In this photocentric book, readers are shown 19 destinations—Jamaica, Venice, Rome, Bahamas, Istanbul, Egypt, Udaipur, Morocco, Greece, Lake Como, Mexico, Brazil, Sardinia, Scotland, London, The Alps, Côte d’Azur, Hong Kong, and Thailand. It’s packed with analysis on why such locations were chosen and how each helped exemplify the James Bond character. It includes comments from longtime producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli; actors like Ben Whishaw, who plays Q in the most recent Bond films; and even Olympic alpine skier-turned- cameraman, Willy Bogner Jr.
‘An Exciting Travelogue’
With 233 illustrations—primarily location photographs taken during a film shoot—readers can not only reminisce about scenes from the 60-plus years of movie magic, but they can also create their own quasi-Bond-pilgrimage travel plans, or at least identify some of the locations that allowed them to walk, drive, swim, or ski in the footsteps of Bond. I did so with the Bahamas, Scotland, and London locations.“Like an exciting travelogue, 007 films take audiences around the world, opening doors to different cultures,” Gregg Wilson, associate producer of the Bond franchise, is quoted saying.
This “travelogue” tells readers why certain places were chosen. Some locations are obvious, such as London, since Bond works for British intelligence. Scotland, plays a more primal role for Bond, since his character is half-Scottish on his father’s side. His Scottish heritage comes to the forefront like never before in “Skyfall” (2012), where he returns to his childhood home, Skyfall Lodge, located in the Scottish Highlands, to take on villain Raoul Silva and his henchmen (both the Highlands and the lodge are displayed in the book). Bond’s other half is Swiss, which helps explain why Bond films are often set in the Swiss Alps, such as “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969), “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), “GoldenEye” (1995), and “Spectre” (2015).
As the book makes clear, the producers of the films, primarily the Broccoli family, which includes Mr. Wilson, have diligently worked to remain true to the original books written by Ian Fleming. One location that’s instrumental to Bond’s character and the entire idea of the series is Jamaica—fittingly placed at the beginning of the chronology. It was in Jamaica that Fleming wrote his spy novels, and it is therefore, as Ms. Broccoli and Mr. Wilson suggest, “Bond’s spiritual home.”
More Than Film Settings
Some locations, however, were selected not only because of their beauty and grandeur, but also because of how they might be used for specific scenes. According to the book, producers and cinematographers would often make mental notes of places that might possibly be used in future films. One instance was in the Bahamas. Peter Lamont, who was the set director on 18 Bond films from “Goldfinger” (1964) to “Casino Royale” (2006), noticed an abandoned construction site during the shooting of “The Spy Who Loved Me.”When the script for “Casino Royale” (2006) called for a construction site for an action sequence, Lamont recalled his time in the Bahamas. “Peter Lamont found the half-completed site was still there and we thought it was ideal for the parkour chase,” Mr. Wilson said. The chase proved one of the more memorable opening scenes in Bond films.
Even more interesting is how the Bond films impacted those locations. Many of these places, whether cities or mere tourist attractions, have benefited from increased tourism due to a film’s setting. In a surprising twist, Mexico City used an idea created by the film producers to begin a new tradition. In “Spectre,” the pre-title sequence begins with a Day of the Dead parade, which the city had never had before.
As the book points out, “While it is a long-standing tradition to mark Day of the Dead in the Mexican capital, the parade itself was inaugurated in 2016, after ‘Spectre’ came out—a fine example of how Bond fans can congregate to both embrace and enhance these film locations.”
