His name smacks like the patronymic of a double agent of the heyday of the Soviet Union. Aliocha Wald Lasowski, whose ancestors were born on the borders of Ukraine, is a university professor, specialist in political philosophy which he teaches at Sciences-Po Lille. Passionate since his earliest childhood about the missions of 007, discovered in the company of his brothers and his sister (with Octopussy , in particular), this iconoclastic researcher has just released an essay on Max Milo on his favorite hero, titled like an enigma: The Five Secrets of James Bond .
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Taking up the rigorous intellectual approach that he followed when writing his works on Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser, Aliocha Wald Lasowski, in an interview he gave to Le Figaro , gives the "philoscopic" codes that guided his essay. A myriad of concepts which he urges to capture all the flavor.
LE FIGARO. - How was your passion for James Bond born?
Aliocha WALD LASOWSKI . - You know, like everything, it goes back to my young years. Spy and entertainment cinema is a fraternal craze. With my two little brothers and my little sister we saw Octopussy . With the family VCR, we played it four times. What joy ! We discovered with amazed eyes the airborne vehicle of the pre-generic ... In short, a fantastic world worthy of Jules Verne and today of Indiana Jones opened to us!
You approach James Bond as an object of philosophy in its own right. Isn't that an exaggeration?
Not at all. Many thinkers have already analyzed the classics and comedies of Hollywood cinema. I am thinking in particular of, among others, Some like it hot . James Bond, who has been on the big screen since 1962 and in literature since 1953, deserved to receive his acclaim. It must be understood that Bond's gesture is a modern mythology, in line with The Iliad and The Odyssey . Who on the planet has not heard of James Bond? Philosophy is interested in metaphysical objects but also in everyday objects. And what I call Bondian philoscopy deals with all political themes, relations between men and women, violence, humor, the manner of speaking, aesthetic codes. It is a complete integral philosophical object, with codes that must be deciphered.
In your essay, you imply that beyond stereotypes, 007 is a hero ahead of his time?
He's a moving character. I fight the idea that James Bond would be frozen in a kind of stereotype that would repeat itself from film to film. Each scenario participates in a transformation of the world, discusses with the changes. James is never a prisoner of his image. The proof, it has been making us dream for sixty years.
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For you Skyfall , which shows our secret agent in the grip of psychoanalytic doubts, would be a demonstration of your thesis ...
I do not make you say it: success is stubborn. It was the best-selling movie of the entire franchise and I know it has exceeded one billion euros in revenue worldwide. This saga, like diamonds, is eternal. In this mission, we detect Hitchcock with this villain, magnificently camped by Javier Bardem, who draws the source of his hatred in revenge. This original crack gives history an additional disturbance, well anchored in our 21st century.
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In your book, you compare Bondian aesthetics to Baudelairian dandyism. Why ?
What makes bond an unrivaled pop icon? It is because he is a perfect gentleman, a universal gentleman in the noblest sense. I would even add that he created a sort of "British attitude" which was embodied by a Scottish, an Australian, a Welshman, an Irishman, and also by two Englishmen.
James Bond is not an icy John the Square spy. This spy wears Prada. He likes Dom Pérignon, luxury cars, the best wines, the most beautiful women. Luxury, pleasure, not too calm, it is true. And that is why there is, however, a nuance between the Baudelairian dandyism which results in a refusal of society. Bond in his own way is nonconformist, but he adapts. He prefers the Bahamas to the outskirts of Paris. The Bondian dandyism is more casual, nonchalant. From this point of view, Roger Moore is perfect because he brings the spirit of a kind of Italian comedy. He wants to be out of step. Like a light boastful, he plays with his adversaries, with women, with missions. But he remains intelligent and we can see it today, because there is a continuum. Daniel Craig is asking him questions. This false casualness is basically a true philosophy.
You use the word " boastful " . Do you think Vittorio Gassman has a perfect secret agent?
It would have been magnificent. This Italian actor, at once majestic and anxious would have perfectly associated the icy mastery of espionage, lost in a London fog, with a Mediterranean smoothness. You see, just with this idea, we see that the gesture of James Bond will live, or at least, that it is not about to die.
Octopussy by John Glenn in 1983 with Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan ...
