A FILM ABOUT MEN, REAL MEN. NAMED JAMES BOND.
The title is a reference to one of the best James Bond movies, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). It isn’t a documentary about 007 though, but men who are actually called James Bond and how it has shaped their lives. One of them, Gunnar Schäfer, is the only one of the bunch to take the name, a logical move for a man who’s obsessed with Ian Fleming’s agent and has done everything he can to resemble him. The other James Bonds are diverse to say the least; there’s a preacher, a gay theater director in New York and a man who’s been convicted of murder, among others. We also learn more about the ornithologist whose name Fleming borrowed for his agent. The film explores the value and consequences of a name in surprisingly interesting ways.
2023-U.K. 80 min. Color-B/W. Directed by Matthew Bauer. Screenplay: Matthew Bauer, Rene van Pannevis.