The family Bonds that bind Barbara Broccoli - Britmovie

DB7 · 10-01-2008, 11:17 AM

The family Bonds that bind Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli
Kevin Maher

In 1990, before he passed on the reins of the James Bond franchise to his daughter Barbara and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, the legendary movie honcho Albert “Cubby” Broccoli offered this piece of advice: “This is the golden goose, and don’t let them screw it up. It’s fine for you guys to screw it up, because it’s your baby, but don’t give in to someone else.”

Barbara, now 47, says that she found this advice, this emphasis on family and on daring to change, ultimately liberating.

The proof of this creative freedom can be found in a reinvented action brand that has ridden the waves of rumour and speculation to produce a 21st-century movie series – one that began with Daniel Craig’s tougher introspective Bond in Casino Royaleand will continue on November 8 with the release of the follow-up, currently titled Bond 22. Bond-watching is, of course, a mildly hysterical media pursuit and every snippet of news reported with gusto: Bond girls revealed! Bond shoots in Barbican Centre! Bond stamps exposed! This puts the intensely private Barbara in that contradictory position of being both in and outside the spotlight.

Born in 1960, two years before the release of Dr No, she spent much of her life growing up on far-flung film sets. Here was a childhood, it seems, permeated by a man who does not exist. “I thought James Bond was a real person until I was 6 or 7,” she has said. “He was like this mysterious relative who people talked about. You were always waiting for him to arrive at Christmas.” She eventually succumbed to the dream and, after a stint at LA’s Loyola University, devoted her professional life to the task of bringing the childhood phantasm to life.

This emphasis on family, on lineage and continuity is crucial to the Bond franchise and the weight of the Broccoli name. In fact, at times the name seems unduly heavy for her, and she insists on doing all interviews with Wilson – her senior both in age and in production experience. She is reluctant, it seems, to let the name alone do the talking. Which is ironic, considering her brand. “You know the name. You know the number,” ran the tagline for Goldeneye.

Her choices, and those of Wilson, for the rebooted Bond franchise have been impeccable. The hiring of Oscar-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis ( Crash) was a masterstroke. Casting a simmering actor such as Craig was a smart move in a film industry enamoured of a high-kicking hustler called Jason Bourne. But torturing Bond on camera, in particular thwacking his exposed gonads with a rope, showed that the franchise had emerged in our geopolitical reality. “The world has become a more dangerous place,” said Barbara, who’s married to the producer Frederick Zollo and has a 15-year-old daughter. It is, it seems, the job of the Bond franchise to reflect that, to entertain us and to prove that nobody does it better.

Moor Larkin · 11-01-2008, 05:42 PM

The focus on the most recent movie seems to ignore the fact that she has been involved with the franchise since Octopussy............

I seem to remember a lot of this sort of waffle about 'edge' and so forth when 'Licence To Kill' was produced, twenty years ago. Every time they change the actor it's churned out again. I watched the Halle Berry one the other week (...... from the start for a change). The first half-hour was actually quite intriguing with some interesting ideas reflectiing on James' suffering in his 14 month confinement.......... Then Halle came out of the sea and it was back to business as usual.

PaulPlowman · 11-01-2008, 06:10 PM

I dunno - apart from the fact that Bond didn't escape in the pre-credits and was tortured, I thought the whole thing was preposterous. :)

I know that at the time, Licence To Kill was disappointing, but looking back now I actually prefer it to many of the Roger Moore outings. I don't know. Maybe we weren't cynical enough back then.

batman · 11-01-2008, 06:19 PM

I think the intro to DAD is one of the best things in what is an extremely disappointing Bond film. It is well made, exciting and very entertaining. In fact, IMHO, everything up until he gets to Iceland is pretty good .... then it's downhill all the way.

LTK is a good Bond film IMHO. It was scuppered by a terrible marketing campaign and by coming up against some heavy duty opposition in the shape of that bloke with the hat and the whip. I thinks it's unfair to compare LTK with any of the Moore Bonds, with the possible exception of FYEO, because it is a completely different animal.

Bats.

PaulPlowman · 11-01-2008, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batman

I thinks it's unfair to compare LTK with any of the Moore Bonds, with the possible exception of FYEO, because it is a completely different animal.

I agree, but I think over time my tastes have changed and in reappraisal, Moore's films have suffered. I grew up with Old Rog, and he was my favourite Bond for years, but viewing some of his films on TV over Xmas - I was frequently cringing at the borderline sexism and similar modern no-nos which they contain. Whereas LTK only seems to have got more in-line with the tone of modern films. I dunno.

