Ex-bond girls on Sunday shot down the popular belief that they were hyper-sexualised and claimed they aren’t just glamorous eye candies in the hit spy series.
“The Bond women are tough … It’s a character that nobody could resist, not even James Bond. We are glamorous and intelligent. Very strong characters with big brains,” said Caterina Murino, the Italian actress who played the femme fatale in Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale.
She was in Dubai to promote the travelling exhibition, Designing 007: Fifty Years Of Bond Style, at the Burj Khalifa, along with actresses from the Bond franchise — Irka Bochenko from Moonraker and Tonia Sotiropoulou, who appeared in Skyfall.
“I believe that the Bond women occupy a timeless, iconic image. She has evolved with time. They were always tough and we take on Bond. We made him [Bond] more real and not just an elusive secret agent,” she added.
Sotiropoulou called the Bond women alluring.
“I believe that it is a balance of femininity. Women are not built to be as strong as man when it comes to muscles, so when it comes to women they use their femininity and sexuality to defeat some of them,” said Sotiropoulou.
Murino went a step further and called those roles progressive and felt the roles assigned to the women in Bond films reflected the times they were living in. According to her, Monica Belluci’s inclusion in the 2015 James Bond film, Spectre, stood proof.
“Four years ago, we would not have been able to do that. They were looking for young women. The women today are much more mature and are beautiful too. The people behind the Bond films are smart,” said Murino, adding that the fictional character in Fleming’s film series, M, was always played by a woman.
“She’s the big brains behind Bond,” she said.
However, Murino believed that many fans of the spy franchise, including herself, weren’t ready to see the iconic spy role being played by a woman.
“For me, James Bond has to be a man. I can’t imagine Bond being a woman. I don’t want to sound conservative, but in my eyes Bond has to be a man,” said Murino.
While all the women considered being a part of the Bond franchise a privilege, they also knew that they were branded for life.
“That’s the thing. I did so many movies after Bond, but that Bond role is the strongest … I remember Lindy Hemming [costume designer for five Bond films] telling me: ‘I was with an Oscar in my hand, yet they asked me about Bond’,” said Murino.
As far as occupational hazards go, it’s a tiny blip.
In fact, Irka Bochenko, who worked with Roger Moore in Moonraker, called it a privilege to be remembered as the Bond girl.
While the slick costumes that they wore in the spy series are on display at the exhibition at Annex at the Burj Khalifa, they weren’t allowed to take any home. Apparently, the returning of clothes was a clause in their contract.
The items, including the costumes, have been expertly curated to highlight the thought and craft behind the hit Bond franchise.
“Curating this exhibition was like working on a blockbuster movie — concentrated and no days off. We were trying to come up with a structure to commemorate and celebrate fifty years of Bond style. We had unprecedented access to archives … Eon [Productions, the company that produces James Bond films] had preserved everything … from cars to clothes to shoes,” said Bronwyn Cosgrave, guest curator of the exhibition.
Don’t miss it
Designing 007: Fifty Years Of Bond Style runs at The Annex, Burj Khalifa, from November 14 to February 13. Tickets to the exhibition, priced at Dh95 for children under 12 years and Dh125 for adults, are available at www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/jamesbond.
