A Study of Adaptation - Moonraker

Moonraker might be an example of an adaptation in which it was necessary to make significant changes and departures from the source material. The third novel, published in 1955, became the eleventh film, released in 1979.

In the book, Bond is invited to M's private club to avert a potential cheating scandal involving Sir Hugo Drax, a millionaire industrialist and war hero who is developing Britain's first nuclear missile, the eponymous Moonraker. Bond is later sent to Drax's base on the south coast of England to replace a Ministry of Supply officer working on the project, who had been murdered in an apparent feud with one of the scientists. He is assisted by Gala Brand, an undercover Special Branch officer who works as Drax's personal assistant. It's later revealed that Drax was the leader of a German commando unit during the Second World War, who posed as a British soldier with amnesia after being injured in a botched sabotage at a field headquarters. Seeking revenge for Germany's defeat (and the bullying experienced in English schools), he has secretly fitted the Moonraker rocket with a Soviet-supplied nuclear warhead and intends to launch it at London (while also making a tidy profit through insider trading on the stock market).

In the film, Bond is sent to investigate the theft of a Moonraker space shuttle belonging to Drax Industries. His investigation takes him to California, Venice, Rio de Janeiro, the Amazon Rainforest, and eventually to outer space. This time, Drax intends to release a deadly nerve agent across the globe to cull the entire population of the, while sparing a "master race" of physically and mentally perfect humans on his space station. Gala Brand has now been split into two characters: Corinne Dufour, Drax's personal pilot; and Dr Holly Goodhead, Drax's astronaut trainer who secretly works for the CIA.

As stated above, it was somewhat necessary to make may of the changes. Firstly, the book was exploring a lot anti-German sentiment at a time when the war was still in recent memory, along with the development of Britain as a nuclear power. In the film, both these aspects would have been redundant, especially the nuclear missile plot. The title was also a good excuse to put James Bond in space, most likely in response to the then-recent success of Star Wars. I've also heard that a common critique of the novel was that it took place entirely in England rather than the other locales James Bond is known for visiting.

Something I have been drawing parallels to while reading this one has been Goldeneye, released in 1995. Alec Trevelyan is similar to the novel version of Drax; instead of a Nazi, he's a descendant of the Lienz Cossacks, Nazi collaborators who surrendered to the British, only to be taken back to Russia to face Stalin's execution squads. And instead of a nuclear missile, he intends to hit London with an orbital EMP weapon after hacking into the Bank of England's mainframe and stealing a vast fortune. Natalya is also similar to Gala Brand, in which she provides the technical knowledge to thwart the plan.

I also reckon that the bridge segment may have been appropriated for Octopussy in 1983. That film uses a sequence in which Bond plays backgammon against Kamal Khan, deduces that he is cheating, and cheats the cheater. Both scenes also involve the villain paying Bond his winnings and warning him to spend the money quickly.

One thing that both the book and the film do use is the deathtrap in which Drax intends to leave bond under the rocket engine to be immolated when it launches. It's pretty much the only thing which actually made sense to keep.

A Study of Adaptation - Live and Let Die

Before I start discussing Live and Let Die, I have to acknowledge a certain elephant in the room; these books were a product of their time, and often conveyed the prejudices which existed (and unfortunately still exist) in both British and American society. It does not represent my views of society, but I am still looking at the books in the series, because doing otherwise would be akin to claiming that the prejudices didn't exist. With that edited appropriation of the Looney Tunes disclaimer out of the way, let's begin.

The book version of Live and Let Die - published in 1954 - has Bond investigating Mr Big, a Harlem-based crime boss and voodoo practitioner with Soviet ties. Rumour has it that Mr Big has been funding Russian spy operations by smuggling gold coins from a pirate treasure found in Jamaica. He works with his CIA counterpart Felix Leiter, along with a fortune-teller in Mr Big's employ called Solitaire. He later travels to Jamaica, where he works with MI6 station chief John Strangways and a Cayman Islander fisherman named Quarrel. The book seems to convey Fleming's somewhat conservative view of the growing civil rights movements, and the fears that the Soviets could use them as resources (similar to the trade unions in Casino Royale).

The film version - released in 1973 - has Bond investigating the deaths of three agents who were investigating Dr Kananga, the prime minister of the fictional Caribbean state of San Monique. Instead of gold coins, Kananga's plan is simply smuggling heroin, and he is no longer affiliated with Russia (a common change in many if not all film adaptations of Bond). The film borrows quite heavily from the Blaxploitation genre which had become prominent in the 70s, particularly the drug trafficking element to the story.

