Bond girl: Vesper Lynd (2006)
February 28, 2015Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Bond girl: Vesper Lynd
007 Film: Casino Royale (2006)
Actress: Eva Green
Vesper is initially skeptical about Bond’s ego and at first is unwilling to be his trophy at the poker tournament with Le Chiffre. She refuses to bankroll him after he goes bankrupt on an early hand. However, she assists Bond during his struggle with Steven Obanno, knocking away the gun from the latter. She afterwards retreats to the shower, feeling that she has blood on her hands from helping to kill Obanno. Bond kisses the “blood” off her hands to comfort her, and they return to the casino. Shortly afterwards she saves Bond’s life. Poisoned by Le Chiffre’s girlfriend, Valenka, Bond struggles unsuccessfully to connect a key wire to his automatic external defibrillator, but Vesper arrives and makes the proper connection, allowing the machine to revive him.
After Bond wins the tournament, Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper, and Bond gives chase. They fall into Le Chiffre’s trap, but both are saved by Quantum henchman Mr. White, who shoots and kills Le Chiffre for misappropriating his organisation’s funds.
While both are in a hospital to recover from torture, Bond and Vesper fall deeply in love, and Bond plans to resign from the service in order to be with her. As in the novel, Bond and Vesper go on vacation to Venice, hoping to start a new life. Unknown to Bond, however, Vesper embezzles the money and delivers it to a group of Quantum henchmen. When Bond realizes what has happened and goes after Vesper, the thugs take her hostage and lock her in an elevator while they do battle with him. After several explosions, the flooded building sinks, but Vesper resigns herself to death and locks herself in, even as Bond frantically tries to open the elevator. In her final gesture, she kisses Bond’s hands to clear him of guilt. Bond finally extricates her and tries to revive her using CPR, to no avail.
As in the novel, Bond copes with his lover’s death by renouncing her, saying, “The job’s done and the bitch is dead.” M chastises him, assuming that Lynd had cut a deal with her blackmailers to spare him in return for the money, and states that “I’m sure she hoped they’d let her live. But she must have known she was going to her death.” When Bond opens Vesper’s mobile phone afterwards, he finds that she has left Mr. White’s phone number, enabling Bond to track down and confront him at the movie’s end.