- "Look upon your work... mother."
- ― Silva to M.
Raoul Silva, born Tiago Rodriguez, is a fictional cyber-terrorist and former Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) operative who appeared in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, portrayed by famous Spanish actor Javier Bardem. He is the film's main antagonist. The character is later referenced in the film's sequel Spectre (2015), where a connection is established between Silva and the criminal organization SPECTRE in which he is shown to be a member.
Biography
Tiago Rodriguez
Born Tiago Rodriguez in 1969, little is known about Silva's early life, though his name indicates he seems to be Portuguese or perhaps Brazilian. He later relates a childhood story to a captive James Bond, describing how he spent time with his grandmother on an island that she owned, where she taught him how to rid the island of a rat infestation by capturing them in an oil drum. He utilizes the image of the trapped rats turning to cannibalism as a metaphor for what the life of a spy does to its participants - namely himself. During his years in the Intelligence Service, Silva had worked alongside Olivia Mansfield (who would later be promoted to 'M') in Hong Kong from 1986 to 1997. Mansfield, who was section chief at the time, noticed that the operative had engaged in unauthorised hacking of the Chinese. With the Chinese closing in on Rodriguez and the upcoming transition of Hong Kong from a British colony to a special administrative region of China (a transfer of sovereignty) that year, Mansfield sacrificed Rodriquez in exchange for six prisoners held by the Communist Chinese government and a smooth transition.
During his five months of captivity, torture and imprisonment by the Chinese, Silva attempted to take his own life using a hydrogen cyanide implant in one of his molars as a standard means for MI6 agents to avoid capture by the enemy. The suicide attempt failed, horrifically scarring Silva both mentally and physically and he claimed it "burned all of [his] insides". The botched attempt is shown to have severely damaged his upper jaw so that his left cheek is sunken, leaving him with a drooping eyelid, bloodshot eyes and a slurred raspy speech. Silva's Hispanic tan is replaced with a pale demeanor. He is also shown to have rotten decaying gums and all but a few teeth have melted away with the few remaining having been mutilated and deformed, requiring Silva to wear a prosthesis to replace the teeth and inflate his left cheek and also to presumably help him breathe. The false teeth might have some sort of inhalers and even a possible electrolanryx. When this prosthesis is taken out, his face is disfigured.
Revenge
Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva in a promotional shoot for the movie.
Years later, he improves his hacking skills and builds a criminal empire. He takes former prostitute Sévérine under his wing, but the merciful man she thinks he is, is really an illusion. He causes a fake leak at a chemical plant on the island of Hashima in order to claim it as his base of operations. It is implied that he rigged the 2011 national Ugandan elections and also cripples economies through manipulating the stock market. His numerous cyber exploits grants him near-limitless money, power and resources. By the time he came in contact with 007, he is a force to be reckoned with.
In 2012, MI6 faces a crisis when the mercenary Patrice, Silva's assassin, steals a hard drive containing the identities of every NATO agent currently in the field and delivers it to Silva. (After this, he is shown in the opening sequence of Skyfall as a silhouette) Silva ensures that M was at the centre of the crisis by decrypting the drive using her personal computer, remotely, and sending her a message advising her to "think on her sins" before bombing her office (knowing that she isn't inside), killing eight MI6 agents in the process, bringing her under pressure from the government to resign. He then begins posting videos online revealing the identities of the undercover field agents, threatening that he would post five more every week. Later, as M met with Gareth Mallory to discuss what to do with Raoul Silva, they watches the news which showed agents being executed in an abandoned warehouse (later revealed to be his Hashima lair).
Despite the injuries he sustains on a botched mission to retrieve the drive from Patrice, and ignoring the poor results of his performance evaluations, M dispatches James Bond to Shanghai after receiving a tip from the CIA about Patrice's next contract. Patrice has been assigned by Silva to kill an art critic, which he does. Though Bond is unsuccessful in learning Silva's identity after Patrice fall to his death from a skyscraper, he is able to locate Séverine in a casino a Macau, who acts as Patrice's contact, after finding a gambling chip belonging to the casino in Patrice's case. Upon making contact with Sévérine, she desperately asks that he kill Silva.