Mr Big is presented differently in the film. In the book, his name stems from his initials, his full name being Buonaparte Ignace Gallia. In the film, Mr Big is later revealed to be an alter ego of Dr Kananga for him to distribute his heroin in the United States. It's likely that the film version was partly based on Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1971. Duvalier utilised a cult of personality in which he modelled himself as Baron Samedi - a prominent figure in Voodoo lore - and was previously a physician, hence Kananga's title of 'Dr'. He was also named after Ross Kananga, who owned the crocodile farm where part of the film was shot (and actually jumped across the crocodiles). The film also expands on one of his flunkies, "Tee Hee" Johnson, making him one of Kananga's one-armed primary henchman (the book version is killed near the beginning of the story). Additionally, Baron Samedi is a separate character in the film (the book version of Mr Big also models himself after Baron Samedi)

There were two moments in the book which did not appear in the film adaptation, but were eventually used in later films:

1. Felix Leiter gets captured investigating one of Mr Big's warehouses in Florida, and gets maimed by a shark. Bond finds him back at their safehouse with a note saying "He disagreed with something that ate him". Bond later investigates the warehouse himself, gets into a gunfight, and tricks his assailant into falling into the same shark pool. This would later be used in Licence to Kill in 1989 (the first bond film to not be a direct adaptation of any of the books).
2. Mr Big tries to kill Bond and Solitaire by dragging them behind his yacht through a coral reef and then through an area in which he lures sharks and barracuda with regular feedings. This scene would be used in the film adaptation of For Your Eyes Only in 1981.

One thing which did surprise me in the book was Solitaire. In the film, Bond seduces her with a tarot deck comprised entirely of "The Lovers", and she loses her powers of clairvoyance when she loses her virginity. This essentially forces her to help Bond bring down Kananga. In the book, Solitaire is asked to determine whether Bond is telling the truth when he's first captured, but lies and supports his cover story. After learning that Bond escaped and killed two of Mr Big's henchmen, she approaches Bond saying that she wants out. So, an element of the book which is actually less sleazy than the film version.

Based on the content of the story, I have the feeling that adapting it to screen would have been a risky venture.

A Study of Adaptation - Casino Royale

Now before I start, I need to mention that Casino Royale has actually been adapted three times: an episode of the CBS anthology series Climax! in 1954; a comedic adaptation in 1967; and the the "official" Eon adaptation in 2006. I'll be looking at the Eon version, as I haven't seen the others.

We'll start by looking at the story. In the novel, James Bond is sent to the town of Royale-les-Eaux in Northern France to take part in a high-stakes Baccarat tournament. His mission is to bankrupt and discredit Le Chiffre, the treasurer for a Soviet-backed trade union in Alsace. Bond's key allies are: Vesper Lynd, the personal assistant to MI6 station chief in the Soviet Union; Rene Mathis, an agent for the French Secret Service; and Felix Leiter, from the CIA.

The film adaptation remains faithful to the original story, but tries to expand on it. This would have been necessary, as the novel was written in 1953 while the film came out in 2006. Many changes would have been made to reflect more contemporary issues. A few minor changes include Vesper working for the Treasury, and the game being Texas Hold-'em rather than Baccarat.

The major change and expansion involves Le Chiffre. In the film, Le Chiffre is a private banker who finances terrorist organisations, investing his clients' money in stock options for an aerospace company while arranging for a terrorist attack on their new airliner's maiden voyage. Now, stock markets are not really my area of expertise. From what I've gathered, he's banking on the attack's event affecting the value of the shares, essentially betting on the company's failure. The first half of the film involves Bond discovering and foiling the attack, which costs Le Chiffre his investment and necessitates the tournament. MI6 believes that if he loses the tournament, he'll be desperate for protection from his creditors.

Compared to the book, the baccarat tournament is being held at the beginning of the story. It's established that Le Chiffre had invested his union's money in a chain of brothels, only for them to be closed down following the passage of new laws against prostitution. Bond's goal to bankrupt him is part of an alternative to assassination; if MI6 assassinated Le Chiffre, he would be made a martyr. They want to get around this by leaving him to be assassinated by SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence service.

I do quite like the more subtle action of the book. Bond is about to be killed by one of Le Chiffre's bodyguards as he's about to buy back in using money given to him by Leiter. It's a very tense scene which ends with Bond feigning heat exhaustion and falling off his chair to both disarm his assailant and ruin the scheme by drawing attention to himself. As this was the first book in the series, that kind of thing can be done. In the films, it's more cinematic, but there had been twenty action-packed films which came before that one.

All in all, the film version of Casino Royale retains the story of the original book, while simultaneously expanding and updating it for a more modern setting.

James Bond - A Study of Adaptation

Back in 2015, I did a series on my other blog where I wrote reviews of the James Bond films, looking at how a long-running franchise can develop over time.

One of my first year modules has been looking at the practice of adaptation, and it's been on my mind since then. This included looking at adaptations of classical mythology and fairy tales, but I feel the urge to apply what I've learned to other things too.

So, based on the James Bond marathon, I've decided to look at the original Ian Fleming books. These are not going to be reviews, but rather a comparison of the source texts with the film adaptations. I'll post the reviews when I finish each book. At the time of writing, I've finished Casino Royale and am currently reading Live and Let Die. I'll have the Casino Royale piece online later today.