Post by Paul KerryPost by Helen EvansPost by Holger HaaseMonica Vitti come back, all is forgiven, but I'd rather have a camp,
but proper 60s style Modesty than this anorexic figure who looks like
she could be broken like a twig.
Well, I agree that the film isn't up to much, but I think it's still 100
times better than the Monica Vitti one (which even Peter O'Donnell said "was
so bad it made his nose bleed")
I thought it was quite good. I have never seen the Vitti one and have no
desire to.
I rather enjoy this film, and have recommended to several people.
Post by Paul KerryPost by Helen EvansPost by Holger HaaseWorse than seeing this Size 0 character is the fact that she needs to
report to bosses, gets commanded around by hostage takers and
generally doesn't have anything remotely like the charisma and power
of our literary hero.
... but this is definitely the part that let me down the most. Even
without
Willie, Modesty would have had a plan, she would have knocked the stuffing
out of the kidnappers (albeit with the slight problem that you then have a
5-minute film). And yes, it bothered me deeply that Alexandra Staden looked
like she'd blow away in a light breeze!
Helen
But the point is that this is Modesty before she became boss of the Network.
She doesn't have the experience of the Modesty we know, or her formidable
companion. What you see is the potential coming out. The way she takes
charge when her boss is gone and starts to grow into the position and the
way she is always thinking and looking out for her people, not just for
herself. At first I thought Staden didn't look tough enough, but she acts
the part pretty well. Overall, there is a sense that the film does get what
MB is about. I thought so anyway.
I think there must be an alternate set of Modesty adventures people have
been reading, because I can think of several times where Modesty was
taken hostage, and played a waiting game while waiting for elements of
the plan to come together. Yes, she plans action while waiting, but
still she does not act until she is ready. In Last Day In Limbo, (bear
with me, since this is from memory only), she organizes people to act
when action is required, but she waits until Willy and Maude are in
position before acting. This is very similar to the movie, where she
gets a signal to Raphael, then delays the action until Raphael is in
position, then she manipulates the villain to lead his troops to the
ambush site.
In Sabre-Tooth, she is taken prisoner, and if I recall correctly, she is
raped by one or more people. This is all part of the waiting game,
until she can act.
Another time, can't remember if this is comic or book, when she is taken
hostage, she let's herself be humiliated so she can eat, because keeping
up her strength until she can act is more important than her pride.
Point is, Modesty did have a plan. I suspect she set up the code with
Raphael behind Henri Louche's back, as she considered all the options.
As for reporting to bosses, the story background of book and comics have
always said that the worked for the Louche gang until he got himself
killed, then she took over. This working for the Louche syndicate
sounds like reporting to a boss to me. When did we start re-writing her
history, so that she was always the boss.
Think of your favorite leader, past or present. For example, Napoleon
Bonaparte. He was not always the emperor of France. He initially
worked for the Republic of France, then used his skills and ambition
position him to take over when the country destabilized. I can't think
of any great leader who started from the top on day one. Modesty worked
her way up, learned skills, observed, laid plans, and moved up when
ready. All this is shown in the movie. She was already the boss before
Willy showed up, so this film is a reasonable intro to her for a direct
to DVD movie, while saving the Willie and Modesty dynamics for later.
All in all, a good film. Not great, but for what it is supposed to be,
good.
Mike