From Page To Screen (31) Casino Royale

For this weeks From Page To Screen, I have decided to cover Ian Fleming's Casino Royale.

First, let's discuss the book. Below is the cover.

Now for a little back story in case some of you aren't familiar with the Novel. Casino Royale is a novel written by Author Ian Fleming. The book was originally published April 15,1953 by Jonathan Cape. Ian Fleming initially began writing Casino Royale as a way to distract himself from his upcoming nuptials to girlfriend Ann Charteris. Casino Royale was largely inspired by events that happened in Ian Fleming's own life during the time he spent working at the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty.


Let's look at some of the characters now shall we.

Main Protagonist

James Bond- A British Intelligence secret agent. James Bond is a 00 agent meaning he has killed two people. James Bond is a bachelor and is noted for enjoying the finer things in life—expensive clothes, champagne, fine food and cars most notably his Bentley convertible coupe with a supercharged engine.

Main Antagonist

Le Chiffre- Le Chiffre is banker to the world's terrorist organizations. A mathematical genius and chess prodigy, his abilities have helped him earn large sums of cash through Gambling. Thwarted by Bond Le Chifre losese a large portion of his money totaling totaling $101,206,000. To recoup his loss he sets up a high stakes game of Texas Hold em at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.



In case some of you aren't familiar with the Movie here is a bit of back story. Casino Royale was directed by Martin Campbell and was released November 14, 2006 by MGM. Casino Royale is set at the beginning of James Bond's career. Since Casino Royale is meant to be a reboot of the series it does not follow any specific narrative or timeline allowing Daniel Craig to be set up as the future face of the series. Until Skyfall, Casino Royale was the highest grossing film in the series earning over $600 million worldwide.

Major Differences Between The Book and the Film

Book	Film
In the book after Bond loses his money during a high stakes poker game, Felix Leiter gives him 32 million francs so he can continue playing.	In the Film after Bond loses his money during a high stakes poke game, Felix Leiter gives him 5 million US dollars.
In the book the story takes place in the 1950's.	In the Film the story takes place in 2006.
In the book Vesper commits suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.	In the Film Vesper dies by locking herself in a cage and drowning.
In the book M (director of MI6) is a man.	In the Film M is played by a woman.
In the book the high stakes game takes place at the Royale-Les-Eaux casino in northern France. .	In the Film the high stakes game takes place at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.
In the book Le Chiffre lost his money by badly investing in Brothels around the world.	In the Film Le Chiffre loses his money in a complex stock market scheme that involves blowing up a prototype plane .
In the book Le Chiffre's henchman attempts to shoot Bond in the back with a gun concealed inside a walking stick .	In the Film,Bond is poisoned by one of Le Chiffre's henchmen .
In the book Bond never kills anyone .	In the Film Bond kills or seriously injures at least a dozen people.
In the book when Bond is seen drinking it is usually socially or by himself relaxing.	In the Film Bond drinks to relieve stress.
In the book Bond and Mathis have a long history of working together.	In the Film Bond and Mathis meet for the first time.

The above mentioned are the most significant changes I felt between the book and film. I guess the question that remains is, Which do I prefer? This one is easy, hands down The Film. You have to understand the books are set in a very different time period. Women were seen more or less as domestic divas and Bond treats them as such. Good for shagging, good for arm candy, not suited for the workplace and certainly not as knowledgeable as a male in acts of espionage. That being said you should definitely still read the book at least once if you haven't already. It offers greater insight into Bonds development into the 007 agent we know and love today and you get to see more of the behind the scenes espionage stuff which is pretty cool.

Want to see for yourself? Check out the Trailer below!

_____________________________________________Well that about wraps up this weeks From Page To Screen. Have a recommendation for an upcoming From Page To Screen, let me know in the comments below! Have you read the book or watched the film? Which did you like better? Why? Which is your favorite book in the Narnia series?

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