He was so much more intimidating as Anton. They could have TOTALLY made a movie about Anton’s backstory- It would have been great... or horrible. It’s a toss-up. 🪙
Bonds like "I've made love to many women, in the mud and the rain, and it's possible a man may have slipped in there. I have literally no way of knowing."
I can't imagine the timing involved with telling that speech while walking down the hall. He gets to the end right at the climax of the story without breaking stride or changing his pace once. Unreal.
Well you can either do that, or since the camera is far away you can just prerecord an audio file and play it over an actor talking gibberish in the distance (the lip sync wouldn't be noticeable), record the audio file time and train the actor to just walk the distance at the required time without worrying for the first half of the story.
Lesson here: Don't show the villain early in the movie, wait until it makes sense to have a great introduction scene, give him a nice monologue and allow the actor to shine for a few minutes. Stablish the character and allow him to have charisma. Skyfall is remembered because of this scene.
I think Blofeld introduction in Spectre was almost going as cool as this scene...until he said "Cuckoo!". Stupid line, destroyed the image of a terrifying Blofeld
I'm guessing this is called "Skyfall Funny Silva Scene" because most people focus on the homoerotic moment, but it undervalues the brilliant work here. This masterful scene shows Silva trying several different approaches to get Bond to crack. Silva's first approach is his story about survival, and how he and James are the rats on the island. Then he describes M as their mother, who has betrayed them both, so he is equating himself as James' brother. Didn't work, so then he went for the homoerotic approach to shake James up. James deflected that by suggesting that he's open to or prepared for it. Silva then frees James' hands and tries to appeal to his need for freedom, offering to make him a partner who can pick his own secret missions. James belittles that by equating it to a hobby, because there'd be no loyalty to country. This entire scene is a wonderful little chess game. The way it's shot is also impressive, with Silva entering on the elevator and walking toward James in one long take while delivering the rats monologue.
It’s actually a rather elementary shot. Or an amateur “chess game”. James Bond movies have to appeal to the masses or they lose potentially hundreds of millions of dollars. This is not that deep of a scene.. it’s all rather surface-level.
When I saw this scene in the theater, you could just FEEL how Bardem's presence just enraptured the entire audience. We hung onto every one of his subtle bits of humor and his amazing psychotic episodes. This man is such a pleasure to watch.
The Daniel Craig Bond movies may not be perfect, but the fact that they got Mads Mikkelsen, Javier Bardem, and Christoph Waltz to appear in the series is an achievement in and of itself.
That’s what I love about this scene no matter how bad silva is he absolutely right about everything M used both of them as rats so in a poetic sense the story silva told is symbolic of the three characters the grandmother is M and the two last rats are silva and bond
***** It's because Silva is essentially a dark mirror of Bond. He possesses similar skills and tactics, has a similar past, and was also screwed by M - the difference is, Bond forgave his adopted "mother" and remains loyal to her, while Silva is rogue and attempting to kill her.
DisgruntledViewer nope its because James was loyal to his country first, M second. Silva on the other hand had no loyalty to his country only to M so her betrayal affected him much more then when she betrayed James thus the reason why Silva wanted to kill her and himself so badly
Man it's so creepy how creepy Silva can seem just by walking towards the camera. He gets bigger and bigger in the frame, all the while telling his story until you suddenly realise how close he his. Super disconcerting, and really engaging.
Javier Bardem deserved an Oscar for his flawlessly evil performance. A masterpiece performance. This is an actor who is greatly underrated and deserves wider attention.
+hellojustanecho How is Javier Bardem underrated ? He was nominated 3 times for an Oscar, won for one of the greatest performances of all time, won awards from Golden Globes to the Cannes film festival award for best actor, was given the role of Silva and is one of the reasons why Skyfall was the highest grossing Bond film of all time and now he is in Pirates of the Caribbean. He is in the A-list of Hollywood leading men.
+Rascal Of Joy - I stand corrected. Thank you for pointing out the many acknowledgements and achievements Javier Bardem has received thus far. He is an outstandingly good actor and I was ignorant of the scope of his recognition to date. I look forward to more brilliant performances from this amazing actor. Thanks again!
Those who whisper their malice know the tactical reach of their toolkit, and are nearly always to be taken more seriously than those who do not, and disguise such by yelling it.
by far the best villain from any Bond film because as a watcher, you really felt sympathy for Silva and kinda understood where he was coming from. Plus Javier Bardem was incredible in the role
The subtle pause he gives after mentioning childhood trauma, Silva unexpectedly finds common ground with Bond. The look and pause Silva gives indicates his own internal reflection of his own childhood trauma(s).
This is actually a brilliant throwback to the old Bond movies with the helpless Bond; the scary villain with the cool monologue and the campy undertones. Skyfall was Craig's Goldfinger, and it will be hard to beat.
