Some days ago, Pierce Brosnan was asked by a Times journalist about 007's Christmas plans. His answer: “Why would I waste my time thinking about where James Bond would be at Christmas? [...] But I know where Pierce Brosnan’s going to be spending Christmas! At home with my wife, in my little island retreat in Hawaii!”
No offense taken. I guess we can all imagine Pierce's relaxed, humorous tone when refusing to answer more than one Bond-related question. After all, we know Sean got markedly tired of the role that gave him international fame... and yet his mind never planned something as vile as having the character humiliated over almost three insufferable hours before wiping himself out of earthly existence. And even if he did, people like Cubby, Harry or McClory were professionals and understood that Bond never dies.
Leaving this behind us, let’s answer the question for the gentleman: how does Bond spend Christmas? Two films and a novel provide the answer.
The quintessential Christmas Bond adventure is, undoubtedly, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Both the 1963 novel and the 1969 film take place during this festive season. The action develops more or less in a similar way, with 007 losing his Sir Hilary Bray cover and escaping from Piz Gloria. The book has an interesting passage where Bond, pursued by Blofeld’s goons, reaches the village and sees people celebrating something. It is at this point that he remembers it is Christmas. The movie even features “Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?”, composed by John Barry specifically for the film, with lyrics by Hal David and performed by Nina.
If you don’t feel like toasting at midnight after Tracy gets shot, we have the second Christmas Bond film, The World Is Not Enough.
The festive vibes are subtler here, but in many ways the film encapsulates a unique festive season — the (socially perceived) end of the millennium. A character named Christmas, the Millennium Dome built to celebrate the arrival of 2000, Bond toasting with Dr Jones with fireworks behind them, and the release date of the film — don’t forget that while the US and the UK got it in November, many territories like Latin America or even Europe had the film in December, some even on Christmas Day. I covered some of these subjects in The Bond of the Millennium.
As mentioned before, The World Is Not Enough has Bond celebrating Christmas with Christmas in Turkey, with drinks, fireworks and a sublime, melancholic David Arnold tune. The very last scene of the film has them making love as red and green lights are projected over their bodies, too.
Now, do you want to know how he spends New Year’s Eve? Well, pretty much in the same way. We can see it in the console version of the Nightfire video game, where Bond covers the getaway of DGSE agent Dominique Paradis using a sniper rifle before getting into his Aston Martin Vanquish and averting a truck filled with explosives meant to attack the Eiffel Tower minutes before midnight. With the attack foiled, 007 and Dominique toast as they watch the fireworks over the Seine.
As a side note, we presume this is the beginning of 2003 they were celebrating — Bond’s imprisonment in North Korea took place in 2001, the 9/11 attacks came as he was in captivity, he was freed sometime in 2002, when the main events of Die Another Day took place and he was introduced to the Vanquish… and by December of that year, the Paris Prelude mission of Nightfire took place. This is pure guesswork, mind you.
James Bond is an enforcer working for the British Secret Service who defends the civilized world. He knows no weekends or holidays. Therefore, if duty calls, he will spend Christmas or New Year’s Eve saving the world in some form. Or, if the world isn’t threatened, he may celebrate it with some female companion or in some kind of event — think of the celebration offered by the Governor of The Bahamas in Quantum of Solace, for example.
But relaxing when the world is at risk is not an option for him. I’ll never understand why some people think of Bond as a villain, let alone agree with the abasement of his whole personality under the category of “an assassin”. Fleming may have said he didn’t expect him to be likeable, but that’s a long way from evil. Think about it: how many times did you refuse to give a penny to the beggar in front of the church? How many times did you refuse to help someone if he didn’t give you something in return? Bond is a guy who risks his life every day for people who even ignore his existence. He even serves a country that could ditch him if politics get involved, as it happened in Die Another Day, when the NSA pressured MI6 to cast him aside. The SMERSH dossier on him stressed that he’s not bribable, which means that even if he gets paid by the government, money is not a motivation for him — think of how many times you stopped working when your time was due on a Friday, or how many times you protested because you didn’t have a raise.
That said, I give you my very best wishes. May this Christmas be like the glorious Christmases of 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2002, when cool Bond goodies were waiting for you under the tree. Here you can find a couple more.
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