BOND VS MODERNISM

New Release: If your vibe is architecture and design, this new Le Corbusier book may be of interest. Phaidon's new massive edition, Le Corbusier Le Grand, clocks in at 768 pages and the original slipcase edition apparently weighs almost 20 pounds! A new (and cheaper) format was published in November. Details on Amazon here. Le Corbusier is celebrated for his sleek modernist buildings, interiors, and furniture. Details: "A spectacular visual biography of the life and work of Le Corbusier (1887–1965), one of Modernism's most influential architects, urban planners, and theorists. Approximately 2,000 images and documents, many previously unpublished, feature his major built works, urban plans, paintings, publications, and furniture as well as sketches, archival photographs, and personal correspondence. Rarely seen photographs and correspondence shed new light on Le Corbusier’s relationships with Josephine Baker, Eileen Gray, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Prouvé, and many others. Insightful introductory essay by France’s most authoritative architectural historian and critic, Jean-Louis Cohen, and incisive chapter introductions by highly regarded Le Corbusier scholar Tim Benton. The same grandly oversized format as Warhol 'Giant Size'." As much as we celebrate modern design, however, it is interesting to note that James Bond author, Ian Fleming, had a great dislike for architects like Le Corbusier. In fact, Modernism itself has been under fire since it began. What's the beef? Story continues below.

Ian Fleming found Le Corbusier's work too stark and rational. In his book, Thrilling Cities, Fleming even referred to one of the designer's environments as a "flattened human ants' nests." And the author's negative feelings about Brutalist architect, Erno Goldfinger, even inspired the name of one of his most legendary villains. Fleming's reaction is not surprising, considering his preference for unpretentious dwellings and his famous need to escape away from his wife's stuffy dinner parties. There's no room to escape in open-plan living. He was most at home at GoldenEye, a simple house he had built for himself in Jamaica. Despite our love of modern design now, Fleming wasn't alone in his criticism. There has been a kind of mistrust in the culture. Some attribute it to the link between Fascism and Futurism, which launched in Italy in 1909. A cold, orderly, and technological existence versus the more traditional image of hearth and home, with its emphasis on family, cosy fireplaces, and comfy furniture. The mistrust runs along the same lines as the fear and fascination with science. An early cinematic critique can be found in The Black Cat (1934), which featured evil architect Hjakmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff) living in a mechanized, modernist mansion -with his own gallery of frozen women in the basement! The Cybernauts story in The Avengers famously criticized a modern world taken with gadgets and people replaced by machines. And doesn't this line of dialog ring true? "This heralds a new age. Computers no bigger than a cigarette box. Pocket television. And radios smaller than a wristwatch." Even Star Wars was founded on a thematic contrast between nature/spirit and technological terror. It is no mistake that on-screen Bond villains, with their aim to redesign society as an ordered utopia, are closely linked to Modernism. Compare the sleek, corporate environments of the baddies in almost any 007 adventure with M's world of club chairs, libraries, gourmet dining, and pipe smoke, and a thematic contrast really becomes apparent. Below: work by Le Corbusier.

We are so attracted by the modern aesthetic, from the new wave of loft-style real estate to the success of Apple products. But filmmakers continue to issue these subtle warnings, either by convention or design. An interesting example was the most recent version of the Body Snatchers story (The Invasion/2007), where the soulless duplicates suddenly became a well-dressed army representing consumerism and globalization. As much as we love to envision ourselves lounging in a minimal lair, I think Fleming and many filmmakers would caution us not to lose our humanity or individualism. I have noted "good-guy" spaces in contemporary Bond films becoming sleeker and more mechanical, which the designers try to balance by showing quirky desk ornaments and more traditional home environments. Is it a sign our heroes are becoming too rational and orderly? Is it a military mindset? Skyfall did a great job weaving in this theme by frequently calling attention to how the "old ways are the best." Despite my aesthetic critique from a cinematic lens, I do encourage Spy Vibers to check out the new Le Corbusier book from Phaedon. It's stunning! But maybe read it with a cup of tea by the fireplace- just in case. Learn More: Le Corbusier, Ian Fleming. Related Spy Vibe posts: Erno Goldfinger, Modern Architecture LP, Set For Adventure. Below: Contrast between some of my favorite 007 Baddie set designs by Ken Adam and variations of M's traditional office. Enjoy!

Selected Spy Vibe posts: Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Road to Hong Kong, Inside Gerry Anderson, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, SPECTRE Announced, Popular Skullture, New Gerry Anderson Sets, New SECRET AGENT set, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Modesty Monday, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, Home Movies, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, 007 Audio Books Return, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Mattel X-15, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Danger Diabolik Soundtrack, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The 10th Victim German Edition, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.

MACABRE MYSTERY WEEK: POE

With the recent release of the Fantomas collection from Kino International, Halloween last weekend, and a new Richard Sala book around the corner, It's been macabre mystery mania here at the Spy Vibe lair. I unfortunately missed the debut of the new Sherlock Holmes, but I have been busy enjoying the thrills and intrigue of classic French characters like Fantomas and Judex. Fans familiar with the penny dreadful tradition of serialized pulp fiction will hopefully recognize this rogue's gallery of mystery villains and avengers. If you have made the leap to an eReader, you might want to check out one of the many original Fantomas novels available on-line (many are priced around $1.00). You can even read them on your smart phone with Kindle's free app!


Spy Vibe wraps up Macabre Mystery Week with clips from two excellent film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. In addition to the wonderfully dark storytelling and the charisma of these two classic Horror stars, both films feature imaginative and modern set designs. In The Raven (1935), Lugosi plays a surgeon who is driven mad by his love for a young woman he saved. His character is obsessed with Poe and a hidden lair of traps and chambers lies just behind the secret door in his bookcase. The mad doctor has built a working pendulum from The Pit and the Pendulum, and, while the contractors were there anyway, he went the extra distance to install one of those little rooms with walls that come crushing in. Throw Boris Karloff into the mix as a disfigured henchman and you have quite a nasty little treasure of a movie for the Halloween season.


Architecture fans will be even more excited to see The Black Cat (1934). In this story, Karloff plays an evil designer who has constructed a vast, modern home on the site of his old camp from WWI. The rooms sport contrasting curves and geometric lines, as well as Star Trek-like sliding doors. Down a spiral staircase below this marvel, however, lies hidden, angular chambers that resemble the bomb-shelter inspired designs of Ken Adam (James Bond series). The space is made creepier by its war-time roots, not to mention Karloff's collection of ladies preserved in glass cases (including the wife of Lugosi's character!). Well, you can imagine they have a lot to talk about. Did I mention the mad designer is also a satanist cult leader? This movie has it all. The film's production team included designer Edgar Ulmer, who also worked on Fritz Lang's M, Spies, Metropolis, and on Murnau's Sunrise. The art director of The Black Cat was Charles Hall, well-known for his many moody projects for Universal, including The Cat and the Canary, The Old Dark House, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Bride of Frankenstein.


Here is a useful overview of the films from Monster Madness. I think Spy Vibers will enjoy the overall style of both movies and their use of adventure/thriller conventions. The Black Cat stairway photo still is from designer Quang Truong's post on modernism, The Black Cat, and Jacques Tati. More about set design and Ken Adam at Spy Vibe's article Set For Adventure here.