Catfight as Stage Combat: From Russia With Love

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:16]Cat Fight as Stage Combat.

[00:00:22]From Russia with [music] Love.

[00:00:28]>> [music] >> Hello everyone. Before I dive into analyzing the choreography of female on female fight scenes in movies, I'd like to say a few words about From Russia with Love and James Bond.

[00:00:48]The first Bond movie I ever saw was Dr. No.

[00:00:51]I was still quite young when my father took me to the theater. I didn't understand much of the plot, but I remember thinking it was cool to see the dragon-shaped armored vehicle breathing fire. The following year, my father took me to the theater again and showed me From Russia with Love. Now, a year older, I enjoyed this movie more than I had enjoyed Dr. No the previous year.

[00:01:12]However, I still vividly remember the awkward silence that fell between my father and me during the scene of the fight between the women at the Gypsy camp. My father probably thought that scene was a bit inappropriate for a child who wasn't even 10 years old yet.

[00:01:31]With memories like that, James Bond holds a special place in my heart. And of the 25 Bond films released as of 2026, I can confidently say that From Russia with Love is the one that stays closest to Ian Fleming's original novel.

[00:01:45]You can trust me on this. I've read all of Ian Fleming's novels and watched all 25 films.

[00:01:54]When it comes to the large-scale action scenes added to Fleming's original novel for the film adaptation, the first that comes to mind is the scene where Bond is attacked by a helicopter on a hill with no cover.

[00:02:10]And the scene where Bond and Tatiana are attacked by enemies as they flee to Venice by boat.

[00:02:19]Personally, I think the film would have been just as entertaining even without these two scenes, which feel a bit tacked on.

[00:02:26]On the other hand, they do add a certain glamour that's unique to the big screen.

[00:02:34]Now, regarding the scene of the bare-handed duel between women at the Gypsy camp, it is, of course, one of the highlights in the middle of the original novel. As for the location, it is described as being in a hilly area off the main road, past the Rumeli Hisar fortress near Istanbul. Kerim's car drives into the settlement, which is surrounded by stone walls and a tall wire fence. He is accompanied by a group of Bulgarians who later interfere with the women's duel. Isn't this the height of exoticism?

[00:03:09]Now, let's take a closer look at the scene in question from the perspective of the action direction, which is arguably the heart of this film.

[00:03:20]First, let me make one thing clear.

[00:03:23]If anyone thinks that scenes where women fight out of emotion, so-called catfight scenes, don't require choreographed combat, they're mistaken.

[00:03:33]Of course, the emphasis on acting that bears one's emotions is significant, but as the title of this video suggests, catfights are also a form of stage combat and require proper procedures and rehearsal.

[00:03:49]The first character to appear on screen is Zora, a Gypsy woman played by Martine Beswick.

[00:03:59]Next up is Vida, a Gypsy woman played by Lise Gore.

[00:04:07]The moment the two of them appear and their eyes meet, they lunge at each other almost simultaneously.

[00:04:14]While this stays true to the original novel, it's a great touch.

[00:04:21]And so the battle begins.

[00:04:24]Vida spreads her arms wide, ready to pounce on her opponent at any moment.

[00:04:29]Zora, on the other hand, takes an even more extreme stance, curling her fingers so she can extend her claws like a wild beast.

[00:04:37]In the novel, Zora is described as a large male lion, while Vida is a slightly smaller, agile female lion.

[00:04:45]The actresses were likely chosen to match these descriptions.

[00:04:52]In the novel, Bond believed that the larger Zora would win this battle between the two women.

[00:04:58]He also predicted that the agile Vida would be the one to launch the first attack.

[00:05:05]In this scene, the film takes considerable liberties with the source material.

[00:05:10]In the original novel, contrary to Bond's expectations, it was Zora who struck first. She kicked Vida in the side, followed by a punch to the head, and slammed her onto the stone floor.

[00:05:32]We asked Emma and Miranda, the assistants on this channel, to recreate scenes from the original novel, but you'll probably find the results quite different, won't you?

[00:05:44]Suppose you're a woman with no martial arts experience who finds herself in a life-or-death fight against a woman she hates.

[00:05:51]And with your bare hands, no less.

[00:05:54]You'd naturally use your fists and kicks as weapons. You wouldn't try to grab your opponent with your palms spread out like in this movie. This dramatic license is likely the result of the filmmakers' intention to turn this scene into a cinematic catfight.

[00:06:13]Let's fast forward.