Bond boards Sévérine's yacht at night, which departs to a remote island off the coast of Macau Hashima Island - the former chemical plant which Silva had taken for himself by issuing a false alarm declaring a major leak, prompting a complete evacuation and quarantine of the island. On the island, Silva's men takes Sévérine away and restrain Bond in a chair at the end of a long warehouse filled with Silva's electronic equipment. Silva enters to confront Bond, revealing his former status as an MI6 operative and gruesomely comparing Bond and himself to two tortured rats as a result of M's deceptive nature.
- "She sent you after me knowing you are not ready, knowing you will likely die...Mommy was very bad."
- ― Raoul Silva interrogating Bond, referring to M.
Taking Bond outside, Silva then has Sévérine tied to a collapsed statue, placing a small glass of alcohol on her head and forcing Bond to try to knock it off her head with a shot from an old single-shot flintlock pistol. Though Bond tries to spare her by aiming to her side, missing both she and the glass, Silva takes up his own pistol and shot her directly in the chest, killing her and causing the glass to fall from her head. As Silva contemplates killing Bond, the spy is able to incapacitate all of his men with with Silva unable to retaliate having no shots left in his pistol. Before Silva has a chance to escape, a fleet of helicopters that Bond has signalled prior to getting to the island finally arrives, leading to Silva being captured and brought to England.
Captivity and escape
Silva's disfigurement is revealed during his incarceration by MI6.
Back in England, Silva is confined within MI6's underground emergency headquarters, which they had retreated to following the explosion in M's office. When M confronts him in his cell, he expresses his hatred for her after his capture by the Chinese and his failed suicide attempt, and his determination to bring about her downfall. When she is about to leave, he shows her what the suicide pill did to him by removing his prosthetic dentures. A shocked, disturbed and remorseful M leaves in horror as Silva grins with a gaping jaw and laughs maniacally, after inserting the prosthetic back into his face. Meanwhile, Q acquires Silva's computer and decrypts a complex algorithm on its drive, with the password being "Granborough" which unlocks to form a detailed electronic map of underground London. In connecting Silva's computer to his own, Q inadvertently allows Silva to hack MI6's systems using a virus, releasing him from his cell and allowing him to escape into the subway through a floor grate.
Silva attempts to murder M during the public inquiry.
Realizing that Silva has always been one step ahead of them the whole time, his capture by MI6 and subsequent escape having been planned years in advance (with SPECTRE possibly having had a hand in this), Bond deduces that he plans to travel along the subway and emerge at the scene of a public inquiry into M's actions regarding the stolen hard drive. Silva is ahead of Bond, having his men deliver him the uniform of a Metropolitan Police Constable, and riding the Tube to the enquiry. After a chase at the station near where M's deposition is taking place, Silva is successfully able to evade Bond at the end of the chase by using his police radio to detonate an underground bomb that causes an incoming train to derail, almost crushing Bond. He then makes his way to the inquiry with a small number of henchmen (all dressed as Metropolitan Police officers), storming in and firing frantically at M but missing when Mallory takes the hit for her. He never actually manages to hit M, as he panics when Bond suddenly arrives, who kicks a gun over to Eve Moneypenny and allows her to join him returning fire. After Mallory joins them and they manage to shoot down the rest of Silva's men, Bond shoots the room's fire extinguishers, creating a smokescreen and allowing M to escape.
Skyfall
Silva leaves the scene after destroying the Bond family home.
After Silva flees the scene, Bond takes M and leaves London in his Aston Martin, knowing that Silva and his men will come back in full force after his long-planned strategy failed him. Assigning Q to leave a complex electronic trail that only Silva will be able to follow, Bond takes M to the Skyfall Lodge, his remote childhood home in Scotland, intending to lead Silva into a trap. With help from the house's gamekeeper, Kincade, Bond and M rig the house with a range of booby traps and explosives, and finish just as a wave of armed henchmen (possible SPECTRE soldiers) begins to approach from a hilltop. Though most of the henchmen are easily dispatched by the traps and by Bond and Kincade, one of them manages to wound M with a shot to the hip before being killed by Bond.
