James Bond is the most charismatic and enigmatic secret agent in fiction. The character was created in 1952 by the author Ian Fleming, who wrote twelve Bond novels in all
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in all:
en total
at his Jamaican home, Goldeneye. After Fleming’s early death in 1964, Bond evolved in books by authorised writers. He simultaneously evolved on screen, thanks to the actors who played him, the villains who fought him, and the directors and screenwriters who kept him true to character
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true to character:
fiel al personaje
but in tune
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in tune:
sintonizado, al tanto
with the times.
BOND AND BIRDS
Bond, an orphan born of a Scottish father and a Swiss mother, was based on men that Fleming had met while working as a naval intelligence officer during the Second World War. The name was taken from that of a real-life academic: James Bond, an American ornithologist and expert on the birds of the Caribbean. Fleming was a keen
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keen:
entusiasta
birdwatcher
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birdwatcher:
observador de aves
and chose the name as he considered it ordinary.
AGAINST THE ORDER
Initially Fleming doubted that the Scottish actor Sean Connery had sufficient sex appeal to play Bond. His reservations
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reservations:
reservas, cautelas
did not last long, however, as Connery’s Bond attracted as many female viewers as it did male ones. In the actor’s hands, 007 became more promiscuous and ruthless
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ruthless:
despiadado
than the character in the books. Connery starred
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to star:
protagonizar
in seven films, starting with Dr. No in 1962 and ending with a one-off
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one-off:
única, esporádica
return in Never Say Never Again in 1983. Roger Moore was the longest-serving
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longest-serving:
más longevo
and the oldest Bond actor, beginning the role at the age of forty-five and ending at fifty-eight. Moore’s Bond was sophisticated and witty
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witty:
ingenioso
, while his antagonists were often unscrupulous thugs
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thugs:
matones
.
SEXISM AND FAKE NEWS
After Moore left the films, Timothy Dalton played Bond twice with an interpretation closer to Fleming’s character in the novels, that of a reluctant
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reluctant:
reticente
agent. Dalton’s serious approach was not well-received, but his screen performance is significant in its anti-heroic turn
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turn:
giro, registro
. In the 1990s, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan reflected the political correctness of the time by not smoking and by being less dominant over women; although this required some intervention from his boss M, played by Judi Dench. (In the 1995 film GoldenEye, M dismissed
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to dismiss:
desestimar, despachar
Bond as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur”.)
AMBIGUITY AND ANARCHY
Daniel Craig was another controversial choice for Bond. In Fleming’s books, the character was described as having “dark, rather cruel good looks
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good looks:
atractivo
,” and blond-haired, blue-eyed Craig broke the mould. Yet Craig has proven himself incredibly addictive as a dangerous, emotionally damaged and egotistical
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egotistical:
egocéntrico
007. The 2012 film Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes, was the biggest box office success
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box office success:
éxito de taquilla
to date, acknowledging
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to acknowledge:
admitir
his advanced age and obsolescence in a globalised world that idolises youthful
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youthful:
juvenil
tech genius. Both Bond’s motivations and those of his adversaries became increasingly
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increasingly:
cada vez más
subversive, closing the gap
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to close the gap:
recortar la diferencia
between hero and villain.
BOND FOR A NEW DECADE
Who will be chosen to play the next Bond remains a mystery. Whoever
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whoever:
quienquiera
he — or perhaps she — is must follow up
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to follow up:
continuar
on some phenomenal portrayals
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portrayals:
interpretaciones
as well as evolving the character to cope
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to cope:
sobrellevar
with a new chaotic, extremist era, personified in the new film, No Time to Die, by the terrorist and anarchist villain Safin. Those who have been linked
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to link:
vincular
with the role include actor Idris Elba, pop star Harry Styles and even No Time to Die female co-star Lashana Lynch.
bond villains
The baddies
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baddies:
malotes
in Bond personify the perceived threats
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threats:
amenazas
of the era. They are often physically-scarred
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physically-scarred:
con cicatrices físicas
and inevitably foreign
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inevitably foreign:
siempre extranjeros
. In the 1960s, Cold War tensions informed plots that worried about deadly missiles and fragile US-Soviet relations. Villains included evil genius Dr. Julius No, who threatened nuclear war. The 1960s also introduced the dangers of excessive materialism: deranged
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deranged:
perturbado
psychopath Auric Goldfinger, for example, who was obsessed with gold.
One memorable criminal first appeared in 1963 and reappears throughout the film franchise, up to the most recent films. Austrian-born Ernst Stavro Blofeld is the cat-stroking
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cat-stroking:
que acaricia un gato
mastermind behind SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), an organisation intent on
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intent on:
decidido a
world domination. In the 1970s, social evils, such as drugs and violence, predominated: a Harlem cartel boss known as Mister Big wanted to control the streets by giving out free heroin, and Jaws was a seven-foot-tall killer with vicious
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vicious:
cruel, salvaje
steel teeth
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steel teeth:
dientes de acero
. The avaricious 1980s and early ‘90s introduced money-mad
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money-mad:
locos por el dinero
global villains such as Victor Zokas and Max Zorin, who tried to rule
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to rule:
gobernar
the planet by dominating its petroleum and microchip market, respectively.
The approach to the 21st century saw antagonists reflect doubts about the ethical standards of the system itself; unscrupulous media baron Elliot Carver created real-life disasters so that his network
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network:
emisora
could report them first. With technological advancement, concerns
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concerns:
preocupaciones
about cyberterrorism and surveillance
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surveillance:
vigilancia
grew, as well as concerns about the psychological toll
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toll:
peaje
of modern life. Recent villains have been complex characters we can almost relate to
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to relate to:
identificarse con
: Raoul Silva was a Julian Assange-like figure, a cyberterrorist with emotional issues
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emotional issues:
problemas emocionales
; while the new movie promises the deadliest
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deadliest:
más mortífero
villain yet, a highly-sophisticated sadist called Safin.
BOND girlS
The so-called ‘Bond girls’, props
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props:
atrezo, utillería
as they are, are hardly
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hardly:
a duras penas
the demure
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demure:
recatado
feminine type. Assertive
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assertive:
seguras de sí mismas
, with sporty figures, they are usually quite handy
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handy:
habilidosas, diestras
with a weapon. While in the early films they have sexually suggestive names, such as Pussy Galore and Holly Goodhead, later films did away
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to do away:
deshacerse
with this unfortunate tendency. Reprised
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reprised:
recurrentes
female characters include the smart
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smart:
inteligente
Miss Moneypenny, secretary to M, Bond’s boss who has been played by three men and one woman. One of the few female super-villains appeared in From Russia With Love: Rosa Klebb was a socialist, a champion
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champion:
attivista
of women’s rights, and a lesbian, undermining
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to undermine:
socavar
Bond on every count
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on every count:
on todos los aspectos
! For the recent film, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the acclaimed creator of Fleabag and Killing Eve, co-wrote the script. She makes sure “the film treats the women properly” even though Bond “does not have to.” Some of the defining female participants in the Bond films never actually appear: Shirley Bassey, Adele and Billie Eilish are among a number of prominent vocalists to provide the best of the film theme tunes
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theme tunes:
canciones de la banda sonora
, giving the Bond girl the defiant voice that may seem missing
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to miss:
echar de menos
in the movies.
