Casino Royale Film Analysis

701 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Portrayal of women in movies

Films have been known to make female characters more submissive and physically attractive, which inclines to make them more appealing to men. Mulvey believed Hollywood films used women as an “erotic” object and that the narrative of films is mostly constructed to give heterosexual male audiences the opportunity to admire the female body (170). In Casino Royale, it is obvious when the camera focuses in on the physical aspects of Vesper Lynd wearing tight-fitting clothing. The attractive image becomes almost iconic for male viewers. Camera effects, mise-en-scene and sound are all used to portray and alter the representation of women (Mulvey 169). Here the film highlights female eroticization where,
Bond gives Vesper Lynd a ’skimpy’ dress to wear, to distract his opponent Le Chiffre from a high-stake card game allowing him to ultimately win the game. “I need you looking fabulous”, Bond tells her, “so that when you walk up behind me and kiss me on the neck, the players across from me will be thinking about your neckline and not their cards”. Vesper later enters into the Casino, kisses Bond and then walks over to the bar, with the camera observing her from behind. At this point Bond is shown ‘checking her out’, though it is made unclear whether he is pretending to do so as part of the plan to divert Le Chiffre’s attention, or merely for his own desire (Pheasant-Kelly 204-205).
Casino Royale also features scenes of Bond as an erotic spectacle (Mulvey 168). The action sequence of the film continues to emphasize the vulnerability of the male body in the final scene. Bond emerges from the ocean wearing a pair of minuscular shorts, which can be said to be feeding into the ‘female gaze’ as opposed to the ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey 174-78). He has ...

... middle of paper ...

...ng and cleaning. Women in the past were looked at as only being concerned with ‘cleaning and family’, however Casino Royale shows its audience otherwise.
In conclusion, Mulvey still has relevance in representation of women in action films, but it has been less consistent over the years. Casino Royale has been successful in denying the historical stereotypes with the role of Vesper Lynd where it defeats all of the labels that women were given before, such as weak and domesticated as well as being dominated by a patriarchal society in regards to sexuality. Vesper Lynd carries the weight in which women are portrayed as on her shoulders and she has succeeded in changing the way women have been represented and introduced in most action films. Not quite so much has Bond been affected in his roles, but he has become less dominating and more an equal to his female co-stars.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Klute By Laura Mullvey

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Laura Mulvey, women function on two levels in Hollywood classical cinema: as an erotic object for the character in the diegesis, and as an erotic object for the spectators in the theater. Explain Mulvey’s argument and apply it to either Klute or Jeanne Dielman. (your answer should not be confined only to examples of men looking at women, but may also consider the possibility of women looking at women.) If Mulvey is correct, can women ever function as active participants in the narrative? How does the film support or negate tgis point?

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Screwball Comedy Films

    4993 Words  | 10 Pages

    Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy.

    Read More

  • Lad Flicks: A Hybrid of Buddie Movies, Romantic Comedies and Chick Flicks

    2008 Words  | 5 Pages

    The figure of the ‘new lad’ has been a feature of popular culture in the United Kingdom, United States, and elsewhere since the early 1990s. In the book, The Trouble with Men: Masculinities in European and Hollywood Cinema, the author relates to Nick Hornby’s, a screenwriter and English novelist, thoughts on lads. He states that there are two versions of the modern male that have anxieties between the two main constructions of contemporary masculinity: New man and New Lad (Phil Powrie 2004, pp.84). By the start of the twentieth century, the word ‘masculinity’ was always associated with the word ‘crisis’; this is now portrayed in ‘lad flicks’. Masculinity is the central object of contemporary ‘lad flicks’; they combine different genre elements to focus specifically on difficulties that face contemporary masculinity. The male characters in these films...

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Bound

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1996, the Wachowskis wrote and directed the noir crime thriller, Bound. In this film, the directors turned some of the archetypes of film noir on its head. Most notably, the role of women in film. Film theorist, Laura Mulvey, claims that the main role of women in film is to function as a source of pleasure, to be objectified, to be passive and at the command of male fantasy. This relationship of looking and being looked at causes each gender to have a particular presence within film; the male is active and the female is passive (Mulvey, 1975). However, in Bound, the character Violet, who is obviously objectified by the gaze of the male characters, does not hold a passive role within the film itself. Violet is a force that acts upon the narrative, manipulating events and scenes to her favor, along with actively controlling male gaze and using it to her advantage. Film theorist, Tania Modleski argues that there are passive and active roles within films that have connotations with “femininity” and “masculinity”, but these roles do not have to apply to the gender or outward appearance of characters that they align with. Modleski focuses more on the actions, not the outward appearances, of the film

    Read More

  • Film Analysis: The Thomas Crown Affair

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past few years, advertisement has changed significantly, and with it bringing many changes to our current society. Susan Bordo, a modern feminist philosopher, discussed in her article “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body” how current society has changed starting with Calvin Klein’s advertising campaign that showed men wearing nothing but underwear. Bordo argues how men are becoming the subject of the gaze, just as women were for centuries. This argument of the gaze is especially pronounced in John McTiernan’s film The Thomas Crown Affair, which focuses on two main characters, a man named Thomas Crown, who is a billionaire Manhattan financier, and a woman named Catherine Banning, and insurance investigator who is investigating Crown’s robbery of the 100-million-dollar painting, the “San Giorgio Maggiore Soleil Couchant”. The film addresses Bordo’s modern feminine and masculine gaze to target a wide range of adult audience.