Bond notices that Silva was not among the gunmen, and having already used all of the traps, he tells Kincade to evacuate M to the nearby chapel via a tunnel beneath the house. Night falls, and a second wave of men, including Silva, arrive in a helicopter. The helicopter flies around the house shooting through the barricaded windows continuously before landing outside of the manor. Silva strides out of the helicopter with his band of mercenaries and throws grenades into the mansion as he makes his way to the manor house. After throwing grenades through windows and taunting Bond, he circles the manor house and waves his arm in the direction of the Aston Martin. The helicopter then shoots it and it blows up.
Bond finds a pair of gas tanks and a stick of dynamite, timing them to explode after he escapes through the tunnel himself. Silva and his henchmen circle the house before it explodes, which manages to kill and incinerate the majority of the gunmen and causes the helicopter to crash with an angered and shocked Silva looking on in horror before being temporarily shocked by the blast. (Silva is presumed by the audience to have been blown up).
Death
Silva lies dead on the ground with a combat knife in his back.
- "Last rat standing."
- ― Bond's final words to Silva
Silva gets up and looks at the blazing wreckage he is in. Looking across the moors, a crazed and determined Silva spots Kincade's flashlight as he escorts M towards the chapel, and stumbles after them. Bond emerges from the tunnel in pursuit, incapacitating one of Silva's two remaining henchmen by fly-kicking him resulting in his neck being snapped. He purposely falls through the frozen ice on a lake while fighting the other gunman, allowing Silva to reach the chapel and approach M while Kincade is coincidentally out of sight. Despite his hatred for her, he appears worried when he sees her bleeding wound, but nonetheless holds a gun to her head. When he struggles to execute her himself, he forces the gun into her hand, placing his head beside hers and demanding that she kill both him and herself with a single bullet through their heads. At this point, Silva's psyche seems to have shattered even more.
- "You're hurt. You're hurt! What have they done to you? What have they done to you? [puts his gun in her hand] Free us both. With the same bullet. Only you can do it. Do it! Do it!"
- ― Silva urges M to kill them both.
Bond arrives at the last minute and hurls his father's old combat knife into Silva's back, declaring himself the "last rat standing" in reference to Silva's earlier speech. Silva collapses, dead, but his plan ultimately succeeds, as M collapses in Bond's arms and dies from her wound.
Spectre
Throughout Spectre, Silva is frequently referenced. During the course of the film a connection is established between Silva and SPECTRE. As Q analyses Marco Sciarra's SPECTRE ring, the technology links the object to Silva’s DNA along with several other antagonists from previous films, including Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene and Patrice. He is also mention by SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld as one of his agents. The final reference to Silva appears in the film's climax where 007 is kidnapped and taken to the soon-to-be demolished SIS Building. A print-out of his face adorns one of several cardboard cut-outs in the building's now dilapidated shooting range.
Physical Appearance
Raoul Silva was a Hispanic man with peroxide blond hair (likely dyed) which was parted to the right. He wore a prosthetic mouthpiece to hide his cyanaide inflicted burns. He had a flamboyant style and wore a cream coloured suit with a Prada tile print shirt. He also has a brown waistcoat with matching trousers and shoes. In his next appearing his confinement he wears a pale cream jumpsuit with trainers. After he disguises himself as a Metropolitan Police officer, he is mistaken for one. In the final act in the movie he has a long trenchcoat, a communication earpiece, a black shirt and combat boots.
