Skyfall is one of my favourite films.
Some of my opinions are essentially unjustifiable, and if I’m honest with myself, this is probably one. Most people don’t even think it’s the best Bond film – or even the best one with Daniel Craig. Yet here I am, watching it about once every two weeks, loving it every time. I thought it might be interesting to explore why.
I first watched Skyfall pretty shortly after its release in 2012. We were visiting some family friends, and we rented it – incidentally, it was probably the last rented film I ever watched. Strangely, it didn’t have much of an impact on me at the time. I enjoyed it, of course – how could anyone not? – but I didn’t see in it what I see now.
Part of it is my relationship with comfort and boredom. I’m not someone who typically gets bored of things I enjoy, at least not quickly. I can, and indeed often do, listen to a single song on repeat for days on end. Similarly, it’s become a habit of mine that I watch Skyfall pretty much once every fortnight. There’s no regularity to it: I don’t watch it every second Sunday, or anything like that. I just know that if there’s nothing on YouTube that appeals to me, I can pop Skyfall on, and I’ll be happy (or at least distracted) for the next couple of hours.
Of course, I do think it’s a genuinely good film. Javier Bardem offers a very compelling performance, and Craig is marginally less wooden than in some of his other films. The pacing is excellent, as is the location selection – few films (with the notable exceptions of Inception **and The Grand Budapest Hotel) manage to create such neat separations between different “acts”. The score is also wonderful, as is the colouring: the classic action movie trope of blue and orange is extremely prevalent throughout the beginning of the film, but this gradually fades as the tone becomes more serious and less of a “romp”.
It’s also one of few films where all of the locations are genuinely appealing, albeit in different ways. A lot of films make a conscious effort to be dark and gritty. In Skyfall, the movement is from the bustle of Istanbul, with a brief stopgap on a paradisiacal island, through to London, then Shanghai, to another idyllic (albeit abandoned and well past its prime) island, then back to London and finally up to Scotland (with a postscript in London). The deserted island is perhaps the only location which truly seems barren and non-life-giving – the eponymous Skyfall house, though bleak, has a certain grandeur and beauty from its isolation, and was largely portrayed in this bleak way to highlight Bond’s troubled relationship with the house (and, thus, with his past).
But I accept that these merits are largely subjective, and that I probably give them more weight than I ought – I may be subconsciously reverse-engineering the reasons I like the film, so that I don’t feel quite as silly for enjoying it so much. Much more important, I think, are the associations I have with it, and the film’s relationship with my own life and psyche (such as it is).
I really got into Skyfall while I was in sixth form. Those were two very happy years for me, so I imagine there’s a very positive association there. Even now, when I imagine myself watching Skyfall, that’s where my mind goes – even though I’ve watched it on trains, in cars, and in numerous different houses and locations. There’s something very pleasant about being able to take myself back to those very happy years.
More importantly, though, it’s a great source of comfort for me. I’m a creature of habit, and while I’ve been learning how to say yes to more things, and how to grow my appetite for risk, at my core I remain somebody who values consistency. I know that if I enjoy something once, I’ll probably enjoy it again. It’s why I can eat carbonara six times in a week, and it’s why I’ve watched Skyfall well over a hundred times. From that iconic opening scene, I know exactly what to expect. There’s nothing new, there are no surprises. Sometimes there’s excitement in novelty, but sometimes, it’s about knowing what’s ahead, and looking forward to it.
I often say in the context of arguments or frustrations that “it’s never about what it’s about”. I suppose the same is true here of my relationship with Skyfall. it’s not that Skyfall is truly my favourite film, or the best film I’ve ever seen. It’s not about the near-perfect pacing, the great cast, or the fabulous locations. It’s about comfort, and safety, and knowing that whatever I need to distract myself from, Skyfall will be there as the distraction.