One other thing which I'm sure contributed to LTK's box-office woes was the stupid decision to have a particularly violent death portrayed onscreen, which upped the certificate and stopped young kids going to see it - thus losing one of Bond's main audiences.

batman · 11-01-2008, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulPlowman

I agree, but I think over time my tastes have changed and in reappraisal, Moore's films have suffered. I grew up with Old Rog, and he was my favourite Bond for years, but viewing some of his films on TV over Xmas - I was frequently cringing at the borderline sexism and similar modern no-nos which they contain. Whereas LTK only seems to have got more in-line with the tone of modern films. I dunno.

One other thing which I'm sure contributed to LTK's box-office woes was the stupid decision to have a particularly violent death portrayed onscreen, which upped the certificate and stopped young kids going to see it - thus losing one of Bond's main audiences.

In the UK at least two violent deaths in LTK were heavily cut, and one removed completely, but the BBFC still made it a 15 certificate which must have affected the box office too, I agree.

With regard to Rog's films, if you do view them with today's sensibilities you will find much to 'cringe' at, the same goes for some of Connery's too. I always try to view a film as if I was watching it at the time it was made. I find that way any 'dodgy' dialogue et al is received in the context of it's era, thus reducing the need to 'cringe'. The Bond films of the 70s are as much a period piece as something like The Italian Job or 'Harry Palmer' films. They are a product of their time ... and I love 'em!

Bats.

PaulPlowman · 11-01-2008, 07:17 PM

Oh, don't get me wrong - I love 'em too! But sometimes it's like loving a relative who does something a bit embarrassing at a family wedding!

batman · 11-01-2008, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulPlowman

Oh, don't get me wrong - I love 'em too! But sometimes it's like loving a relative who does something a bit embarrassing at a family wedding!

That's usually me!

Bats.

Wolfgang · 11-01-2008, 07:48 PM

Dalton's two felt like they were lacking something when they came out but they probably stand up to repeat viewings better than most now. I watched Licence to Kill sometime last year and enjoyed it - Dalton's both have spectacular climaxes which stand them in good stead compared to Brosnan's which just fizzle out. Die Another Day started off pretty well - typical Bond hokum but with that all important edge they like to talk about - but they undid all their good work in its second half.

christoph404 · 13-01-2008, 11:29 PM

I always thought LTK never really felt like a Bond film. It was a good well made film and I enjoyed watching it but it seemed like a fairly gory revenge story from start to finish with the Bond character on his own personal vendetta. I think its the only Bond film where you could have perhaps changed the Bond character to someone else and more or less carry on with the revenge/ drugs baron story more or less as scripted. I believe it did receive criticism for the graphic and sadistic nature of the violence, I guess that must have affected box office as already mentioned. I still see it as the most graphically violent Bond movie of all time including Daniel Craig's recent outing. Getting your nuts whipped with a length of knotted rope is extreme but not quite as bad as getting your legs chewed off by a shark or being flung in a grinding machine or having your head explode while in a decompression chamber! Loveley! The flaming demise of the Davi character at the end has always been cut down for TV and video, on the Ultimate edition DVD John Glenn talks us through a seemingly endless original cut of the Davi character screaming in flames.Too much for me!!

10-01-2008, 11:17 AM	#1
DB7 Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Shrops Posts: 5,757 My Mood: Country: iTrader: (10)	The family Bonds that bind Barbara Broccoli The family Bonds that bind Barbara Broccoli Barbara Broccoli Kevin Maher In 1990, before he passed on the reins of the James Bond franchise to his daughter Barbara and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, the legendary movie honcho Albert “Cubby” Broccoli offered this piece of advice: “This is the golden goose, and don’t let them screw it up. It’s fine for you guys to screw it up, because it’s your baby, but don’t give in to someone else.” Barbara, now 47, says that she found this advice, this emphasis on family and on daring to change, ultimately liberating. The proof of this creative freedom can be found in a reinvented action brand that has ridden the waves of rumour and speculation to produce a 21st-century movie series – one that began with Daniel Craig’s tougher introspective Bond in Casino Royaleand will continue on November 8 with the release of the follow-up, currently titled Bond 22. Bond-watching is, of course, a mildly hysterical media pursuit and every snippet of news reported with gusto: Bond girls revealed! Bond shoots in Barbican Centre! Bond stamps exposed! This puts the intensely private Barbara in that contradictory position of being both in and outside the spotlight. Born in 1960, two years before the release of Dr No, she spent much of her life growing up on far-flung film sets. Here was a childhood, it seems, permeated by a man who does not exist. “I thought James Bond was a real person until I was 6 or 7,” she has said. “He was like this mysterious relative who people talked about. You were always waiting for him to arrive at Christmas.” She eventually succumbed to the dream and, after a stint at LA’s Loyola University, devoted her professional life to the task of bringing the childhood phantasm to life. This emphasis on family, on lineage and continuity is crucial to the Bond franchise and the weight of the Broccoli name. In fact, at times the name seems unduly heavy for her, and she insists on doing all interviews with Wilson – her senior both in age and in production experience. She is reluctant, it seems, to let the name alone do the talking. Which is ironic, considering her brand. “You know the name. You know the number,” ran the tagline for Goldeneye. Her choices, and those of Wilson, for the rebooted Bond franchise have been impeccable. The hiring of Oscar-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis ( Crash) was a masterstroke. Casting a simmering actor such as Craig was a smart move in a film industry enamoured of a high-kicking hustler called Jason Bourne. But torturing Bond on camera, in particular thwacking his exposed gonads with a rope, showed that the franchise had emerged in our geopolitical reality. “The world has become a more dangerous place,” said Barbara, who’s married to the producer Frederick Zollo and has a 15-year-old daughter. It is, it seems, the job of the Bond franchise to reflect that, to entertain us and to prove that nobody does it better.

