For Your Eyes Only (1981) is the twelfth film in the James Bond series and Roger Moore’s fifth appearance as 007. Directed by John Glen in his feature film directorial debut, the film marked a return to a more grounded style of espionage after the extravagant science-fiction adventure of Moonraker (1979). The story begins when a British surveillance vessel carrying the ATAC, a secret military communications device used to coordinate Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet, is accidentally sunk off the Albanian coast. Bond is sent to recover the equipment before it falls into Soviet hands, leading him into a dangerous conflict involving Greek smugglers, double agents and a young woman determined to avenge the murder of her parents. Carole Bouquet stars as Melina Havelock, alongside Julian Glover as the seemingly respectable businessman Aristotle Kristatos and Topol as the charismatic smuggler Milos Columbo. Combining elaborate practical stunts with a more personal revenge story, the film is particularly remembered for its Citroën 2CV chase, spectacular Alpine skiing sequences and cliff-hanging finale at a remote Greek monastery.
For Your Eyes Only (1981) was filmed primarily in Greece, Italy and England, with additional underwater photography in the Bahamas and footage of the British surveillance vessel captured in the North Sea. Production began on the Greek island of Corfu in September 1980, where Villa Sylva in Kanoni doubled for Hector Gonzales’ Spanish villa, and the winding country roads around Pagi became the setting for Bond and Melina’s frantic escape in a yellow Citroën 2CV. Kalami Bay was used for the early sequence involving Melina’s parents aboard their research vessel, while the Kanoni peninsula and nearby Vlacherna Monastery appear when Bond and Melina are reunited later in the film. Corfu Town also features extensively, including its narrow streets and the Old Fortress, which provided the setting for the assault on Columbo’s supposed smuggling warehouse and the confrontation in which Bond sends Locque’s Mercedes over a cliff. The magnificent Achilleion Palace in Gastouri became the casino where Bond meets Kristatos and Countess Lisl von Schlaf, with its terraces and gardens also appearing in the surrounding scenes. Agios Georgios Beach was used for the murder of the Countess, while the reconstructed traditional village of Danilia provided the Greek wedding sequence where Bond meets Q. Filming then moved to the extraordinary rock formations of Meteora in central Greece, where the Monastery of the Holy Trinity became St Cyril’s, the seemingly inaccessible mountain hideout occupied by Kristatos. The monastery’s isolated position, perched high above the surrounding valley, provides the setting for the film’s famous climax, in which Bond scales the sheer rock face to reach the building. The dangerous climbing sequence was filmed against the actual Meteora cliffs, although additional monastery interiors and action sets were constructed at Pinewood Studios in England. Northern Italy provided another substantial part of the production, particularly the Alpine resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Miramonti Majestic Grand Hotel became Bond’s hotel, while the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio hosted his encounter with Kristatos and the ensuing fight with several ice hockey players. The surrounding mountains, Olympic ski jump and bobsleigh track were used for the elaborate winter pursuit, in which Bond escapes a group of assassins on motorcycles before skiing directly onto the bobsleigh run. The production encountered an unexpected problem when Cortina experienced a shortage of snow, forcing the crew to transport approximately 25 truckloads from the surrounding mountains. Back in England, the opening sequence begins at St Giles’ Church in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, where Bond visits the grave of his late wife Tracy. The subsequent helicopter sequence was filmed at the abandoned Beckton Gasworks in East London, using its enormous industrial buildings for the confrontation with an unseen adversary operating the helicopter by remote control. Pinewood Studios supplied many of the remaining interiors, including the submerged wreck of the St Georges, while a specialist underwater unit filmed additional material in the Bahamas.
Monastery of the Holy Trinity
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity has appeared in Boy on a Dolphin (1957), Tintin and the Golden Fleece (1961), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Meteora (2012).