Pagi Village

A central part of the car chase in For Your Eyes Only takes place in and around the village of Pagi in Corfu. As Bond and Melina are driving into the village, they pass one of the old churches in the western part of Pagi, covered here and continue down the road where they pass a few colored houses.  

Bond and Melina are driving into Pagi from the north on the road Eparchiaki Odos Arkadades-Agiou Georgiou. This road is actually leading up to the crossing with the "low road", but from the wrong direction. If you continue down this road, you will arrive at the low road, but from the wrong direction. It becomes apparent when you compare the two pictures above that a few of the houses were being built, or at least renovated, at the time of filming. It is the facade of the yellow house in the middle (in the picture above) that has the scaffolding in front of it.

Corfu Town - Gonzales' fly-by

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Corfu Town

Before flying over Paleokastritsa and arriving at Melina's parents yacht, anchored in Kalami Bay, Gonzales flies the seaplane over Corfu Town and the old fortress in the first scene. An overview of the centre of the town, which today is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site is briefly visible as Gonzales flies over.

You have the most beautiful view over the city from the top of the old fortress.

The big open field is the cricket field, a hangover from the British rule which spanned for 50 years during the first half of the 1800's. Corfu still has an official cricket team.

Gonzales' first fly-by over Corfu town sets the scene and the tone of the movie. You immediately feel the warm climate of the Greek islands.

"With that in mind I have already contacted our usual friend in Greece. Da."

                  - General Gogol, ordering the recovery of the A.T.A.C. transmitter - 

Paleokastritsa - Corfu

As Melina and Gonzales are flying over Corfu, the seaplane passes Corfu town and various parts of the island before arriving at her parents yacht, the MY Triana, from where Melina's father is trying to locate the British spyship. The seaplane is passing over a rocky part of Corfu located somewhere on the coast.

This bay with the two small beaches seen as the seaplane is flying over in the film, is located on the north-western coast of Corfu. The location is called Paleokastritsa and has a few of the best beaches in Corfu. In the very first scene, the seaplane is flying in over Corfu Town, before passing Paleokastritsa bay.

The tail of the plane says "Kerkyra Charter Service"

Gonzales is flying a Cessna U206G Stationair Amphibian seaplane with the text "Kerkyra Charter Service" on the side of the tail. Kerkira is the Greek name for Corfu. Apparently Gonzales is posing as a pilot for some kind air taxi service.

Gonzales and Melina are on their way to Melina's parents aboard the Triana, which is anchored somewhere on the coast. However, the MY Triana is located in the Kalami bay which is located in the north-eastern part of the island. Thus, if flying in over Corfu town, it would not be natural for the seaplane to pass over Paleokastritsa on the way to Kalami, unless there are some kind of limitations on the airspace in the northern part of Corfu, due to the mountain Pantokrator.

The map below illustrates the route of Gonzales' seaplane.

Corfu Casino - Achilleion Palace

In For Your Eyes Only 1981 Bond visits the Corfu Casino to meet up with Kristatos and to play a game of "Chemmy". Before dinner while waiting for Kristatos to arrive, Bond is playing Baccarat against Bunky, who is experiencing an unfriendly shoe...

These interior scenes were filmed on location at the Achilleion Palace in Corfu. The following restaurant scene was also filmed on location, at the back of the palace. The casino room is on the top floor of the palace, in the part facing the patio at the back.

The bar was located beneath the large painting on the far wall.

A few details can still be recognized in the palace where the scenes were filmed, for instance the distinctive lamps that still hang between the windows. Strangely enough, it also appears that the curtains have not been changed since 1981 even though the walls have been given new paint.

Bond's Baccarat table was presumably located fairly close to the bar that was located along the far wall in the back of the room. Melina's Roulette table was located in the middle of the room.

"If you play the odds..."

Behind the croupier, you can recognize the large glass doors that lead to the patio at the back of the palace.

Following Bond's game of Chemin-de-fer, Bond and Kristatos have dinner on the patio, right outside the casino salon. You can still recognize the black and white tiles and not much else has been changed since Sir Roger's visit.

Greek dance square - Corfu town, part 3

When Melina and Bond goes shopping in Corfu town in For Your Eyes Only 1981, they walk past a few famous tourist attractions in Corfu town, such as the Saint Spyridon church , covered earlier. However, they also stop briefly at what appears to be a small town square where two Greek men are performing a traditional Greek dance.

This is actually not a town square, but rather just a street crossing in front of a small church. This location can, not unexpectedly, be found almost in the middle of the city centre. If you walk down Nikiforou Theotoki, coming from Liston, you will find the place on your left after ca 200 meters.