11-01-2008, 06:10 PM	#3
PaulPlowman Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Manchester Posts: 110 Country: iTrader: (0)	I dunno - apart from the fact that Bond didn't escape in the pre-credits and was tortured, I thought the whole thing was preposterous. :) I know that at the time, Licence To Kill was disappointing, but looking back now I actually prefer it to many of the Roger Moore outings. I don't know. Maybe we weren't cynical enough back then. __________________ <- Insert witty comment here -> ukonscreen.com

11-01-2008, 06:19 PM	#4
batman Chief Member OBME Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Norwich Posts: 13,135 My Mood: Country: iTrader: (9)	I think the intro to DAD is one of the best things in what is an extremely disappointing Bond film. It is well made, exciting and very entertaining. In fact, IMHO, everything up until he gets to Iceland is pretty good .... then it's downhill all the way. LTK is a good Bond film IMHO. It was scuppered by a terrible marketing campaign and by coming up against some heavy duty opposition in the shape of that bloke with the hat and the whip. I thinks it's unfair to compare LTK with any of the Moore Bonds, with the possible exception of FYEO, because it is a completely different animal. Bats. __________________ Bats. Can we be robots again?

11-01-2008, 07:17 PM	#7
PaulPlowman Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Manchester Posts: 110 Country: iTrader: (0)	Oh, don't get me wrong - I love 'em too! But sometimes it's like loving a relative who does something a bit embarrassing at a family wedding! __________________ <- Insert witty comment here -> ukonscreen.com

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

11-01-2008, 05:42 PM	#2
Moor Larkin Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North West Frontier Posts: 1,561 Country: iTrader: (0)	The focus on the most recent movie seems to ignore the fact that she has been involved with the franchise since Octopussy............ I seem to remember a lot of this sort of waffle about 'edge' and so forth when 'Licence To Kill' was produced, twenty years ago. Every time they change the actor it's churned out again. I watched the Halle Berry one the other week (...... from the start for a change). The first half-hour was actually quite intriguing with some interesting ideas reflectiing on James' suffering in his 14 month confinement.......... Then Halle came out of the sea and it was back to business as usual.

11-01-2008, 07:48 PM	#9
Wolfgang Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England Posts: 599 Country: iTrader: (2)	Dalton's two felt like they were lacking something when they came out but they probably stand up to repeat viewings better than most now. I watched Licence to Kill sometime last year and enjoyed it - Dalton's both have spectacular climaxes which stand them in good stead compared to Brosnan's which just fizzle out. Die Another Day started off pretty well - typical Bond hokum but with that all important edge they like to talk about - but they undid all their good work in its second half.

13-01-2008, 11:29 PM	#10
christoph404 Moderator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: London Posts: 1,358 Country: iTrader: (0)	I always thought LTK never really felt like a Bond film. It was a good well made film and I enjoyed watching it but it seemed like a fairly gory revenge story from start to finish with the Bond character on his own personal vendetta. I think its the only Bond film where you could have perhaps changed the Bond character to someone else and more or less carry on with the revenge/ drugs baron story more or less as scripted. I believe it did receive criticism for the graphic and sadistic nature of the violence, I guess that must have affected box office as already mentioned. I still see it as the most graphically violent Bond movie of all time including Daniel Craig's recent outing. Getting your nuts whipped with a length of knotted rope is extreme but not quite as bad as getting your legs chewed off by a shark or being flung in a grinding machine or having your head explode while in a decompression chamber! Loveley! The flaming demise of the Davi character at the end has always been cut down for TV and video, on the Ultimate edition DVD John Glenn talks us through a seemingly endless original cut of the Davi character screaming in flames.Too much for me!!