James Bond had, has and probably will have many enemies in the future. Mysterious personalities. Criminal features. Envious minds. People of the underworld. Mafiosi. Unscrupulous killers…
The darker the character of the opponent of the famous super agent, the better for the plot of the story.
There is, however, an opponent that James Bond probably did not anticipate. He did not see it coming to him, as the youth says. This opponent did not have state-of-the-art weapons, nor did he display various sophisticated war gadgets to eliminate the charming agent.
Exactly when he wanted to fight him he used… tarpaulins! Are you confused? Reasonable. Let's start from the beginning.
For the needs of the shooting of the movie "For your eyes only", James Bond, who at that time played the great Roger Moore, had also come to Greece. Here would be shot some of the most intense in terms of suspense and agony, scenes of the work.
Some of the shooting would take place in Meteora. And there appears the με enemy with whom we confused you earlier.
In Meteora, the monks thought that the shooting of the film would cook the Holy Monasteries and started their own battle.
Those who were lucky enough to be in Meteora at some point are given to be ecstatic to see or better to admire the Barlaam Monastery which is built on top of a high and steep cliff.
The monastery was created at the beginning of the 16th century by two brothers, Nektarios and Theofanis. It takes its name from the ascetic Barlaam who was the first to settle on the top of the rock two centuries earlier.
In 1563 the imposing tower of the brizon was built, while in 1541 the katholikon of the Monastery was dedicated, which is dedicated to Agios Pantes. The oldest of the hagiographies that exist in the Monastery of Barlaam date from 1548 and their creator is the leading representative of the post-Byzantine school of northwestern Greece, Frango Catelano.
Today it is one of the six monasteries that continue to function normally, while since 1988 it has been included in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites!
Tough opponent for James Bond…
From 1962 until today, the legendary British intelligence agent 007 has starred in more than 25 cinematic adventures. However, he could hardly imagine the opponent that would appear to him in the autumn of 1980 during the shooting of the film "For your eyes only", part of which took place in Greece and specifically in the Ionian and Meteora.
It all starts in the turquoise waters of the Ionian Sea where the bad guys sink a spy boat that is full of electrical surveillance systems and more. The most important of the systems is saved. A coding brain that ends up in the hands of the "evil" Christ.
Impressive battles follow in order for the "good" to regain the brain. Christatos finds refuge in Meteora and specifically in the Monastery of Barlaam. James Bond is on his trail. She is chasing him and all sides are preparing for the final match against the backdrop of the imposing Meteora.
And somewhere there the «phase" goes wrong "!
And where everything went smoothly, the MI6 undercover agent was confronted with an "enemy" he did not count on. The Ministry of Culture may have given the relevant permission, however, the monks reacted strongly as they said the film includes scenes of robbery, violence and sex and this brutally insults the sanctity of Meteora.
The monks expected that this reaction would result in the shooting not taking place. However, when they saw the TV crews setting up the cameras and setting the scenes, they realized that the shooting would take place and so they decided to take more drastic measures!
At the forefront of the relentless struggle against James Bond were four monks who barricaded themselves inside the convent, barred anyone from entering and threatened to burn alive anyone who tried to approach, especially Roger Moore.
When the production company decided to proceed with the creation of fake scenes in order for the shooting to continue, the monks threatened to burn them as well.
In addition, in order for there to be no shots of the monasteries in the film, they tried to spoil the shots by hanging tarpaulins, sheets and flags while spreading the laundry with their underwear on the sides where they understood that the shooting was taking place.
As the last weapon against the film, the then Metropolitan of the area filed an indictment requesting the immediate cessation of filming.
And where everything seemed to go wrong for the production, James Bond acquired an unexpected ally who was none other than the locals who apparently understood how good advertising it would be for their place to have Meteora footage in a movie that would break the coffers.
But that was not all. Production, technicians and actors were a total of 240 people who would stay in the wider area for 45 days and this would obviously bring income to the entrepreneurs.
So, they organized a big rally in Kalambaka where they asked for the shooting of the film to continue normally and smoothly, they opposed the monks and threatened them that if they continued this tactic they would be forced to occupy the monasteries!
What is particularly worth mentioning is that some residents, according to reports at the time, denounced the (strange (as they characterized it) monks' obsession with this film as they themselves had not expressed the slightest objection when they had returned there a quarter earlier. the films "Our Agent in Greece" and "Horsemen of Heaven" where the former had a ερω clearly erotic mood and the latter harsh scenes of violence. In fact, they said that not only did they not raise any objections but they allowed actors to have access to the "basket" of Meteora.
In any case, the shooting of the James Bond movie ended normally with Meteora beautifying the scenes, while the climbing scene was filmed normally (the stuntman who replaced Roger Moore slipped four times, making many hearts beat faster) and finally offered the cinephiles 10 minutes of killing action.