bond:  the moment when he finds Vesper, fully clothed, sitting in the shower.   He does not ask what she is doing, or even say a word.  Instead, he quietly, unassumingly, promptly sits down beside her, fully clothed as well. He waits for her to speak.  He takes her hand, and puts one and then another of her fingers briefly in his mouth.  He then holds her hand and affirms quietly: "That's better."  He inquires if she is cold, turns up the hot water, and cradles her, stroking her wet hair.

(This is the point when Herself swoons.)

It is knowledge of the tender side to Bond that makes Vesper's betrayal of him all that much more tragic.

Alas.

It will be interesting to see how Daniel Craig's Bond character develops in Quantum of Solace and in Skyfall.  Will there be glimpses of that part of his persona again?  Will it be forever buried?  We shall see.