(Dis)Continuities in Bond: A Bakhtinian Analysis of the 007 Films

Summary: Two distinctly Bakhtinian elements are relevant to understanding both continuities and discontinuities across the various James Bond films. Firstly, Bakhtin’s so-called “adventure-time” chronotope has been explicitly linked, in film criticism, to the 007 movie-series, particularly in relation to the lack of character development in these movies. This article analyses how the latest cycle of Daniel Craig 007 movies show, on the contrary, clear elements of such development, linked in turn to the greater chronotopic complexity of this recent cycle. Secondly, carnivalesque motifs (casinos, circuses, carnivals per se) have been a feature of 007 movies since their inception. This article traces the (re)appearance of such motifs across the 24 films, as well as arguing for a broader carnivalesque significance to these films, linked in turn to their comic nature. Emphasis here is placed on continuities between the Daniel Craig cycle and earlier Bond films.