Germanà, M. 2024. “‘Sometimes the Old Ways Are the Best’”: A Gothic Reading of Technology and the Body in Sam Mendes’s Skyfall. in: Hines, C., Sweeney, T. and Joy, S. (ed.) James Bond Will Return: Critical Perspectives on the 007 Film Franchise New York Wallflower Press. pp. 276-287
| Chapter title | “‘Sometimes the Old Ways Are the Best’”: A Gothic Reading of Technology and the Body in Sam Mendes’s Skyfall |
|---|---|
| Authors | Germanà, M. |
| Editors | Hines, C., Sweeney, T. and Joy, S. |
| Abstract | In Daniel Craig’s third film, Skyfall (2012), James Bond struggles as an ailing – and ageing – agent, while new – and younger – blood in the forms of a youthful Q (Ben Wishaw) and Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) appear to challenge his heroic status and performance. The film appropriately channels its exploration of ageing through a thematic opposition between the cutting-edge technology at the service of villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) and MI6’s obsolete strategies and equipment. In highlighting the challenges that new technologies pose to Bond, and MI6, the film’s focus on cyberterrorism points to the natural/artificial, human/monster dichotomies that have been at the heart of Gothic SF since the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), a novel with which, arguably, Skyfall establishes significant parallels. As this Gothic reading of Skyfall reveals, Bond’s complicated relationship with modernity is precisely what underscores his longevity fifty years from the start of the franchise. |
| Keywords | Cyberterrorism |
| Daniel Craig | |
| Frankenstein | |
| Gothic Technology | |
| Skyfall | |
| Book title | James Bond Will Return: Critical Perspectives on the 007 Film Franchise |
| Page range | 276-287 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Publisher | Wallflower Press |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | Jan 2024 |
| Place of publication | New York |
| Edition | First |
| ISBN | 9780231207416 |