Something old and something new #01: Dr. No (1962)

British cinema poster for Dr. No, designed by David Chasman and illustrated by Mitchell Hooks

I call this post my Something old and something new because this talks about something old (like an old film, restaurant, food, etc) which is new to me. I was once talking to my good friend Kinah and she mentioned that she has watched all of the James Bond films. I love crime and spy stories, but I have never watched a single James Bond film because I wasn't a fan of old films. But lately, I found myself so curious about Skyfall that I decided to go way, way back and watch the first-ever James Bond film, Dr. No. I'm now angling for the second movie because, to my pleasant surprise, I really enjoyed it!

Sean Connery is oh-so-suave, but I guess that's the appeal of being James Bond; you're slick, you're handy with guns and hand-to-hand combat, and you get the sexiest women. I wasn't into Sean Connery at the start, but at the end, whoah, he's handsome. I now know why older women are so into him. He has that devil-may-care twinkle in his eyes as Bond.

I enjoyed seeing Ursula Andress acting so cute and pretty. I felt like she didn't have to be anything other than look how she was. She was truly beautiful. Plus, even with all those wonderful curves, she is considered the 'quintessential' Bond girl, which is very opposite today's beauty standard of stick-thin women.

Another reason I really enjoyed watching Dr. No was because I can't help but marvel at how far cinematography has come. Dr. No is no slouch, don't get me wrong, but I just felt a bit in awe when I think about the cinematography today. However, I enjoyed seeing this first James Bond film because I feel like it was very raw, in the sense that they relied on less-high-tech equipment and more on the performance of the actors. There is something so beautiful about seeing more raw films compared to films nowadays that makes you wonder if it was a great film, or just simply enhanced by the tech effects.

However, I felt like this film was sexist, with all the girls sighing after Bond, or falling into bed with him. They were purely decoration. But I guess at that times (Dr. No was shown in 1962), that was the usual role of women in films. I'm looking forward to watching the succession of James Bond films and see how they improve in this area. Yes, obviously, I have no idea about James Bond films, and. I try not to read ahead so I won't know spoilers.