James Bond – Casino Royale
When James Bond finally falls into the hands of Le Chiffre, the film’s big bad guy, the latter tortures him by hitting his testicles with a rope. Particularly realistic scene which fits logically into the scenario and allows us to revisit the archetype of the brave hero in the face of death.
Daniel Craig is excellent in this scene. He manages to give nuance and realism to the caricature character of James Bond. It’s a scene that echoes the many kills of the secret agent in the previous films in the saga. We remember Roger Moore, Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan, who joked maliciously while teasing their torturers. This scene, more than any other in the film, marks the new direction of the franchise with Daniel Craig.
After this sequence, James Bond is also presented in a wheelchair, badly damaged, almost emasculated. The character becomes human and all the physical feats he has previously performed seem less grotesque.