    Read More

  • The Femme Fatale: Alex Forrest & Lady Bertilak & Alyson of Bath

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of time, women have been seen as different from men. Their beauty and charms have been interpreted as both endearing and deadly to men. In the Bible, it was Eve’s mistake that led to humanity’s exile from the Garden of Eden. However, unlike in the Bible, in today’s world, women who drive men to ruin do not do so through simple mistakes and misunderstandings, they do so while fully aware of what effects their sexuality can cause. One thing remains constant through these portrayals of women, and that is that they are portrayed as flawed creations and therefore monstrous. It is a woman’s sex drive and sexuality that can lead to her monstrosity. The femme fatale is an enticing, exquisitely beautiful, erotic character who plays the ultimate trick of nature: she displays her beauty, captures the man and goes in for the kill. Films such as Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction and stories such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and Sir Gawain the Green Knight use the femme fatale as a means of making a woman into a monster; the femme fatale can never win in the battle of the sexes. But what is it that makes the femme fatale such a dangerously character for the hero as well as the readers or viewers?

    Read More

  • Miss Representation Summary

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).

    Read More

  • Film Noir Analysis

    1737 Words  | 4 Pages

    A female in film noir is typically portrayed in one of two ways; she’s either a dependable, trustworthy, devoted, and loving woman, or she’s a manipulative, predatory, double crossing, and unloving temptress. Noir labels the cold hearted and ruthless woman archetype as a Femme Fatale. A femme fatale is walking trouble, and she’s aware of it. This woman is gorgeous, refined, eloquent, and commands the attention of any room she’s in. When the femme fatale desires something, she pursues it. If there’s an obstacle in her way, she overcomes it. If she can’t handle it herself, all she needs to do it bat her eyelashes and the nearest man is all too willing to take care of it for her. In essence, the most dangerous thing about the femme fatale is her

    Read More

  • Disney Argumentative Essay

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some people might say that these movies provide entertainment and transport families into the lives of princes and princesses. Many critics have said that the films have amazing soundtracks and have detailed and interesting plots. Still, however entertaining the films may be, the way women are viewed and treated outweigh any enjoyment that a viewer could have. The subliminal lessons young women learn from these films have lifelong repercussions and negatively affect the female

    Read More

  • A Few Good Men Film Analysis

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Ian Fleming's Casino Royale

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ian Fleming published his first novel, Casino Royale, in 1953. Later on, in 2006 a film was made based on the novel. Fleming published his novel pertaining a man, James Bond, who is a British secret agent and is licensed to kill. Bond is told to gamble with Le Chiffre, who is a member of the Russian secret service. James Bond is assigned a female partner, Vesper Lynd, who is actually a double agent for Russia and Great Britain. Throughout Casino Royale, James Bond is brought to the readers as very hard and insensitive. Whereas the film in 2006, Bond is brought to the film watchers as sensitive and caring. Men in the 1950’s society treat women than in today’s society. A lady should be treated with respect and given dignity. Men should

    Read More

  • Bond Movies: Tracing the Cinematic Changes from Doctor No to Quantum of Solace

    2383 Words  | 5 Pages

    Before we go any further lets divide the Bond Movies in four significant patterns. First wave of Bond movies shall belong to time period of Sean Connery. The second wave shall belong to Roger Moore. Third wave belongs to Pierce Brosnan and lastly the fourth and the recent wave belongs to Daniel Craig. I have not included Timothy Dalton’s contribution as James Bond since he can only be credited for two Bond movies which were not even as famous as the above four Bonds’. George Lazenby’s movie stands alone as an exception and his movie is discussed in detail.

    Read More

  • Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess

    2633 Words  | 6 Pages

    Williams, Linda. "Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess." Braudy and Cohen (1991 / 2004): 727-41. Print.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Feminine Beauty in Hitchcock's Cinema

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    “It is said that analyzing pleasure, or beauty, destroys it” written by artist-historian, Laura Mulvey, she discusses the issues that arise when studying beauty. Examining and focusing on feminine beauty to the point of destroying it, has been a constant theme in cinema for decades. Director, Alfred Hitchcock’s has created 65 films in his 50-year long career, Hitchcock is now a common household name, being one of the most widely influential directors of the 20th century. Nicknamed “The Master of Suspense,” he made a name for himself by his incredible ability to visualize his subconscious fears and desires and turn them into a masterpiece. Throughout Hitchcock’s successful career, his films have a common theme of objectifying women through the

    Read More

  • The Representation of Women in Action Films

    1897 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 1). 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish.

    Read More

More about Casino Royale Film Analysis

Open Document