Of Human Bond-age: 007 Gets Complex

If there’s one thing we can count on as we rush headlong into the next millennium, it’s that James Bond will be along for the ride, keeping the world safe from evil egomaniacs and political correctness with his timeless brand of shaken, not stirred fun.

“The World Is Not Enough,” which opens Friday, is Pierce Brosnan’s third outing as British agent 007.

The tone this time is darker and rougher around the edges, with greater emphasis on story and characterization, particularly among the intriguing people who surround him: M (Judi Dench), the stern boss whose maternal warmth comes through as she becomes part of the plot for the first time; Elektra (Sophie Marceau), the beautiful and powerful seductress who transcends the usual Bond villainess; and Renard (Robert Carlyle), a deadly but sad terrorist impervious to pleasure and pain because of a bullet lodged in his brain. Comely young actress Denise Richards playing a Bond love interest adds the requisite sizzle.

If audiences embrace this 19th Bond film, it will certainly solidify Brosnan’s standing in the most profitable and enduring franchise in movie history (rapidly approaching a worldwide gross of $3 billion). For now, at least, he can take comfort in the fact that he’s the most successful Bond yet, accounting for nearly $700 million and counting and attracting a whole new generation of fans.

In “World” the 46-year-old Irish actor was in the capable hands of British director Michael Apted, a curious choice for the film. The 58-year-old Apted specializes in character-driven dramas (“Gorillas in the Mist”) and intimate documentaries (“42 Up,” his latest in the “7 Up” series, opens at the Nuart on Dec. 10).

Apted has tried to instill a humanizing touch to the Bond series that many felt was missing from the last two films, “GoldenEye” and ‘Tomorrow Never Dies.”

During a recent interview in Los Angeles, Brosnan and Apted discussed the making of “World” and why an adrenaline rush is not enough to sustain the Bond franchise.

*

Question (to Apted): How was it for you to come in as an outsider and handle all of the demands of an action-adventure and a legendary franchise?

Apted: Well, that was the single most difficult thing. I had to pay attention to what I was doing as well as what everyone else was doing. The whole pre-production was intimidating. I was asked to make decisions about things I wasn’t going to shoot for six months. It was very stressful.

Once we started shooting, a sense of priority began taking place, and I had to be on top of everything so the thing wouldn’t run away from me. There’s so much stuff to do, like the song being written and the opening titles being done.

Q: That pre-credit sequence alone is like a mini-movie with the shootout, the escape, the explosive murder, the boat chase and the balloon finale. How long is it?

Apted: Fourteen and a half minutes. Designing the action sequences [for the opening] was very complicated and overwhelming.

Q (to Brosnan): You’ve talked in the past about wanting to broaden and deepen the Bond films, particularly after your disappointment with “Tomorrow Never Dies” because of its dependence on wall-to-wall action. Is this what you had in mind in “The World Is Not Enough”?

Brosnan: Yes. It [“World”] moves like a bullet, and it’s got content and style. And thanks to this man on my right, Mr. Apted, attention was paid to story and character, and it was a great time, actually. It was, for me, a walk in the park, really. It was not very stressful. All I had to do was show up.

Q (to Brosnan): Although the Broccoli family [heirs of late Bond producer Albert Broccoli] is very protective of the Bond legacy and won’t let you go too far, if it were up to you, what would you do with the character?

Brosnan: If it was up to me, you would have scenes that have sex and violence. That’s what this man is about. There would be lovemaking scenes that are palpable, like in “Thomas Crown Affair” [Brosnan starred in a recent remake of the film with Rene Russo] which were easy on the eye and exciting and erotic and tasteful. And I think you can work that into Bond as well.

Q: Kind of kinky?

Brosnan: Definitely kinky. He was born from the pen of Fleming with a perverseness. There’s always a shadow in those stories. And violence, too; this man has a license to kill. But how does he kill? And you [would] see that violence. We’ve reached a good part of it here in this film. But I would love to take the censorship off it without being gratuitous, without being distasteful. Just sort of, ha! So you could be more believable. So you could have both: the intensity of the killing, which is very clinical and matter of fact, and then you go into the humor. You go back to the flip side of things.

Q (to Apted): You must have been surprised to even be approached to direct a Bond film.

Apted: It was kind of odd to ask me to do an action film. Once I figured out what I could offer it, that they wanted to redress the balance a bit between action and the other stuff, it was a fantastic opportunity for me in many, many ways. As a career opportunity, to do a big-budget film and have a go at that kind of stuff, to learn about action and to learn about computers and all that. At my age to have those kind of challenges cast your way.

Q: It seemed more human than most of the others. Was that something you insisted on?

Apted: When I first met Pierce and was offered the job, Pierce was saying, “Give me stuff to do. I’ll do the action, but I don’t want to spend six months running around, shooting guns and being fired at.” And, of course, he was right. I went back to Ian Fleming [author of the Bond series] because I found it very empowering and reassuring. I think Pierce’s Bond is much nearer the book than any of the other guys, no matter how dazzling Sean [Connery] was or amusing Roger [Moore] was. That wonderful tightrope Pierce walks between having a license to kill and being vulnerable and complex, interested in people and respectful of women.

Q: What’s interesting is that Bond can be a catalyst for [the others] to explore their own demons.

Brosnan: Bond remains a constant. He never changes. He’s the one stabilizer within the whole genre. And he’s the one who remains somewhat timeless, somewhat trapped within a period of time as well. My task was always trying to find my own reality within it: How do you make it human but still keep the fantasy and mystique of the character? What is his relationship with M? What is his relationship with the woman that he will encounter? And how far can you push those relationships in a Bond film?

Q: Yet it seems you found a dark side emerging around the edges of this film.

Brosnan: There’s this menage a trois [involving Bond, Elektra and Renard] that is rather perverse when you think about it. I mean, this secret agent who just goes through women, but for the first time he’s kind of lent himself to this woman out of guilt. And not only that, she’s a great seductress too, and she knows it. And just when he’s near the edge of the abyss, the worm turns.

Q: How many more Bond films are you going to do?

Brosnan: My contract calls for one more. I love doing the role. It gives me great joy. It gives me wonderful financial security. It helps my career in many ways, creating my own company, to kind of accentuate the positive aspects of it. I guess I’ve painted myself into a corner. But you let the paint dry and it’s not a bad corner at all. So, yes, I’ll do a fourth. I’d like to leave at No. 20 in 2002.