| “ | Forgive her, James. Forgive yourself. | „ |
| ~ Mathis' last words |
Rene Mathis is a supporting protagonist in the James Bond movies Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. He is an Italian secret agent who helps James Bond in his mission to bankrupt terrorist financier Le Chiffre.
He was played by Giancarlo Giannini, who also played Carl Fredricksen in the Italian version of Up.
History[]
Casino Royale[]
Mathis first appears when welcoming James Bond and Vesper Lynd to Montenegro, explaining to them that Le Chiffre has bribed the police chief. They then watch with amusement as Mathis has the chief arrested using Photoshopped evidence. The following day, he plants the corpses of warlord Steven Obanno and his henchmen, killed by Bond the night before, in Le Chiffre's henchman's car, resulting in the man's arrest. That night, Mathis watches with Vesper as Bond beats Le Chiffre in a high stakes game of poker.
When Le Chiffre takes Bond and Vesper prisoner later that night, he gloats that "your friend Mathis is really my friend Mathis," meaning that Mathis is in his pocket. Later, after Le Chiffre is killed and Bond and Vesper rescued, Bond tells MI-6 authorities that Mathis is a traitor, and they arrest and torture him. After Vesper is revealed as the traitor, M says that her treason at least proves Mathis' innocence, but Bond insists that he still may have worked for Le Chiffre, and to "keep sweating him".
Quantum of Solace[]
After he is found innocent, the British government buys Mathis a villa in Italy and a private jet, presumably to keep him from suing and revealing state secrets. He retires there with a younger woman named Gemma.
Bond eventually shows up at Mathis' door, looking for information about the organization behind Le Chiffre. After some initial bitterness on Mathis' part, he agrees to help him track down Dominic Greene, an agent of the terrorist group Quantum, who is plotting a coup in Bolivia and may have been connected to Vesper's death.
In Bolivia, Mathis meets with his old friend Colonel Carlos, whom he knew when stationed in Bolivia. Unbeknownst to him, however, Carlos is in league with Greene and General Luiz Medrano, whom Quantum is trying to install as a puppet dictator in return for the country's water rights. Carlos betrays him to Quantum agents, who beat and torture him and shove him in the trunk of a police car.
When Bond is unjustly arrested and ordered to open the trunk of the car, he finds a bloodied Mathis, and a shootout ensues in which Mathis is mortally wounded. As he dies in Bond's arms, Mathis tells him to forgive Vesper and himself.
During the film's climactic scene, Bond avenges Mathis' death by shooting Carlos dead, saying, "You and I had a mutual friend!"
Trivia[]
- As he dies, he admits that "Mathis" is his cover name, meaning that his real name is never revealed.
External links[]
- René Mathis on the James Bond Wiki