***** It has some of the elements of Nolan's Dark Knight and it was admittedly inspired by it, but that's not a bad thing, and it still managed to put in plenty of Bond like elements to keep old and new fans happy. Guess you can't please everyone.
George Hamilton it's a famous Picasso quote. You can also use 'there is nothing new under the sun'. Everyone copies and some try to improve on the copy. It's how life works.
2012 was the year of super villains getting themselves captured on purpose. 4 years after Dark Knight, exactly a complete production cycle. It checks out.
I love how Silva tries to make Bond uncomfortable by touching him and making erotic suggestions. While the audience feels the discomfort, Bond is the epitome of cool. You *cannot* throw this guy off. "What makes you think this is my first time?" Bond is so comfortable in his sexuality, that threatening it doesn't faze him. Notice how, as soon as Silva sees Bond isn't deterred, he switches tactics. Which is why this scene is such a great power play.
+StoriesThatNeverWere This whole sequence is the best in the film, as you can see such a battle of mind games going on between Bond and Silva. First Silva belittles Bond by pointing out his failed evaluation tests, trying to make him feel like an inferior agent. Then he tries to dominate Bond's sexuality, by touching him and making him uncomfortable. Then he attacks Bond's loyalty to his country, by saying how old fashioned MI6 is and that the British empire is just a "ruin", tempting him to become a free agent like he is. After this he literally attacks one of Bond's lovers in a sick shooting game, and just kills her like she was nothing as a kind of mockery of Bond's history with women. Silva attacks every facet of Bond, trying to break him and undo his image. The more I watch it, the more I realize how brilliant of a Bond villain Silva is.
+Crichjo32 Especially at the end of the scene when he took out all of his henchmen even keeping his cool, only feeling bad for wasting the scotch. Then MI6 comes in with helicopters and Bond says "The latest from Q Branch, called a radio." taunting Silva that he was beaten by an old fashion gadget. Genius.
+StoriesThatNeverWere I totally agree. I had some friends who actually believed "they made James Bond gay"....they totally missed the point of the scene. It has very little to do with sexuality, and everything to do with....poker. It is all about control, manipulation, attack and counter-attack. I was amazed by this scene. So extraordinary. As intense as any balls to the walls fight scene...but all done with great subtlety.
Alec Trelvelyan said similar to Bond over how he was always better. MI6 agents and their egos and their pissing contests. Even after turning villainous and directly fighting against MI6, still that competitive edge against James Bond who is widely regarded as the best M16 agent and the go to guy M turns to when shit gets real. I would wager that there is some jealousy from both Silva and Trelvelyan, from Silva because Bond is M's current golden boy and from Trelvelyan, Bond being number 1 as shown by Trelvelyan scornfully attacking Bond as "her Majesty's loyal terrier" implying that he can always be banked on to deliver for his superiors.
3:18 'Pathological rejection of authority based on unresolved childhood trauma..' I love how Silva does not say anything about that. Shows he has respect for 007 even if they are foes. Bardem was brilliant in this role.
You can tell by Silvas body language and eye's that he is showing respect to Bond for that one and also feeling something terribly deep inside him lurks ready to explode from that exact reason.
I loved this line too because Silva probably has a similar background in that sense. Silva still read it and looked at Bond but yes, chose not to address it. Didn't even poke fun at him about it. Took the moment to share silence with Bond while they both understand what that meant (Bond has intense childhood trauma) and Silva moves on. Such a GREAT touch and unique character choice.
I'll always be impressed with what Javier Bardem did for more than a minute and a half (0:23 - 2:00)--not just give that speech, but how he delivered it and the pace at which he did so, and how he enraptured the audience. It is a reminder of how the truly powerful have no need to shout. I have no idea how many takes there were before he nailed it, but boy, he _nailed_ it.
You know the weird part ? In some alternate timeline, I can easily see Silva and Bond being colleagues, even friends, and that's not something you can say about any other bond villain (except Goldeneye ofc). Also, like every good villain, it makes you pissed off at M, at how proud she is as a character to leave someone she is responsible for and not give a damn.
I think it would be more rivalry at least on Silva's side. Silva would hide it behind superficial charm but I think secretly he would become insanely jealous of M liking Bond so much. Silva lived for M's approval.
5:24 *''Your knees must be killing you.''* A simple, but relevant sentence. Silva hinted that Bond was already tiring of his life as an MI6 agent, and trying to lie to himself that he wasn't "cheated". Good movie, great performance by Craig and Bardem.
" Everyone needs a hobby." " What's yours ?" " Resurrection." Mind blowing. Craig always tops my list of favourite Bonds. His nonchalance gives him an extra edge
I'm no film student, but even I can see what an amazing scene this is. Imagine the skill, control, coordination and practice it must have taken to put together that opening shot -- a single long take that slowly moves in and up until you "see" from Bond's POV, all while Javier Bardem delivers that monologue so perfectly while walking at exactly the right speed to end up right in front of the camera as his story reaches its ghastly ending.
