Mads Mikkelsen IS Le Chiffre
Dracos_Oculist
Posts: 24MI6 Agent
First major posting, so go easy..!
OK, a lot of deserved praise for Craig and Casino Royale, much merited. I for one think its the best since OHMSS. But I think the performance of Mikkelsen has been overlooked in all the hypocritical Craig gushing.
The guy oozed menace, has a really lasting image in his physical profile. I mean he really plays a beliveable bad guy, no secret hideways or plans for world sterilisation, etc, etc. He's evil but not in an OTT way. Standard evil deformitey but not ridiculous, (Renard - no pain sensation...FFS). His scheme is also kept sane as well although the sabotage of the super-Jet prototype was stretching it somewhat.
Masterful work by casting and wardrobe, especially the hairdo, (he wears bryl-cream! He's evil!) I think he's a character that will last longer in the mind than micro-evil characters from recent films.
Overlooked or what?
OK, a lot of deserved praise for Craig and Casino Royale, much merited. I for one think its the best since OHMSS. But I think the performance of Mikkelsen has been overlooked in all the hypocritical Craig gushing.
The guy oozed menace, has a really lasting image in his physical profile. I mean he really plays a beliveable bad guy, no secret hideways or plans for world sterilisation, etc, etc. He's evil but not in an OTT way. Standard evil deformitey but not ridiculous, (Renard - no pain sensation...FFS). His scheme is also kept sane as well although the sabotage of the super-Jet prototype was stretching it somewhat.
Masterful work by casting and wardrobe, especially the hairdo, (he wears bryl-cream! He's evil!) I think he's a character that will last longer in the mind than micro-evil characters from recent films.
Overlooked or what?
Comments
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?topic=24894
That was before the movie opened.
I agree though, he did have a mean streak in him. And wasn't an over the top villian, like in years past. Hopefully the villians in movies to come will be similar to Le Chiffre.
OK, so Le Chiffre wasn't the typical all powerful Bond villain, he was actually answerable to someone else. This mean't he was always potentially vulnerable. And in terms of physique he was hardly a threat to Bond or anyone else, which is emphasised with his use of the inhaler. But he still carried enough menace and also had the intelligence to gain the command and the respect of those around him. Mikkelsen brought these qualities to the table in fine style.
Many will say that Le Chiffre was weak. By comparison with the typical all powerful Bond villain, they'd be right. For me though, it was the vulnerability which made Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre one of the more compelling and interesting Bond villains.
Klebb - aging lesbo ready for stenna stairlift...evil
Goldfinger - podgy puffball...über evil
I'm glad you enjoyed Mads' LeChiffre. I did too, very much. I found him creepy and menacing, and, more importantly, more real than the run-of-the-mill megalomaniacal supervillains -- James Bond-wise -- we've been given over the years. I thought he was terrific.
Media hypocrisy. Lazy journos and reviewers who slated Craig now lining up for interviews.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chiffre
He didnt need to be a world dominating meglomaniac because he is setting up the next film and villains. It was his fear of the villains which increased their menace. So when Craig took out Mr White at the end it was more impressive.
Personally, I think Mads Mikkelsons Le Chiffre is the best villain since Franz Sanchez. Certainly better then anything in the Brosnan era.
My problem with Le Chiffre was that although Mikkelsen IMO gave a very impressive performance, he didn't seem particularly menacing at times and also struck me as being rather too ordinary at times as well. IMO, while a villain does not need to be larger-than-life, s/he should at least be menacing or at least should appear to be more menacing than the average person on the street. In a few scenes (such as in the hotel room) he didn't strike me as menacig in the slightest. I know that in that particular scene, that was the point, but since Bond had been assigned to go after Le Chiffre, I would have preferred it if he had been more menacing and a little less ordinary.
I also wish that he had been better written as he seemed a little thin to me. His motivation was perfectly fine IMO. Although I loved Stromberg's motivation, I understand that he might not be appropiate for a more 'realistic' reboot.
What I liked about Le Chiffre was that he only cared about himself (as the scene with his girlfriend showed) and that he could be quite accurate with a rope.
*With one exception; in the torture scene he came across as rather desperate. Yes, he needed the money in order to survive, but if he was confident that he would be offered sanctuary regardless of what he did to Bond, why be so desperate?
I'm with you on that one.
I agree, I think some of it was cut. Just the second whack and he's having to stand up and take off his tie, he's in such a sweat. This is again where I would have had the fast-forward montage highhopes so quickly rejected when I mooted it for the casino scenes, I fade in and out to show that time has passed, or something like that...
I actually thought Dryden was really Le Chiffre in all but name, you can totally see him doing the patronising 'cowboys and indians' speech that is in the novel... He would have been a father figure type to the young Daniel, not a nice one mind, but the teacher-pupil type relationship. Mads seemed plausible but a bit low rent for me. His goons were, therefore, even more forgettable and anonymous.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Because this was his last chance to get the money he needed to pay his "creditors"... they broke into his hotel room and threatened him. He was desperate! He NEEDED that money Bond had so he could live and "die another day" (couldn't resist)
Which no doubt accounts for your not recognizing that one of them was the guy in whose car Mathis disposed of the African's bodies.
As for LeChiffre's remark about sanctuary, I believe that's what's known as "whistling past the graveyard," although he was undoubtedly correct: a guy who could describe in detail the finances of the world's terrorist organizations would be very valuable indeed. Not that MI6 wouldn't be sorry to see one of their agents killed -- they'd probably bestow upon him a nice shiny, albeit posthumous, medal -- but priorities are priorities. That's the "big picture," as Bond notes ruefully. Sounds pretty elementary to me. Very Flemingesque, in fact. And a nice piece of drama.
That does make sense that some of it may have been cut, since he comes on as being desperate so quickly.
My take on this, however, was that LeChiffre obviously knew that his situation was extremely urgent and that the longer it took him to get the money back, the more time his clients would have to hunt him down (as we subsequently see with Mr. White). Even though he had an "out" (a poker term LeChiffre would use) in protective governmental custody, that was the last thing he really wanted to do, and he sure as hell seemed to know that he didn't have long to make up his mind.
And since Bond was able to get under his skin and prevent him from doing what LeChiffre thought would be the best way to save his neck, I think it's understandable that he becomes so unravelled and desperate. I absolutely loved this scene and thought it was brilliantly done! {[]
If you liked Mads’ performance as Le Chiffre then After the Wedding might serve as a good introduction to the rest of his oeuvre.