Trivia: Demond Lewellyn, who played "Q", only failed to make an appearance in two of the first 19 Bond Movies. The Baron could never really be defeated by Bond as evidenced by how easily he fell into the coffin of snakes even though he could probably have killed Bond in a split second or less. If you want proof of this look at the tile "Live and let die" this is clearly an allegory of the eternal nature of the Baron the god of the dead. The writers and filmmakers were high on the 70's stuff and they didn't care, they just awarded Holder with a juicy role and ending out of respect. Either that or he is stuck on that train for eternity laughing his butt off. He is the ultimate suave and sophisticated Vodou Spirit of Death. He was just the soul of the island so to speak. Bond finds a way into Kananga's lair and kills him by putting a heavy duty air capsule into his mouth which makes him inflate and explode. Without that ending that character would have been a lame charlatan and not as lovable. The ending to Live And Let Die sees him riding at the head of a train carrying James Bond and Solitaire, laughing to the audience. Telescope on drones to escape light pollution? Mr. Big encourages this beneficial belief by keeping a Baron Samedi totem near his desk. The character was based on the Voodoo (Vodou) legend of Baron Samedi, who is one of the Guédé, a loa of the dead. Regardless we all won because the Baron was such a great character and helped make the movie worthwhile. Pretty unsettling. How can I make an encrypted file / directory? As far as I can tell, yes. Significance of Aeroplane engine sounds in The Wind Rises. Later on, Bond witnesses Baron Samedi rising from a grave, and shoots him in the forehead; however, it is revealed to be nothing more than an animatronic dummy. He's literally introduced as "The man who cannot die," and the finale bears this out. Baron Samedi is a major antagonist in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. My own interpretation is that Geoffrey Holder is playing two characters. It never worked out due to that movie being a fad and the horror esque elements. No one knows for sure that's part of the fun but we can read something into Fleming's title Live and Let Die. Browse more videos. The real Samedi arrives but Bond knocks him in a coffin filled with snakes and dies. Tom Mankiewicz, Cubby Broccoli and Geoffrey Holder are no longer with us having been taken by Baron Samedi... as has Ian Fleming. We see him in at least one scene playing a flute of some kind not in the costume of Samedi telling Bond and Solitaire it is a "beautiful morning" in the graveyard so it is strongly implied that there is a real person ...who may be strongly under the influc. In this version he respected Kanaga and let him do his thing if he could have a human dopledanger on the island to join in on the fun as well as a role in the murders at the place. Bond kills him again by pushing him into a coffin full of snakes. ... Baron samedi riding the head on the train at the end was such a striking moment in film. *All information condensed from various articles from the James Bond wiki and IMDb. In the book Kananga (a satire on Papa Doc Duvalier) surrounds himself with the paraphernalia of Vodou and Samedi to intimidate people as it's difficult to explain this on film someone obviously hit upon the clever conceit of having a person playing someone playing Samedi so there is a play within a play ...if you follow that. Question: Is this the only Bond film where the title song is being sung by a character during the film? Anyone else wish that Baron would return instead of Moore? He is the primary henchman of Dr. Kananga and a master of Voodoo who has the reputation of being "The man who cannot die". The image soon jumps to a flaming skull while the credits roll. Directed by Guy Hamilton. He is a supernatural being. Bond and Solitare take a train to New York but Kananga's henchman attacks but is thrown off the train. My interpretation of the Baron at least as of now is that he is indeed a super natural entity as evidenced by his Hypnotic hold on San Monique. We are switching to system fonts on May 10, 2021, Testing three-vote close and reopen on 13 network sites. 3:18. He did a lot to help the film out and he was a great guy I understand why they did that. Dambala was a fictional skilled reptile handler affiliated with Dr. Kananga's voodoo cult. Along with the first point you could say Baron had a spiritual strangle hold on San Monique. Enigmatic Dark Priest. Bald of Evil: He has a shiny dome. ... Baron Samedi : [Passing through the San Monique cemetery where nightly voodoo rituals are held, Bond and Solitaire find Baron Samendi playing his flute. It only takes a minute to sign up. Answer: As far as I can tell, yes. There were also rumors that the Baron would be returning in one of the following films- but these rumors are uncorroborated. Close. In the novel Live and Let Die, Baron Samedi is described as the Although the film doesn't provide any evidence as to how the Baron survives my theory is that his true spiritual form that has existed for all eternity formed him a new physical body. If so will we ever see them? Design and text © 1996 - 2021 Jon Sandys. Machete Mayhem : As he is rescuing Solitaire, Bond shoots a guy who is about hit him with a machete, and later uses it against Baron Samedi in a very brief Sword Fight . What is the last scene supposed to tell us? It is of course a play on Live and Let Live but it also has a secondary meaning here as Samedi's role in vodou is as Loa of Ressurection. The creators were intentionally showing him to be immortal/supernatural. Unlike the grim reaper who is ...well grim ... Samedi enjoys all human vices and chaos so he is laughing at the chaos he has created. How to address the errors on Automated Topology Builder? Notice how he just walked into the room, before Kanaga smashed Solitare in the face, Kanaga had no power over him. :))). Browse more videos. Only minutes later, however, the real Samedi rises from the grave and engages Bond in a machete fight. Also, the question asks for. From left: Tee Hee Johnson, Solitaire, Baron Samedi, James Bond, Dr. Kananga and Whisper Glastron GT150, 26 boats were used in filming of James Bond’s “Live and Let Die” 1973 and came direct from Glastron in Austin, Texas. Live and let die is evidently from my point of view a film about the Baron himself and not about Bond fighting Mr Big/Kananga. thank, but this much is obvious, and pure speculation.