Vorlage:James Bond Character Le Chiffre is a fictional character and the main villain in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Casino Royale. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre in the 1954 television adaptation of the novel for CBS's Climax! television series, by Orson Welles in the non-Eon 1967 spoof of the novel and Bond film series, and by Mads Mikkelsen in the 2006 film version of Fleming's novel.
Le Chiffre translates in French as "The Cypher" or "The Figure" depending on the language. Ian Fleming created Le Chiffre based on British occultist Aleister Crowley.[1]
Novel bio
Le Chiffre, alias "Die Nummer", "The Number", "Herr Ziffer", and other translations of "Mr. Number" or "The Cypher" in various languages; was the paymaster of the "Syndicat des Ouvriers d'Alsace", a SMERSH-controlled trade union.
He is first encountered as an inmate of the Dachau displaced persons camp in the U.S. zone of Germany in June 1945 and transferred to Alsace-Lorraine and Strasbourg three months later on a stateless passport. There he adopts the name Le Chiffre because as he claims, he is 'only a number on a passport'. Not much else is really known about Le Chiffre's background or where he comes from, except for educated guesses based on his description.
„Height 5 ft 8 ins. Weight 18 stones. Complexion very pale. Clean shaven. Hair red-brown, 'en brosse'. Eyes very dark brown with whites showing all round iris. Small, rather feminine mouth. False teeth of expensive quality. Ears small, with large lobes, indicating some Jewish blood. Hands small, well-tended, hirsute. Feet small. Racially, subject is probably a mixture of Prussian or Polish strains. Dresses well and meticulously, generally in dark double-breasted suits.“ (Casino Royale, Chapter 2: Dossier for M)
He is also fluent in French, English, and German with traces of a Marseilles accent.
In the novel, he makes a major investment in a string of brothels with money belonging to SMERSH. The investment fails after a bill is signed into law banning prostitution. Le Chiffre then goes to the casino Royale-les-Eaux in an attempt to recover all of his lost funds. There however, Bond bankrupts him in a series of games in Chemin de Fer. Le Chiffre kidnaps Bond's assistant, Vesper Lynd, to lure him into a trap and get his money back. The trap works, and Le Chiffre tortures Bond by striking his testicles with a 3-foot long carpet beater to force him to reveal where he has hidden the money. Upon determining, however, that Bond will not give in to torture, Le Chiffre produces a knife with the implied purpose of castrating Bond. He is interrupted by a SMERSH agent, however, who assassinates him as punishment for losing the money. The torture Bond suffers at the hands of Le Chiffre briefly upsets 007's confidence in his profession, and he toys with the idea of leaving the service until the novel's conclusion, when a new threat emerges.
Le Chiffre's death is seen by the Soviet government as an embarrassment, which in addition to the death and defeat of Mr. Big in Live and Let Die, leads to the events of From Russia with Love. In the novel SMERSH attempts to get revenge by killing Bond in an elaborate plot that would embarrass the British Secret Service within the intelligence community.
Henchmen
- Tall, thin man named only Basil - bodyguard and an expert at martial arts who takes pleasure in roughing up Bond. He is later killed by a SMERSH agent.
- Short, Corsican unnamed man - bodyguard of Le Chiffre and wielder of a walking-stick gun that he threatens to cripple Bond with at the gaming table. He is later killed by a SMERSH agent.
1967 film bio
Le Chiffe is a secondary villain in the 1967 film spoof and appears in the only segment of the film actually adapted from Fleming's book. Similar to the novel, Le Chiffre is charged with recovering a large sum of money for SMERSH after he loses it at the baccarat table. He first attempts to raise the funds by holding an auction of embarassing photographs of military and political leaders from China, the US and the USSR, but this is foiled by (Sir) James Bond's daughter, Mata Bond. With no other option, he returns to the baccarat table to try and win back the money. Later, he encounters card sharp Evelyn Tremble, who has been recruited by Bond to stop Le Chiffre from raising the money. Le Chiffre attempts to distract Tremble by performing elaborate magic tricks, but fails to prevent the card sharp from cleaning him out. Afterwards, he arranges for Tremble to be kidnapped and subjects the agent to psychedelic torture in order to get back the money. The torture session is interrupted when his SMERSH masters -- who, it is revealed, actually work for the film's main villain, Dr. Noah -- shoot him dead.
2006 film bio
Le Chiffre is the main villain of the official 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale, portrayed by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. He employs a platinum, benzedrine inhaler; not for any form of medication, but because benzedrine is a type of amphetamine. He suffers from Haemolacria, which causes him to weep blood. A banker for various terrorists, he uses Alex Dimitrios, a government contractor, as a middle-man for many of his jobs. Believed by MI6 to be born in Albania, Le Chiffre is a mathematical genius and a chess prodigy. His mathematical abilities enable him to earn large sums of money on games of chance and probabilities, and he likes to show off by playing poker. He is the only main villain who wasn't physically combatted or killed by James Bond.
Scheme
Le Chiffre works with a man known as Mr. White, who is a representative of an unnamed terrorist organisation. White introduces Steven Obanno, a feared leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda to Le Chiffre, and arranges to bank US$101,260,000 for Obanno. Le Chiffre invests the money in an aircraft manufacturer's stock and plans to short the stock by ordering the destruction of the company's new prototype airliner, set to make its first flight out of Miami International Airport. Bond intervenes and foils the plan, costing Le Chiffre the entire investment.
In order to win the money back for Obanno, Le Chiffre sets up and enters a high stakes Texas hold 'em tournament in Montenegro at the Casino Royale in an attempt to recoup the loss before Obanno learns that his money has been misappropriated. Bond is sent to make sure that Le Chiffre does not win back the money. The reasoning is to force Le Chiffre to turn to MI6 for protection, in exchange for information on his creditors and employers.
During the tournament, an enraged Obanno and one of his henchmen break into Le Chiffre's hotel room and threaten him and his girlfriend, Valenka. After administering a savage beating, the men give him one last chance to win their money back. However, as they leave the room, the henchman spots Bond; in the subsequent brawl, 007 kills both Obanno and his henchman.
Prevention
After a tense tournament, Le Chiffre loses a key hand and the tournament to Bond's straight flush. Enraged by his loss, he kidnaps Vesper Lynd forcing Bond to give chase, and Bond is led straight into his trap. Le Chiffre leaves Vesper, bound at the feet and hands, in the middle of the road, and Bond is forced to swerve and he subsequently crashes his car. When Bond regains consciousness he is stripped and tied to a chair. Le Chiffre proceeds to torture Bond by striking his testicles with the thick end of a knotted rope, trying to extort the password that will enable Le Chiffre to collect the tournament winnings. When Bond refuses to give in, Le Chiffre brandishes a knife and threatens to castrate him. Just then, however, Mr. White suddenly enters the room and executes Le Chiffre by shooting him in the forehead for losing the tournament and the money entrusted to him.
Henchmen
- Alex Dimitrios
- Carlos
- Mollaka
- Leo
- Bobbie
- Jochum
- Kratt
- Valenka
Notes
- ↑ New Bond movie casts its villain, BBC, Februar. Abgerufen am 12. Februar 2007