Personality
Despite his chaotic methods, Raoul Silva maintained an air of calm and often handled things with ease - even after his men were killed by Bond, and later held at gunpoint by the latter, Silva remained completely reserved and even managed to mock him. He also seemed to have an appreciation for classical music, notably Boum by Charles Trenet. During his attack on Skyfall Lodge, he had outfitted his assault helicopter with nearly a dozen loudspeakers - solely for playing rock music during the attack (namely Boom Boom, by The Animals), for the purposes of intimidation and being a nuisance. As Bond put it, he "always [had] to make an entrance." He was charismatic and very strategic, thinking of all of his plans in full detail and trying not to leave anything to chance, or else was very good at improvising. Silva was extremely intelligent, able not only to outsmart M, but Q and Bond as well, even going so far to use them as part of his plan. Even M, who has always been critical of Bond, described Silva as 'a brilliant agent'. He also allowed himself to be captured by SIS in a bid to exact revenge on M. In the course of doing so, he often reveals an apparent disregard for the safety of his own life. Despite being revealed to have been funded by Ernst Stavro Blofeld he proved himself to be master at puppeteering as well. Despite being a pawn, he certainly was not a puppet. Finally, Silva appears to be sexually ambiguous; he kissed Sévérine and also made strong overtures toward Bond, though what precisely he meant by it and whether he is actually bisexual is left up for debate.
Though Silva maintained an intensely strong hatred towards M, he is also conflicted about her. He was convinced that he had survived to "look into [her] eyes one last time". During their confrontation in the MI6 cell room where he is held after his initial capture, he grew increasingly more agitated and deranged as she refused to show any remorse or regret for her actions, especially when she refuses to use his real name. When he first encounters Bond, he blames M personally for compelling him towards a path that could easily kill him, quite ignoring his own willingness to do so. He calls her "Mommy" or "Mother" multiple times, and he ultimately cannot bring himself to personally kill her - to the point when he has her at the point of a gun, and can't bring himself to pull the trigger. He does have a sarcastic wit, shown constantly against James Bond during their battle of wits, even using Bond's own words against him. He is also an overly dramatic, flighty, flamboyant, peculiarly quirky, and colourful man with a flair for theatrics.
It has been theorized that Silva had borderline personality disorder, which is characterized by intense fear of abandonment, emotional extremes, and an unstable sense of identity. He does show sociopathic behavior, including a laid-back reaction to dangerous or sadistic situations, a lack of compassion towards even his allies, and above all he was particularly sadistic towards M - before exploding MI6, he sent a computerized message mocking her, and later taunted her with unleashing names of NATO agents on YouTube to intensify the fact that she had failed.
Henchmen & Associates
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Behind the scenes
Discussing his character prior to Skyfall's release, actor Javier Bardem described Raoul Silva as "more than a villain". His co-star, Daniel Craig stated that Bond has a "very important relationship" to Silva.[1] In casting the role, director Sam Mendes admitted that he lobbied hard for Bardem to accept the part as Mendes recognised the potential for the character to be recognised as one of the most-memorable characters in the franchise and so wanted to create "something [the audience] may consider to have been absent from the Bond movies for a long time".[2]
He felt that Bardem was one of the few actors up to the task of becoming "colourless" and existing within the world of the film as something more than a function of the plot, and so pushed hard for the actor to be cast.[3] In preparing for the role, Bardem had the script translated into his native Spanish in order to better-understand his character, which Mendes cited as being a sign of the actor's commitment to the film.[4] Bardem dyed his hair blond for the role after brainstorming ideas with Mendes to come up with a distinct visual look for the character.[5]
In Other Media
On a funny or die sketch by Children of Maslenations he is parodied with Bond. In another sketch about a Jewish version of James Bond Patton Oswalt plays a villain with the same style of suit as Silva and is in a scene reminiscent of Silvas entrance in Skyfall. In the BAFTA awards of 2012 Comedian and actor David Walliams parodied him.
Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- Javier Bardem confirmed that Silva has Portuguese ancestry during an interview.
- Javier Bardem is the first Spanish actor ever to portray a Bond villain.
- Originally, the Austrian actor Michael Pink was supposed to play Silva until Bardem got the role. Still Pink is seen as a henchman in the battle scenes at the end.