Bond and Melina stop for a few seconds to observe the Greek dance and then proceed to Pl. Leonida Vlachou and the Maitland rotunda. Today, you find a restaurant called Basilico facing the place where the Greek men danced. Not much else can be said about this small square other than that it is probably the least known Bond location in Corfu, only seen for a couple of seconds in the film.

Corfu Coastal Road - Kaiser's Bridge

"Smugglers? How would I know any smugglers?
I would have thought that, a lady, in your position, would get to know many things..."

Bond and Lisl in Kristatos' Rolls Royce Silver Shadow

In For Your Eyes Only, 1981, Bond gives the Countess Lisl Von Schlaf a lift home after an evening at the Corfu Casino. Kristatos lends his Rolls Royce to Bond, saying he will stay at the casino to play a little "Chemmy" (Chemin-de-fer). Bond is seduced in the Rolls by the Countess and invited to spend the night at her beach house.

The Rolls Royce coastal road

Bond and Lisl are traveling down the coastal road in Benitses, in the eastern part of Corfu. The road runs just below the Achilleion Palace, at Gastouri, which housed the Corfu Casino in the film. This part of the road is possible to identify thanks to a ruin that is visible in the background. This is the ruin of 'Kaiser's Bridge', a bridge that connected a path from the Achilleion Palace with the sea and that once run over the road. This is a very appropriate location for the Rolls Royce to drive past, since this is the normal way one would take, driving back to Corfu Town from the casino.

Coming from the south on 'Epar. Od. Vrionis-Agiou Nikolaou', you can either take road 25 to your left in order to reach the Achilleion Palace, or continue down the coastal road in order to reach the Kaiser's Bridge after a few minutes. This road forms the island's main artery to the south.

It was the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, who built the bridge (called "Kaiser's Bridge" by the locals) to access the nearby beach and the pier, without crossing the road. The Kaiser, who was fond of holidaying in Corfu, had purchased the Achilleion Palace in 1907 from the heirs of Sissi, the empress of Austria, who had built the palace in the 1890's.

The casino was actually housed in the Achilleion Palace until the early 1990's. Hence, the interior scenes of the casino could very well have been filmed on location instead of one of Peter Lamont's sets.

The bridge, arching over the road, spanned the distance between the lower gardens of Achilleion and the beach. The bridge's central section was, ironically, demolished by the Wehrmacht during the German occupation of Corfu in World War II, to allow for the free movement of its vehicles. The bridge’s remains can still be found on each side of the road.

Pictures courtesy of KolmQvist

A drive in the country

"Go backwards forwards quickly!"

After escaping Gonzales' guards, Bond hitch a ride with Melina in her rented Citroën 2CV and the car chase around the "Spanish countryside" begins. Gonzales' men are chasing them in two black Peugeot 504.

"I'm afraid we're being out horse-powered!"
                       -Bond to Melina-

The car chase was filmed on the surrounding roads of Pagi, the small village in the north-western part of Corfu. After Melina flips the car over at the low road, filmed in Pagi, Bond takes over the wheel and they drive around the olive fields, trying to loose Gonzales' guards. 

The cars come down from the left...

The roads that surround Pagi are a sheer pleasure to drive around, and you should definitely play tracks like "Gonzales takes a drive" and "a drive in the country" in the car. These roads are some of the most memorable roads I have ever driven and, combined with the right music, this has been one of my best driving experiences so far. The road from Nice to Monte Carlo is another one. 

... and continue down the curve.

The olive fields can be extremely steep in some places and it is not unthinkable that a car could end up in a tree. So the baddies Peugeot ending up on top of an olive tree is actually quite feasible.

After all the science fiction chaos in Moonraker, the producers wanted Bond to come back down to earth in For Your Eyes Only. They wanted him to rely more on his own abilities rather than Q's gadgets and that is the reason why they have his Lotus blown up before the car chase starts. Bond is left with Melina's indestructible Citroën.

The chase was filmed over a two week period in Corfu and was arranged by stunt driver Rémy Julienne, a former French motor-cross champion. He had started his career in film already in the 60's and was hired by the Bond team for the first time in 1981. Julienne, who was the driver of the Citroën, would remain with the Bond series for another 14 years, doing all the stunt driving up to GoldenEye. Rémy Julienne, with more than 400 film and television productions behind him, is considered to be the "daredevil of French cinema".

Of the one-time-only composers, I believe that Bill Conti did the best job delivering a timeless and yet appropriate soundtrack. It is not on the same level as the best soundtracks composed by the gentlemen Arnold and Barry, but I do believe that it is better than the less inspiring work of John Barry, for instance Moonraker and Octopussy. Despite being written in the 80's, the soundtrack of For Your Eyes Only is relatively timeless and the instrumental version of For Your Eyes Only is among the highlights on the album. Bill Conti is also known for the soundtrack of The Thomas Crown Affair, with Pierce Brosnan.