Statement​

                                                                                Silva, Vindicator to Villain
                  Since 1962 villains from the James Bond series have been captivating audiences for their grand schemes of wealth, power, control, or revenge. Silva, the main antagonist of the 2012 film Skyfall, is no different. Silva is able to control his adversaries through the fear of loss of trust and through the loss of their power to him. This is shown through his plan to exact revenge on M, the head of MI6, after being betrayed by the M and handed over to the Chinese for espionage. Through her betrayal, Silva has become a monster. The torture he received while in the custody of the Chinese has warped his perception of the world and the way he thinks. Once an agent fighting on the side of good, he has become a terrorist, what he once sought to destroy. Silva was discovered by the Chinese while he was spying on them because he was not careful enough and believed that the British would be on his side. Determined never to make the same mistakes again, Silva meticulously plans conventional and cyber-attacks and will trust no one. Almost as a message to the Chinese that they cannot stop him, Silva mostly operates out of China and Macau but returns to England and finally Scotland to exact his revenge on M. A common goal throughout the film and Silva’s first order of business was to try to make all faithful to M question their loyalty. Loyalty is a key theme in Silva’s plan; if no one is loyal to M he can easily get to her and avenge himself. Silva was cut-throat to anyone who got in his way – except for Bond. Bond is spared because he is key to Silva's plan. James is exactly what Silva needs; lied to by M to be put back into service, his trust may be shaken if he is let know of this information. Bond also, as much as he may want to dispel the thought, has another weakness that Silva spots: they both are/were agents of MI6. James could be further pressed to turn on M if he believes that M is not looking after him properly or even if she is hiding information from him, which he is. After his eventual capture, Silva talks to M about his torture and of the damage of the cyanide pill he took to try to commit suicide. Here, although Silva is directly speaking to M, it is actually meant for Bond. Silva knows that Bond is in the same position he was: top agent of MI6 and under the direct control of M. His story could sway Bond to go against M after all. Eventually Bond does not join Silva and the film climaxes at Skyfall, Bond's adopted home as a child. Silva “catches” M and shows his true crazed mindset. Spotting that M had sustained a gunshot wound, he immediately shows concern and states: “what have they done to you?” as if their intent had not been clear from the beginning. He then puts his next to hers and his pistol in her grip and says: “free both of us ... with the same bullet.” Silva shows that his only wish in life is to get revenge on M. Silva plays on many common fears. First, he is always in control of the situation, he has a plan for everything and nothing will get in his way. Silva shows this as even in captivity he has planned not only his escape but a plan to try to sway Bond from M during his captivity. Another fear he prays on is derangement, he can change his appearance at any time. From sympathetic to bloodthirsty and to any other emotion to try to manipulate the person to which he is speaking to and the situation they are in. Silva also shows an extreme capability of power and control. He has a seemingly inexhaustible following of mercenaries and henchmen all loyal to him. Lastly is that the fear of trust is shown throughout the film. This may mean fear of the people you trust using it against you or that you may not be able to trust anyone. Trust and control are the most common motifs in Skyfall. They are extremely important to the movement of the plot and essential to Silva's character. Therefore they will be kept in this adaptation, although there are many things that will be changed. Some examples include Silva's attack courtroom where M was justifying the MI6 program. Even though it does not see that Silva's intention was to kill M there, just to further exacerbate Parliament's feeling that MI6 is outdated and no longer needed. M getting wounded could further increase suspense as not only is here power being questioned, but she is no longer able to command MI6, defend it in court, or even physically defend herself. Also if Mallory's wound had been fatal, MI6 would have lost one of their most power outside source of support, which could help shake up how MI6 is viewed and treated. Lastly would be that Silva is not killed by Bond via a stab wound to the back, but rather when he pleads M to kill both him and her with one shot, completing his grand scenario. All of these changes could help to increase Silva's appearance time and to show him and his deranged thinking in a more detailed way and through many more situations. The setting throughout the film, however, should stay fairly similar to the original storyline as it helps to show the transition from Silva's life in Asia as rife with crime while when he is returned to England there is much more order and that's where Silva's personality is truly shown. The main theme to be studied throughout this adaptation is: how fear can be used as a way of controlling people and their ideas. In Conclusion, that is how Silva uses fear to control his opponents' power and of their trust of their peers and authorities to obtain what he wants. These fears are powerful in the film because they come from real fears in society. If someone thinks that those whom they trust may be using them or could use their trust against them, control can be gained, which could be used against them. Fear is one of the most controlling emotions that humans have, so it is very hard to overcome it.