Natalya is the best modern-day Bond girl

heartbroken_mr_drax

By modern day I mean post-TMWTGG where we started to get Bond girls who had stronger back stories, stood up to Bond and at times - kicked ass. I would argue that Pussy Galore is the best Bond girl of all time, but looking at the more modern entries. Natalya gets my vote.

The strongest elements to Natalya's character is that she begins as a survivor and witness of the plot setup. While I've got criticisms of how much this sequence is dragged out, the set-up is excellent for the characters. Suspense of their meeting is built up - she has to help Bond. She has moments of giving up, but keeps ploughing through to hide and to get out. She's then given the layer of complexity out of loyalty to friends and to her country and just a general confusion despite her strength and independence.

One of the best elements is her chemistry and trepidation with Bond as a character. He's allowed to do something to a point - then she won't allow him to fully take over. He really has to win her over and this is essentially over the course of the whole film.

This is of course all aided by the chemistry between Brosnan and Scorupco. The best chemistry of all his movies and the best chemistry since TSWLM and before that - Goldfinger.

It also helps that Izabella Scorupco is utterly gorgeous and does not seem out of place within the settings and the films. They dress her down, we never see her made up or trying to be something that she's not - she's not made to be way to unrealistically glamourous. She is always playing the character that suits.

Look at these two:



What does everyone else think?

Mr Snow

I've always liked Wai Lin (Tomorrow Never Dies) as having a strong character who wouldn't take a backseat (except on the motorbike) and even then she got to the front eventually .

I liked this film and thought she was well cast. Strong, intelligent and with regards to your reference to Izabella Scorupco, in my opinion anyway I feel the same way about Michelle Yeoh. Personally I think Michelle Yeoh is gorgeous and I don't think the film detracted in any way from her good looks and character as she had a strong persona throughout.

Chriscoop

As Bond fans I think we are spoiled with fabulous female characters and actresses, I like Natalya just fine, she's effective in the story, I've always been quite interested in Vespers story, the nuances of which are not massively obvious in the film, but she is effectively a double agent being blackmailed to work against bond but ultimately falls for him and he for her, she's damaged. I also really like camille in qos, she's almost bonds equal, but as she doesn't sleep with bond she doesn't qualify. I like them all really.

Gassy Man

While with rare exception (Lupe in LTK, for instance), all of the primary Bond girls have been given a range of strength and independence. Tracy Bond, not surprisingly, is probably the prototype of what might be called a "modern" Bond girl, and the rest seem in some way a reflection of her.

Mr_Osato

Not a big fan of Natalya, despite my love for GE. Her whinging and screaming seems way too forced to make Bond movies more political correct. What a shame!

If you look at strong Bond girls in type of character after TMWTGG then Anya Amasova and Dr Goodhead come to mind. They could hold their own and outwitted even Bond a few times.

I think Brosnan lacked good Bond girls in his movies. The best one was Electra King, which was ironically a villain.

superado

Mr_Osato wrote:

Not a big fan of Natalya, despite my love for GE. Her whinging and screaming seems way too forced to make Bond movies more political correct. What a shame!

If you look at strong Bond girls in type of character after TMWTGG then Anya Amasova and Dr Goodhead come to mind. They could hold their own and outwitted even Bond a few times.

I think Brosnan lacked good Bond girls in his movies. The best one was Electra King, which was ironically a villain.

Agree. Though I love GE, I think Natalia often sounded too annoying. I don't know enough Russian women, but in the movie it seemed that they were being parodied rather than portrayed, including Minnie Driver's character.

Yes, the strong modern woman has always been portrayed in the Bond movies in one kind of expression or another, starting with Sylvia Trench as the sophisticated socialite who preemptively seduced Bond. But beyond TMWTGG, my vote is for Melina in FYEO. She didn't explicitly have a vocation, unlike Holly Goodhead, Scientist/Astronaut/Agent, or Natalya, Satellite Techie, but her initiative and determination drove her character. She was beauty out for vengeance, with much controlled resolved without being overpowering. Not only was her portrayal worthy of the literary character in context of the original story's plot, like Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg she actually improved on the character of Judy Havelock without any drastic changes to the character's fundamental particularities. Lastly, she was gorgeous and even cute to watch, even in moments of anger and frustration.

