Judi Dench gives authority the sound of someone getting on with her job. We value her firmness and watchful silences, but a film needs to offer her more than another opportunity to look stern.
Fi1m perspective
In GoldenEye (1995), Judi Dench tells Bond what she thinks of his sexism and does not wait to be congratulated. Her M sounds as though she has dealt with this problem before and would prefer not to have to do it again. We were relieved by that reprimand, because Dench lets it stand without inviting Bond to charm her out of it. We rate this firmness highly: she makes the character's judgement clear without asking us to applaud the performance.
That plain delivery draws on a classical technique which can carry a line without making it sound declaimed. International film recognition came with GoldenEye, after a long stretch of Shakespeare and television work. Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (1997) and Queen Elizabeth the First in Shakespeare in Love (1998) followed, roles that made obvious use of her authority. The casting makes sense, but it also explains the danger of asking her to bring the same stern certainty to every role.
GoldenEye also shows how much depends on the people writing around her. Martin Campbell's film gives her a useful place in its questioning of Bond, but Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein's screenplay goes on enjoying much of the behaviour she criticises. Dench cannot make that contradiction disappear, and she wisely does not soften the reprimand to accommodate it. Her contribution is one reason to recommend the film, though the writing never follows her criticism far enough.
In Richard Eyre's Allelujah (2023), she is Mary, watching everything and saying little. It is a quieter use of her, within an ensemble where David Bradley and Bally Gill do the most rewarding work. Dench belongs among the reasons to watch, but the writing lets that ensemble down badly enough to prevent a recommendation. Our reservations about the film should not be mistaken for reservations about her restraint; the disappointment is that such careful acting has so little help. Start with GoldenEye, and watch what she can do with a reprimand.
Biography
Dame Judi Dench is an English actor. She made her professional stage debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company and appeared in Shakespeare roles including Ophelia, Juliet and Lady Macbeth. She received a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer for her early film work.
Dench worked extensively with the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. On television she appeared in the series A Fine Romance (1981–1984) and As Time Goes By (from 1992). She played M in the James Bond films from GoldenEye (1995) to Skyfall (2012), and appeared as Mary in Allelujah (2023) and as Old Deuteronomy in Cats (2019). She received awards for her performance as Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (1997).