Funny how the moment Bond calls Silva's seduction bluff, Silva stops trying to seduce him. Everything he's doing in this scene is an attack on Bond to try and find a weak spot in his defences.
Yep, I also believe it could be a call back to Silva's own interrogation when he had been captured. He observed and remembered all of the techniques which had undoubtedly been used on HIM when he was strapped to a chair. I mean yeah, he most likely bit down on the cyanide right away, but chances are after that, he probably added far more methods to his current skill set.
I believe that Silva's analogy on rats is about agents of M16, Silva was one of the two surviving rats and he longer hunted terrorists(coconuts) instead he now kills other agents of M16; e.g. Bond.
I remember feeling such tension and dread in the cinema when he told this story. Worst sentence is the last: "But now they don't eat coconut anymore. Now they only eat rat".
Now here you see 2 really good actors at work. Javier Bardem is brilliant as the highly intelligent yet psychopathic ex-spy. Daniel Craig is an amazingly cool & smart Bond who holds his ground facing the villain. The script is excellent, but it is the actors who bring it to life. Now imagine the same scene with Stallone vs. Schwarzenegger, or Steven Seagal vs. van Damme: it would be totally laughable ;)
5:20 I like that the guard noticeable flinches when Bond is free'd and he flaps his arms out. He thought he was going to pull something. Clever attention to detail.
I am in love with this scene... The actors are phenomenal, the timing of Silva's reactions or motions are right on time, they are both gentlemen, the power play is phenomenal, so casual, but kinky and smart with small signs. This scene alone deserves an award. I love Silva's character altogether.
Silva is basically like 006 alec trevelyan from goldeneye who also worked mi6 and betrayed them when he told James Bond his loyalty was for the mission after left them almost dying after he survive
Silva's face when Bond says "Everybody need a hobby" - oh! the humiliation! Silva's pride and achievement of life just drained by Bond in one sentence.
Imagine saying that to gamers haha. But along with so many others. My first thought was with pornography lol. My pride fell in one line from a fictional character haha. Just a joke but it was funny reading your comment.
4:58 when the villain squeezes above Bond's knees, Daniel's reaction was genuine because that is a ticklish pressure point. I use it on people at judo all the time
In spain we also say " oof" but its spelled " uf" and its said with a deeper "oo" than on english, just like he said it, so when i heard silva i could notice spain coming out of him at that point
From time to time, I come back to watch this video because of how amazing it was. I always say how he was one of my favorite villains (I can see why he did what he did) He was so calm and I loved his story. Skyfall itself was a great movie!
What I love about this scene is how patient the camera was. There were no cuts to different angles, they allowed him to slowly come over for his introduction. That’s brilliant.
Pro Gaming “Who’da thunk it” is a catchphrase from a 1930s radio show that has entered American slang lexicon. www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/24/messages/1187.html
Yes! Spectre missed the mark somewhat, it almost felt abit like a parody of classic 60s James Bond movies. We all thought Christoph Waltz would absolutely nail it and play somekind of intriguing Bond Villain but he kinda fell flat, his Blofeld just felt very cliche. Still a decent Bond movie but not as good as Skyfall.
If you *really* wanna go deep on IT Ops reality, there's not nearly enough visible cooling systems in this shot to handle that massive amount of servers/boxes/switches. Silva's room as shown would be about 180 degrees without massive banks of visible HVAC. It is wicked-cool, though. 😉
It would have been funny if Silva started talking to bond from the elevator and Bond was like " Wait what, I can't hear you" and Silva goes on talking while Bond is like "could you come here and talk, you're like a mile away from me"
One subtle moment, in fact it is so subtle that one can easily miss it, is when Silva says "You can pick your own mission," Bond perks up ever so slightly. For a split second Bond was tempted.
This is probably the most effective villain scene in any Bond film. He really comes across as in control and threatening, only momentarily chafed when Bond says "everyone needs a hobby".
Despite popular perception that is what most people in the UK think of the Empire. French people cry about Napoleon, Americans cry that they're being replaced by China but no one in Britain cared about an Empire they received no benefit from. The only ones that did were the politicians.
When I first saw this in theaters, I was so impressed by how the camera slowly veered over Bond's shoulder. It's moving along with the pace of Silva's stride. This is one of the best introductions for a villian, ever. Perfectly done! I love this scene. 😍
CyberTechWolf yes of course he’s obviously referring to cannibalism of course. sexual tension between two rivals? who would think of such a thing? how strange!!!
What makes you think this is my first time? That line just gets me every time. I mean when you think of James Bond, you never know maybe there was a drunken moment lol
