The new James Bond is still being sought. Filmmaker Matthew Bauer found several. His documentary tells about real people called James Bond. And shows how the name determines her life.
It’s been three years since the last James Bond film “No Time to Die” premiered and Daniel Craig said goodbye to the role of the famous secret agent. Since then, there have been plenty of rumors about possible successors. Most recently, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Nocturnal Animals”) was considered a hot candidate. However, no one has been confirmed.
While James Bond fans are slowly becoming impatient, it is very convenient for some that the next 007 adventure is waiting for the real James Bonds of this world. For people who are really called James Bond, the name can become a curse. This is shown by the documentary “Our Name Is Bond”, which is now (October 25th) available as video-on-demand from streaming portals.
James Bond is black and gay
“I had to filter out a lot of fake James Bonds to find the real ones,” says director Matthew Bauer in an interview with the German Press Agency. The Australian filmmaker, whose search for protagonists began on Facebook, wanted to show as diverse a Bond group as possible.
“There were always these media reports that the next James Bond would supposedly be a black man, a woman or that he would be played by a gay man. It was important to us that we have a black James Bond, a gay James Bond. Because the of course differ from the typical image that most people have of James Bond.”
The curse and blessing of the famous name
All protagonists have one thing in common: they have to endure the saying “shaken, not stirred” on a regular basis. Someone is always hoping that they will introduce themselves as “Bond, James Bond”. But the worst thing is when a new James Bond film comes into theaters. Then friends and relatives felt called to write him messages, reports James Bond from New York. The 007 hype is getting on the gay actor’s nerves.
“In principle, they all have the same experiences,” notes Bauer. At least mostly. You can almost imagine what can happen if you, as a black man, get caught up in a police stop in the USA, don’t have your ID with you and have to tell the officers that your name is James Bond. The story of a strange mix-up in a dramatic criminal case is particularly captivating.
Of course there are also positive aspects. “Almost everyone says it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time,” says Bauer. “Some have lost their virginity thanks to the name James Bond, they met a girl and she asked, ‘What’s your name?’ That’s an integral part of their story. For everyone. The story of how they met their wife has usually to do with James Bond.”
A Swede named Gunnar Bond James
While one person even changed his name out of desperation, there are others who get the name specifically. The Swede Gunnar Schäfer has been called Gunnar Bond James Schäfer since 2007 – the year is no coincidence. “It’s always interesting to see the reactions,” he says in the dpa interview. But he’s not just a huge 007 fan. There is more to the name change.
“It is my concern to honor my father,” says Schäfer, whose father was German. He served in the navy during World War II before escaping to Sweden. There he took Swedish citizenship and started a family. But when Schäfer was two years old, his father did not return from a trip. A trauma for the Swede, who to this day suspects that his father was a secret agent.
James Bond creator Ian Fleming as a surrogate father
He found solace in Ian Fleming’s Bond novels and fantasized that his father was like 007. No one had answers. “I didn’t know anything,” he says. “I asked my mother many times, but she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I guess that’s typical of that generation.”
Today he runs a James Bond museum in Nybro, southern Sweden, and emulates the fictional secret agent. However, his most important mission remains to find out what happened to his father.
Schäfer hopes that the German release of “Our Name Is Bond” will provide new clues. He hopes viewers from Bavaria will see a possible connection, perhaps know of a German named Schäfer, who experienced the Second World War and later spoke of a life in Sweden. Gunnar Bond James Schäfer is easy to reach via his museum.
Entertaining, exciting documentary
Matthew Bauer, himself a passionate 007 fan, has cleverly linked a number of fascinating stories together. “Our Name Is Bond” is entertaining and sometimes really exciting. You don’t have to be a James Bond fan to find the entertaining documentary interesting.
By the way, it was worth taking part for the real James Bonds. Since then, they have been sharing their experiences with their fellow sufferers in a WhatsApp group. Some of them also meet in person. “Shaken, not stirred,” says no one. And most of them don’t care who the next 007 actor will be.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
