Bond Girl at 50: Why Monica Bellucci is perfect as one
The moment the term “Bond Girl” is thrown at one, the imagination conjures up the image of a sultry, scalding-hot sex siren in a swimsuit or an uber-sexy girl in tights too tight, standing-sitting-sleeping next to Ian Fleming’s cunning linguist. More often than not, the one thing that connects all of these Bond girls, is their age. On the silver screen, from 1962, when the first Bond film – Dr No – hit the theatres, to 2012, when Skyfall made the sky fall over many heads with Daniel Craig’s oh-so-hot bod, there’s been but this one constant in the films – the age of Bond’s ladies. And so is the case in Fleming’s novels, too. The Bond Girl is more often than not someone in her mid-twenties, separated in age by at least a decade from Bond, who, well, is eternally in his mid-thirties.
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So, the very moment a new Bond film is announced, the curiosity to know who’s playing the Bond Girl(s) in the thriller runs way higher than the curiosity to know who’s playing Bond. Such is the role of glamour and sophistication and sexiness in our daily lives. The last of the 007 films thus far, Skyfall, had the jaw-droppingly hot Berenice Marlohe’s Severine with Daniel Craig’s Bond. The 23rd in the installment, Skyfall, fulfilled most people’s fantasies of the Bond girl in Severine, and the 35-year-old Berenice was more than sex personified on the silver screen.
When the next in the series, Spectre, was announced yesterday, it took most people by shock. None of the Bond fans, to be honest, expected Monica Bellucci to be a Bond girl. Bellucci, for one, is 50 years old. But then, you just have to see the Dolce-and-Gabbana-clad Bellucci – the way she appeared during the photo call for Spectre – in order to realise why even at 50, she can make her juniors self-conscious, if not put them to downright shame. Her acting skills apart, the actress has to her name the film Malena. Her eponymous role in the 2000 Italian film still has guys fantasising about her – with or without understanding Italian. Belluci’s unabashed sexuality, her unbridled, raw seduction is but what the Bond Girl is defined by. And that the actress is doing it at 50, is just another feather in her already-bedecked cap.
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In 1964, when Honor Blackman played the role of Pussy Galore in the film Goldfinger, she was 39. Honor’s honour of being the oldest Bond Girl is now the second on the list, thanks to Bellucci.
We’re yet to see what Daniel Craig’s Spectre manages to do in 2015, when it hits the theatres. But there’s one thing for certain: it has created a history in the Bond world already – with Monica Bellucci. And far as the Box Office is concerned, it might break a few histories there, too. It is, after all, not every year that we are treated to a 007 thriller. Good or bad, one deserves to be watched.
So, the internet might be going berserk laughing at “Monica Bellucci is the first Bond Aunty” jokes, but the actress, alongside Naomie Harris and newbie Lea Seadoux appears no less than a Bond Girl. Yes, even at 50.