[00:06:14]The two women finally grab hold of each other and start wrestling.

[00:06:21]One of the highlights of this battle is the actresses' facial expressions.

[00:06:25]Just look at Vida's expression as she tries to block her opponent's claw attack aimed at her eyes.

[00:06:34]A shot showing only the lower bodies of two women locked in a struggle. This is a typical angle used in cinematic catfights.

[00:06:44]Around the moment the shot shifts from the women's lower bodies to this camera angle, you're bound to feel something off.

[00:06:52]If it struck you as nostalgic, you must be a long-time movie buff.

[00:06:58]Check it out via streaming or on DVD.

[00:07:01]You'll notice that undercranking is used intentionally around this part of the scene.

[00:07:09]>> [music] [music] [music] [screaming] >> As you've seen, this is a cinematic technique that makes action appear faster by reducing the number of frames per second.

[00:07:40]There are two ways to achieve this effect.

[00:07:44]Imagine you're a cinematographer working with a hand-cranked camera.

[00:07:48]To make a fight scene between two Gypsy women appear to be happening at high speed, you deliberately turn the camera's crank slowly.

[00:08:05]Another method involves reviewing film shot at normal speed frame by frame and printing it with frames omitted. As a result, when screened at normal speed, the undercranking effect occurs, making the characters' movements appear faster.

[00:08:22]Now, let me share my personal opinion about this particular shot in this scene.

[00:08:27]To be frank, the undercranking here is far too noticeable. To put it more bluntly, I think it makes the film itself look cheap.

[00:08:38]I'm not criticizing the technique of undercranking itself. Even now that editing has gone digital, this technique is still used effectively in many films.

[00:08:47]I am merely a former actor, but if I were to direct a film, I would certainly not use undercranking for fight scenes.

[00:08:55]It is a technique from the 1940s cliffhanger films and should not be used in big-budget films from the 1960s onward, such as this one.

[00:09:07]Now, the scene shifts from a standing fight to a scuffle on the grass.

[00:09:12]The camera, positioned just above the ground, frames the two women in the center with Bond, Kerim, and the tribal chief and his wife in the background.

[00:09:23]Now, please note the position in which the women are lying. Their feet are pointing toward Bond and the others.

[00:09:32]Here, we see a close-up of Bond.

[00:09:35]This shot shows that he is watching the fight with great interest.

[00:09:41]And the moment the scene cuts to the next shot, the women are facing their feet toward the audience.

[00:09:47]This is a common occurrence on open sets. In other words, the camera crew and other staff members are positioned on the audience side. This is the fundamental difference between stage combat and fight scenes in movies.

[00:10:01]Furthermore, the reason they deliberately cut to a new shot and change the actresses positions was simply because they wanted to capture this particular shot.

[00:10:10]I'm sure you can all see why, right?

[00:10:16]In the next shot, the camera, positioned from above, captures Vida's face as she lies pinned down on her back.

[00:10:26]Vida tries to push Zora back, mainly using her left leg, as Zora straddles her while she's lying on her back and attempts to choke her.

[00:10:35]This back-and-forth struggle is arguably the climax of the scene.

[00:10:42]In the end, Vida uses both feet to push Zora back, and the fight shifts to a standing stance. Vida lunges at Zora to counterattack. There is a round table behind Zora, and she ends up pinned against it.

[00:10:55]Just as Vida grabs a wine bottle that miraculously remained standing and tries to strike Zora, gunfire from the Bulgarians rings out, bringing the fight to an abrupt halt.

[00:11:10]Although this scene lasts less than 2 minutes in the movie, it revealed a lot.

[00:11:16]I'll summarize my take on it from my own perspective.

[00:11:19]First, there's a major deviation from the original novel.

[00:11:23]As Pretty Fighter pointed out, while this film is the most faithful adaptation of the source material among the Bond films, it takes a fundamentally different approach to this particular scene.

[00:11:33]That is, the elimination of striking attacks.

[00:11:37]In the novel, the two characters' kicking attacks stand out.

[00:11:42]They also use head butts.

[00:11:44]For example, the novel describes the kick Vida delivered to Zora as he charged at her as follows.

[00:11:50]Her right foot lashed out in a furious coup de savate that made a slap like a pistol shot.

[00:12:02]Ladies, you've got the roles mixed up in that scene. Emma is supposed to kick Miranda.

[00:12:10]Why were striking attacks like kicks left out?

[00:12:14]Let's speculate on the intentions of the film's director, Terence Young.

