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I didn’t understand why so many took the position that Sean Connery was the one true James Bond. My astigmatism to that perspective speaks to the importance of exposure: simply put, he was before my time. His successor, the late Roger Moore, is who I came to know first as MI6’s favorite secret agent. So when I finally saw Connery’s take on 007, it was hard to identify the character as the same man I knew through Moore. Vastly different approaches & styles not to mention the shift in approach to storytelling between their eras. Connery’s Bond was always serious even behind that wry grin compared to Moore’s pandering caricature of the spy & his world (those bell-bottomed, wide-lapel suits were painful).
But I digress.
The point is it took some time & refinement of taste on my part to recognize the strength of Connery’s interpretation of the character. Of the remaining Bonds, only Pierce Brosnan’s has compared to Connery’s in my opinion.
But Connery was so much more than James Bond! Watching him Anchor the mystery-drama The Name of the Rose brought Sir Connery to my attention in his life after Bond. Then he endowed Highlander with his undeniably stoic presence. Next he was a hard-nosed, no-nonsense cop willing to die for what he believed in the Untouchables. An Academy Award winning performance. I doubt a single father or son anywhere would have difficulty relating to the back-and-forth relationship on display between Connery & Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade. I think we got the fullest version of Connery there. Second maybe only to one of his greatest performances 10 years later in Finding Forrester.
As many have lauded him, Sir Connery was a powerful presence on the screen. A generous performer who always moved effortlessly with the lightest touch or the strongest of force. This man was a movie star.
Sir Sean Connery’s death last weekend had me reflecting on how impressive his 40-year career was as law men, as sword-wielding warriors, as well-intended convicts & as a Russian submarine Captain. He held some personal beliefs that were deemed offensive to many. That’s not to be discounted or ignored. If we’re to remember the best in people after their demise, then I remember, what Sean Connery gave to me, to the camera & to the world: epic presentations of men who struggled with themselves, with the world around them & who strove to make things right. The fact we can find that in almost all his performances is telling of the things that matter the most.
If you haven’t watched Mr. Connery at work, pick a post-Bond film & see for yourself. It doesn’t matter which. He was that good.