- Silva is similar several other Bond villains:
- Francisco Scaramanga: Both have some form of Hispanic heritage, and are presented as being Bond's equal. Both feel they share a certain special connection with James, because they find themselves to be two of a kind. (Scaramanga highlighting how, "We are the best" in their murderous field/Silva about how M made them the "two survivors". Their connections to M also binding them on a kind of emotional level). Both also are at times seen acting with a deal of eccentricity (and at times even sort of giddiness), particularly in their interactions with Bond. Both also have island lairs near China, and have a woman in their service (Andrea Anders/Sévérine) who is fearful of them and come to have hopes that Bond can kill their employers, only to have Scaramanga and Silva eventually shoot and kill them personally.
- Alec Trevelyan: Both are ex-agents who had once served for MI6 and had close personal relationships with one of their co-workers (Bond for Trevelyan/M for Silva). Because of this, both are seen as "Anti-Bonds". Both seek justice for a betrayal done by MI6 (MI6 handing the Trevelyans and other Lienz Cossacks back to the Russians at the end of the Second World War/MI6 for trading Silva over to the Chinese in order to free six captive agents). After leaving MI6, both start their own criminal rings, and major components of their plans involve great use of computer hacking. Both also received massive damage to their faces (Part of Trevelyan's face being burned by the explosion in the Soviet chemical plant in the opening of Goldeneye/Massive damage was done to Silva's face during a failed attempt at using a suicide cyanide pill that forces him to wear a brace in his mouth).
- Elektra King/Renard: Both are motivated by some wrong that M had committed against them in the past and intended to kill her. In both cases, M took the option most dictated by duty rather than compassion or loyalty. Both Elektra/Renard and Silva remotely set off explosions in the Vauxhall Building, the official headquarters of MI6. Elektra is particularly resentful of her father, who had consulted with M when Elektra had been kidnapped years before (M advised her father not to pay the ransom asked for, as it would be "negotiating with terrorists"). Silva sees M herself as a mother figure.
- He is the fourth villain in the reboot series named after a colour (the first three being Mr. White, Edmund Slate and Dominic Greene), although his name is not exactly the same as "silver".
- He is the first - and, to date, only - main villain in the reboot series to be killed by James Bond. (Le Chiffre was killed by Mr. White, Dominic Greene was killed by an assassin, Mr. White committed suicide, and Blofeld survived and is currently incarcerated).
- He is currently the only Bond villain in the reboot series to have on-screen kills.
- The death of Silva is similar to that of Aris Kristatos, in that both men had knives thrown into their backs. However, Kristatos was killed by his enemy, Milos Columbo.
- Silva's fake teeth might be a reference to the legendary Bond henchman, Jaws.
- The whiskey Silva pours out for Bond is a 50-year-old MacAllan, a reference to the fact that Skyfall was the 50th anniversary film.
- Although officially confirmed, his first name Raoul is never mentioned anywhere throughout the films but the reason for this is unknown.
- His message. "Think On Your Sins" is an anagram for "Your Son isn't in HK" as well as an acronym for T.O.Y.S. describing how M's spies are like toys and are played until they are broken and thrown away.
- Upon the film's release, Javier Bardem received widespread global critical acclaim for his performance, acting, and being a menacing Bond villain. Many 007 fans and critics had compared Bardem's Silva to DC Comics' the Joker, because of being a menacing psychopathic megalomaniac in the film.
References
- ↑ Garibaldi, Christina. "Daniel Craig Talks 'Bigger, Better' Bond On 'Skyfall' Set", MTV, Viacom, 10 April 2012. Retrieved on 10 April 2012.
- ↑ Rutter, Clare. "Sam Mendes On 'Skyfall' Villain Javier Bardem: 'Silva's Up There With The Greats'", WntertinmentWise, 31 August 2012. Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
- ↑ "Javier Bardem is the perfect villain", Sky News Australia, BSkyB, 31 August 2012. Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
- ↑ "Javier Bardem GQ Interview: On 'Skyfall' And Turning Down 'Minority Report'", Moviefone, AOL, 20 September 2012. Retrieved on 21 September 2012.
- ↑ Martinovic, Paul. "Javier Bardem on 'Skyfall': "I don't want to see my funny hair"", Digital Spy, 30 September 2012. Retrieved on 1 October 2012.