I was completely taken aback by the brutality of Casino Royale. I had asked various friends who had seen the film, including two mothers who had gone with their children, whether they would recommend it. One mother told me that she and her 11-year-old boy had loved it — he had already seen it twice. The other found it boring but her boy had quite liked it. None of my friends had mentioned that the film was full of violent beatings and killings, nor warned me that it contained a scene of horrendous torture in which Bond’s testicles are whipped with heavy iron chains while he howls in agony. I find it depressing that so many people seem to enjoy this kind of thing, or take it in their stride. Perhaps they have been persuaded that it is an essential ingredient of exciting action thrillers. Our tolerance of violence, at any rate on screens large and small, certainly seems to have vastly increased. Of course Bond films have always been violent, but in the past the killings and tortures were of the comic-strip, tongue-in-cheek variety. In Casino Royale the savagery and sadism are realistic. I doubt that such a film would have been open to children under 16 a few years ago. Now they are all rushing to see it. Meanwhile, in real life, politicians and public figures are competing to appear more compassionate and sensitive than the next man or woman. It is very odd.
Speaking of violence, I have recently and rather belatedly become addicted to the American TV political thriller 24 (all five of its series are now on DVD), which is built around the activities of the US government’s anti-terrorist unit, with Kiefer Sutherland as the star.
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