Walter Benjamin and Casino Royale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN-FrdRDz7M

In his essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin discusses how actors in film differ from actors on stage. Some of the points that Benjamin makes are displayed in Casino Royale.

In section IX, Benjamin writes, “In particular, lighting and its installation require the presentation of an event that, on the screen, unfolds as a rapid and unified scene, in a sequence of separate shootings which may take hours at the studio; not to mention more obvious montage” (8). Benjamin is describing how a scene in a movie that may only be a few seconds long can be filmed as separate parts and put together to form the scene. This is especially evident in action sequences such as the clip I provided from Casino Royale. At the beginning of the clip the other guy jumps from the crane and the camera follows him until the moment before he lands on the building. Then the camera switches back to James Bond before switching back to the other guy standing on the building. This switching of camera angles happens many times in the scene and leads the audience to believe that it is one flowing sequence, even if filming took place on many occasions.

Later in section IX Benjamin describes a situation where, “an actor is supposed to be startled by a knock at the door. If his reaction is not satisfactory, the director can resort to an expedient: when the actor happens to be at the studio again he has a shot fired behind him without his being forewarned of it. The frightened reaction can be shot now and be cut into the screen version” (9). This replacement cannot be done in a stage performance, and can be taken even further in a film. Directors can replace actors entirely with stunt doubles in certain scenes. In Casino Royale, three other men were stunt doubles for Daniel Craig. The use of stunt doubles and montages in film prove Walter Benjamin’s points about stage actors differing from film actors.

Russell Bowles