[00:12:18]He likely wanted to create a scene that served as a culmination of all the fights between women featured in the movie.

[00:12:28]When you break down the individual elements of this scene into still images, it becomes clear that it resembles a photo collection that masterfully captures nearly every element men of that era would have imagined upon hearing the term catfight.

[00:12:42]The only things missing are the so-called hair pulling and biting.

[00:12:50]Thanks for the explanation, Sterling.

[00:12:52]I've actually been curious about that undercranking effect for a good 60 years now. Now, I'd like to add a few notes about the visual effects in this scene that aren't found in the original novel.

[00:13:05]Please take a look at the scarf Zora is wearing around her neck when she appears. It's yellow.

[00:13:14]Now, take a look at Vida.

[00:13:16]She's wearing her scarf on her head instead of around her neck.

[00:13:22]Just before the fight begins, Vida wraps the scarf she had been wearing on her head around her waist. Almost simultaneously, Zora wraps the scarf she had been wearing around her neck around her waist. Vida's outfit is red and blue, and Zora's is green and yellow.

[00:13:36]This makes it easy to distinguish the two women grappling, and the simultaneous action of wrapping the scarves around their waists foreshadows that what is about to happen is something special. I wouldn't go so far as to call it artistic, but I think it's a very good piece of direction.

[00:13:55]This image is a bit cramped, but I tried to make it as faithful to the original novel as possible. After all, a certain flair is necessary for an entertainment film.

[00:14:07]This is an actual filming scene. The person in the center is director Terence Young. Please pay attention to the cameraman's posture.

[00:14:19]There are photos There are photographs showing the director diligently giving acting instructions during Bond and Tatiana's love scene.

[00:14:29]What I'm trying to say is that this scene in this film is filled with the director's meticulous attention to detail in every single shot. As Sterling pointed out, he may have been trying too hard to create the ultimate cinematic catfight.

[00:14:46]If that's the case, then the sloppy undercranking in the current shot is baffling. Why was it inserted here?

[00:14:56]I'm just guessing, but I think it was probably a common quirk in filmmaking.

[00:15:00]That is, when the director was reviewing the rushes, the unedited film of this scene at the Gypsy camp, the standing fight shot probably seemed too slow. So, he used a frame dropping technique to create an undercranked effect. That's what I think.

[00:15:20]>> [music] [panting] >> As you can see, in a fight where punches and kicks are disabled, it's not easy to knock a standing opponent to the ground.

[00:15:36]>> [screaming] >> Terence Young directed The Amazons in 1973, exactly 10 years after this film.

[00:15:46]Perhaps he was trying again to shoot the ideal catfight scene in this movie.

[00:15:51]The camera angles, almost as if placed on the floor, and the direction of the actresses' facial expressions are reminiscent of that scene from From Russia with Love.

[00:16:04]Since it wasn't rated for adults in Japan, I, being a mid-teenager, was able to see this movie in theaters. It was the first time I'd ever felt like my brain was melting while watching a movie.

[00:16:18]Oi, old man.

[00:16:19]Ain't you talking a bit too much this time? Yeah.

[00:16:23]As I mentioned at the beginning, From Russia with Love is a very special novel and film to me. Let me talk a little more. If I were to remake the film, there are elements I would definitely want to adapt and incorporate.

[00:16:38]What I'd like to see added is a confrontation scene between this woman, Rosa Klebb, and the heroine, Tatiana.

[00:16:47]In the novel, Bond collapses and loses consciousness from the poison life he planted in Rosa's shoe, ending on a cliffhanger.

[00:16:55]But the film handles it well. In other words, Tatiana shoots and kills Rosa, which I think was fine.

[00:17:02]But I also think it would have been nice to have a fight scene between the villainous woman and the heroine.

[00:17:07]Tatiana had been sexually harassed by the lesbian Rosa, after all. The novel explicitly describes this.

[00:17:22]>> [panting] >> What did you think?

[00:17:28]This channel will delve deeply into the battles between women that appear in various media.

[00:17:36]Please subscribe and turn on notifications.

[00:17:40]We'll say goodbye with our music video.

[00:17:42]See you in the next video.

[00:17:48]>> [music] >> Yeah.

[00:17:50]Count the hits until we get the call.

[00:17:52][singing] Practiced every [music] single weight of fall.

[00:17:57]Someday we'll trade the background for the light.

[00:18:01]Step out of the shadows, join the fight.

[00:18:05]With our symbol blazing [singing] in the sky.

[00:18:09]A hero team, yeah, you