Camille Montes
 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (November 2015) |
| Camille Montes Rivero | |
|---|---|
| James Bond character | |
 | |
| Portrayed by | Olga Kurylenko |
| In-universe information | |
| Affiliation | Bolivian Intelligence |
| Classification | Bond girl |
Camille Montes Rivero is a fictional character in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace portrayed by actress Olga Kurylenko.[1][2]
In film
Camille is a Bolivian national.[3] She first meets James Bond (Daniel Craig) in Haiti, where she intends to kill General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio), who murdered her entire family when she was a child. She sleeps with Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a member of the terrorist group Quantum, to get to Medrano, but Greene soon grows suspicious of her and plots to kill her.
Camille arranges a meeting with a geologist selling classified information that is detrimental to Greene's front company, Greene Planet. However, Greene has already hired assassin Edmund Slate (Neil Jackson) to pose as the geologist (whom Camille has not met in person) and kill Camille. Bond intercepts and kills Slate and takes his suitcase without knowing the contents. Camille spots Bond on the street with the suitcase and believes he is the geologist. Bond opens the suitcase and unwittingly reveals Slate's gun and documents that show Camille as a target. Believing Bond has come to kill her, Camille attempts to shoot him before fleeing. She returns to Greene, intent on being introduced to Medrano so she can kill him. When Greene betrays Camille, Bond rescues her, and they team up to go after Greene and Medrano.
Bond leaves Camille for a short period of time after she is knocked unconscious during a boat chase[4] in Haiti to follow Greene to Austria, tracking him to a performance of Tosca. Camille soon appears at Greene's formal fundraising party to ruin it. Greene attempts to push her from a balcony but, once again, Bond saves her life.
Bond intervenes and takes her away from Greene, using MI6 Agent Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) as a distraction, to prevent Greene's associate from following Bond and Camille as they leave the party; this costs Fields her life. Camille watches Bond as he kills Bolivian police officers in cold blood as revenge for murdering his friend and ally Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini).
Camille and Bond trace Greene and Medrano to a desert eco-hotel. While Bond goes to fight Greene and his men, Camille faces Medrano, who attempts to rape and kill her. Camille gets the upper hand, however, and kills the dictator with a single shot to the head. As the hotel collapses around them, Bond shields Camille from the fire, and helps her escape. Bond leaves Greene in the middle of the desert and drives Camille to a train station so she can go back to her home. The two share a quick kiss, and Camille wishes Bond luck in conquering his personal demons.
Behind the scenes
Barbara Broccoli said that she intended for Camille to return for Skyfall or a future film.[5] The character did not appear in Skyfall, however, nor the subsequent Bond films, Spectre and No Time to Die.
Analysis
Laureen Gibson argued that Montes is "arguably a female version of Bond rather than a Bond girl". Gibson goes on to point out that her mission was accomplished first, whereas in previous Bond films, "women's individual missions were secondary to or subsumed by Bond's".[6] Montes is also a rarity in that she does not have sex with Bond.[7]
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, who was critical of Quantum of Solace as a whole, compared Montes unfavorably to the more colorful Bond girls of previous films in the series, such as Goldfinger's Pussy Galore, GoldenEye's Xenia Onatopp, and Diamonds Are Forever's Plenty O'Toole.[8]
References
- ^ "Camille". MI6: The Home of James Bond 007. January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- ^ Orquiola, John (26 September 2020). "Quantum Of Solace (2008) – Camille Montes". James Bond: Every Bond Girl Who Didn't Die. ScreenRant. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- ^ "The Secrets of Quantum of Solace". IGN. April 5, 2008. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ "Olga Kurylenko almost died while filming Quantum of Solace boat stunt". Film News. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- ^ "Daniel To Do Third Bond". Heart 106.2. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-30.[dead link]
- ^ Gibson, Laureen (2018). "Challenging the Gender Binary in Bond Films: Bond Girls, Female Villains, and James". Fashion, Agency, and Empowerment: Performing Agency, Following Script. London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 9781350058279. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ DeMichael, Tom (2012). James Bond FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Everyone's Favorite Superspy. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 241. ISBN 9781480337862. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (November 11, 2008). "A Q only in Quantum". The Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group. Retrieved September 6, 2021 – via RogerEbert.com.