Though she was a nice compliment to Roger Moore's suaveness, she had a coolness that seems characteristic of French women (Catherine Deneuve is my favorite example, as well as Bond girls Claudine Auger, Corinne Dufour, Sophie Marceau and more recently, Lea Seydoux) that IMO would have perfectly complimented Timothy Dalton's choleric and saturnine personality.

Mr_Osato

Agree. Roger had actually great Bond girls didnt he? Only in TMWTGG and AVTAK it was mediocre with dumb blondes Mary Goodnight and Stacy Sutton. But in the other 5 movies, he had great, strong women to deal with. Better then any other Bond actor (except Lazenby, but he only did 1 movie.)

VesperMelograno

superado wrote:

Yes, the strong modern woman has always been portrayed in the Bond movies in one kind of expression or another, starting with Sylvia Trench as the sophisticated socialite who preemptively seduced Bond.  But beyond TMWTGG, my vote is for Melina in FYEO.  She didn't explicitly have a vocation, unlike Holly Goodhead, Scientist/Astronaut/Agent, or Natalya, Satellite Techie, but her initiative and determination drove her character.  She was beauty out for vengeance, with much controlled resolved without being overpowering.  Not only was her portrayal worthy of the literary character in context of the original story's plot, like Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg she actually improved on the character of Judy Havelock without any drastic changes to the character's fundamental particularities.   Lastly, she was gorgeous and even cute to watch, even in moments of anger and frustration. 

I have always disliked Melina. I am not sure if she has resolve or if she just can't act... To me she is very wooden and is proverbial control top pantyhose. Sure she looks great but she has as much fire and sex appeal as a dead fish. She just kind of passively flounces from land to sea with as much conviction as an invertebrate.

Dirty Punker

"Dead fish" )
I totally get it with the woodeness but she had some strong moments that should've been pulled off by a better actress (and prettier) actress.
It's mostly her voice that gets the most hate from me. Wish they'd kept her original voice as laughable as it might've seemed. We'd at least get some raw emotion. Her pronounciation of Greek could've been blamed on the fact that she might've stayed a long time in France, the Guy Laroche bag would prove it.

Anyway, I love Natalya but she does go back.and forth. I mean, it's not like she stopped James when he shot all those soldiers or at least made some kind of remark.
"Did you have to shoot him?"
"Of course, I'm a terminator it's what I do."

walther p99

Dirty Punker wrote:

I totally get it with the woodeness but she had some strong moments that should've been pulled off by a better actress (and prettier) actress.

you don't think she's pretty enough? First time I think I've read that.

VesperMelograno

Natalya and Electra King are my two favorite Bond girls. I appreciate the fire both have. I will take slightly over the top over dish water. Both women are complex, particularly King. Natalya really has chemistry with Bond and I appreciate their tempestuous relationship. She has a Stanley Kowalski quality, like she might break your nose then sleep with you (problematic, yes.)

Another favorite of mine is Kara in TLDL. Admittedly, at first I thought she was weak and childish. Then I remembered she was 21(ish) and I know I was naive like her and fancied myself in love 8-) What turned it around for me was when she charged off on her horse after James. She proved herself to be competent.

Dirty Punker

walther p99 wrote:

Dirty Punker wrote:

I totally get it with the woodeness but she had some strong moments that should've been pulled off by a better actress (and prettier) actress.

you don't think she's pretty enough? First time I think I've read that.

She is quite stunning but I don't think that she can compete with Moore's other girls in terms of beauty.
At least I'll give her that she's much more beautiful than Magda (OP).

Dirty Punker

VesperMelograno wrote:

She has a Stanley Kowalski quality, like she might break your nose then sleep with you (problematic, yes.)

*chip your tooth.
Just listen closely to the kiss on the beach.
It's also a shame that she didn't want to do other movie roles.
She was a fine actress.

Remington

Never noticed how beautiful her eyes were.
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