Koskov: He Lives!
jetsetwilly
Liverpool, UKPosts: 1,048MI6 Agent
Rewatching TLD this evening, I started thinking about Koskov's survival at the end of the film. It's so unlikely that anyone survives a Bond film, let's be honest; apart from 007, pretty much the entire cast are fair game. So Koskov living to tell the tale at the end - indeed, not only living, but managing to travel from Afghanistan to Tangiers for a final appearance - seems pretty unlikely.
And it got me thinking; perhaps the filmmakers changed their mind. Jeroen Krabbe is excellent in this film, but he makes Koskov that little bit too likeable - the fact that everyone calls him Georgi is a bit of an indicator. He's oily, duplicitous and treacherous, but is he a villain in the same way that Whitaker is? No. So maybe, Koskov was meant to be killed in that huge explosion at the airbase (it's actually a more realistic scenario than him living to tell the tale!). Perhaps the filmmakers warmed to both Krabbe and Koskov, and kept him alive for a future appearance.
It's not so inconceivable. Zukovsky was meant to have been killed in GoldenEye, but Coltrane's charm and screen presence meant that the filmmakers changed the script and let him live, leading to his return in TWINE. In fact, had Dalton returned for his third film in 1995, wouldn't you be unsurprised if that was where Koskov had ended up - running a back street bar with ambitions of money and power once again?
I'm not saying that Eon had plans for a grand character arc for Koskov extending ten years into the future. I am wondering if perhaps they realised what an asset they had and decided to try and hang onto it.
And it got me thinking; perhaps the filmmakers changed their mind. Jeroen Krabbe is excellent in this film, but he makes Koskov that little bit too likeable - the fact that everyone calls him Georgi is a bit of an indicator. He's oily, duplicitous and treacherous, but is he a villain in the same way that Whitaker is? No. So maybe, Koskov was meant to be killed in that huge explosion at the airbase (it's actually a more realistic scenario than him living to tell the tale!). Perhaps the filmmakers warmed to both Krabbe and Koskov, and kept him alive for a future appearance.
It's not so inconceivable. Zukovsky was meant to have been killed in GoldenEye, but Coltrane's charm and screen presence meant that the filmmakers changed the script and let him live, leading to his return in TWINE. In fact, had Dalton returned for his third film in 1995, wouldn't you be unsurprised if that was where Koskov had ended up - running a back street bar with ambitions of money and power once again?
I'm not saying that Eon had plans for a grand character arc for Koskov extending ten years into the future. I am wondering if perhaps they realised what an asset they had and decided to try and hang onto it.
Comments
Of course, it was worth having Koskov appear at the end of TLD, if only to allow Pushkin to deliver the 'diplomatic bag' line
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I also loved Max Largo in NSNA over Bond once again due to Max's charm and creepiness. For some reason, in the Bond universe, it seems to make a character likeable!
Baron Samedi also survived, which IMO..........made the film less likeable.
If you notice Koskov's expression, he is clearly surprised at Pushkin's comment,and is dreading what is to come, which I highly doubt is time in the gulag. (Russian state run prison)
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby