Nothing thatll spoil the film, but Sam Mendes does discuss one or two sequences within it.
How much ownership, do you feel you have over this film?
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I feel the same sense of ownership over any film Ive made.
Its no different, really.
It just doesnt happen.
Very occasionally theyll say, Were not sure Bond would do that, particularly at the script stage.
But when youre making it, they keep you away from the political conversations at the studio.
For me, it feels like a very personal film.
In the early days, were you apprehensive about taking on such a big project?
Yeah, but thats the excitement of it.
Because everyone has an opinion, as they should do.
Theyre both intelligent people, and that happens all the time.
You learn very quickly to make the movie you want to make, and pray it works.
Shooting in Scotland, did that bring with it any problems?
No problems at all.
Just a complete delight to be in Glencoe.
Its such a spectacular, beautiful place.
It looked amazing with the low clouds.
It was just a joy I wish wed been there longer, actually.
Some of the reviews so far have hailed this as the best Bond film ever.
How do you feel about that?
I feel a sense of relief, most of all, for them and for me.
That doesnt seem to have happened so far.
Once it comes out people might say, Oh my God, this is what happens.
Youve got to go and see it!
But thats word of mouth.
DidJarheadprepare you in any way for this?
Nothing can compare you for a Bond movie.
Its on a different scale from any movie out there.
But thats only eight or nine people in my job every year.
Gary Powell, the head of stunts, his dad was doing it.
When I scored the movie at Abbey Road, I was introduced to Derek.
Dereks a trumpeter, he played trumpet onDr Noin 1962, and on every Bond movie since.
Its like, thats Bond.
And its incredibly moving.
Hes playing that for years, and you have to be moved by that.
Its so English, and we dont do many things that are just us, you know?
There we are, Abbey Road; iconic studio, iconic movie character.
Thats when you feel a responsibility, and nothing can prepare you for that.
Jarheadwas great, because it was me and Roger [Deakins, cinematographer] together for the first time.
We worked handheld, and there was a bit of action, some bangs and explosions.
A lot of that was new to me, having a jet or blowing up a tank or whatever.
I wasnt awed by loud bangs.
My first few loud bangs were onJarhead.
Its just trying to put loud bangs to good use and make them part of the story.
Thats what I consider to be an action sequence.
Its not just about the explosions.
Of course those things have to be there, and you have to think, Whats the coolest thing?
Then you think, Oh, I know, what if theres some heavy machinery on the train?
What if he got in it?
What if he drove it?
You have the idea of the heavy machinery, then you have the idea of getting into it.
He got into a JCB inCasino Royale can he do it again?
Those are the conversations you have, and thats how it develops.
The Daniel turns up and says, What if I did this, or What if I did that?
So you work it a bit more, and thats how it goes.
You use their knowledge to create something that you hope is special.
And thats what it is to make a Bond movie.
You have the moment where Bond adjusts his cuff.
Where did that come from?
He didnt tell me he was going to do that.
He was jumping off a digger arm.
All I was thinking was, Just land.
You know what I mean?
I wasnt thinking about the cuffs.
I was just like, Just land and dont fall off the back.
Because, yeah, hes on a safety wire, but the wires narrower than your biro.
But hes just, Its fine, its fine.
And hes jumping off a digger arm, its 15 feet up and the trains moving.
Why did you love it?
Whats your reading of it?
The style of the man.
And I love that about what Daniel does.
Its something fuelled by a bit of anger.
So you get both things.
You get a real action hero, and you get a man with a sense of style and poise.
You have to find those moments that are quintessential Bond, and its not easy to find them.
And so youre talking to both sets of audiences, really.
Your kids must think its pretty cool that youre directing James Bond, then.
Yeah, theres a definite to desire to be the coolest dad in the school.
But at the same time, you have to undersell what you do.
Its a fantasy profession in a way.
You have to balance it out.
But Im happy to do something they can come and see.
Because they cant see any of my other movies for another 10 years!
You once said that you couldnt imagine a blonde Bond, so what changed your mind?
I dont think I said that.
I certainly said that I didnt think Daniel was the right casting at the time.
Ive been very honest about that.
I could have lied and said it was a brilliant idea.
But at the time, my association with Bond was Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan.
But it took me about 30 seconds ofCasino Royaleto see that I was completely wrong.
And by the way, withoutCasino Royaleand Martin Campbell, I couldnt have made this movie.
We could have a bit more fun, because he started it from ground level again.
How did Roger Deakins cinematography alter the action from what was on the page?
It didnt change it at all.
Thats not how I work, and thats not how Roger works.
Because, when Greengrass does it, its just in a different league.
If work in handheld with a lot of handheld cameras, you have to think in handheld cameras.
Thats not in my blood.
The camera doesnt move that much.
The action is moving, and the camera moves with it.
Its not just moving for the sake of moving.
We worked very hard we built models of it, we shot it with lipstick cameras.
We put glass around it to get the reflections.
So all those things help, and Roger, other than the actors, was my main collaborator.
I think his works amazing, I really do.
But then his work always is, you know?
There are quite a few parallels betweenSkyfalland theBatmantrilogy.
Were you influenced by Nolans films?
That was the big story.
It felt like a very contemporary film at the time, and it took a gazillion dollars, right?
It makes it possible to tell stories that way.
But I would have made the movie the same way had I seenThe Dark Knightor not.
You mentioned the politics and relevance.
You have the Cold War or nuclear threats or whatever.
You cant live have real-world religious or terrorist groups.
It was very specific.
I thought the smaller, and the more specific that was, the stronger the story would be.
You want to soak up as much of the contemporary, hot-button issues, without giving name to them.
They should be in the air.
One of the things I was trying to do was ask, Whats the point of secret intelligence?
Whats the point of MI6?
Therefore, whats the point of Bond, and therefore, whats the point of Bond movies?
Theres an inquiry into the existence of Bond movies thats whats going on!
If you really study it, thats whats going on: Well, why are you still here?
Silva himself says, England, the Empire, MI6 youre living in a ruin.
What are you doing clinging to this notion of nation?
And Helen says, the ideas of spies and espionage is outmoded, a joke.
But M is able to mount a response to that, as is Bond.
But the difference is that M does it verbally and Bond uses action.
Thats the big difference.
Its Bonds 50th anniversary, and this film has lots of deft little touches to the past.
How conscious were you of having things go a bit overboard?
We did that by creating a third act that could have taken place 50 years ago.
There are little touches throughout.
You cant do that in any other movie, so why not do it with this?
Thats the delight, having those moments.
Sam Mendes, thank you very much.
Skyfallis out on the 26th October.
You canread our review here.
