It begins...as every-other discussion in the Bond films seems to do...with an observance that the two antagonists are equals of a sorts—both have dying for a living. Blah, blah, blah. A show of equal footing, perhaps. But, also a show that the villain thinks he's not to be trifled with.
In these things there's usually a "guest" observing the verbal fencing, but this one plays a more important part—she's the advantage the villain has over Bond. She is Mathilde, daughter of Madeleine Swann—and thus, grand-daughter of the man who killed the family of this villain Safin. She also...at this point, we're not sure...might be the daughter of the other half of the conversation, James Bond, retired agent of MI6's "00" branch (and not that it matters, but recently re-designated "007" to make sure he still has a "license to kill"—because "legalities".)
Mathilde is the thing to fight over. Safin lets Bond know—right away—that she can be killed at any time. And Bond doesn't want that to happen; he is constantly glancing her way to make sure she's alright—until Safin holds her right in front of him, the better to keep Bond focused, the better to dispatch Mathilde.
No matter how distracting, this conversation is interesting, reminding one of the that first "here-are-the-stakes-and-I'm-going-to-needle-you-at-the-same-time" tête-à-tête with Dr. No. We hadn't seen something like it multiple times then, so there's quite an exposition dump served with the main course.
Here there's no formal dinner, just two actors chewing the insides of their cheeks with tension. There's no exposition, because they (and we) know what's up. Safin has the upper hand and Bond is trying not to lose his cool—as he had previously in No Time to Die, killing their main source of information. He doesn't want to make that same mistake now.
So, rather than, like in the past, riling him up by making a crack about his deformity and that he's a lunatic, and criticizing his tailoring, he tries to ping off the "we're alike" gambit by emphasizing that both of them were orphaned at young ages and "I know what that's like" to try to gain some traction.
No soap. Instead, Safin goes off on a bit of a tangent. Bond sees things a certain way; Safin has another.
In reviews at the time of the film's release, there was a lot of criticism of the Safin character being weak and of this conversation, in particular. But, the more I dug into it, the better I liked it. Safin thinks the vast majority of people are sheep, desiring to be led, if only to the slaughtered. "We want to
be told how to live," he opines "and then die
when we are not looking." "People want oblivion," he says. At least, the ability to live their lives, go to their jobs, and not worry about the BIG PICTURE. Too much work. They have enough on their plate. Let somebody else worry about that stuff. And he's enough of a megalomaniac to volunteer for the job.
I hate to say it...but, he's not altogether wrong. We're all pretty dumb. We'd rather keep up with the Kardashians than our local representatives. Gripe if there's a public affairs program interrupting our football (Tch! Like that would ever happen). And even give up our privacy to corporations and foreign governments to show off our dance-moves. Our news is now entertainment—even if they're trying to convince us they stand for Truth.
Nope. Safin may have it right. We want oblivion. We seem to prefer it. I don't mean total destruction, but obliviousness. Same root-word: from the Latin "oblivisci": "to forget." Don't worry. Be happy.
Oh. And how does Bond get the drop on Safin? Appeal to his ego, act submissive...and carry a concealed weapon.
That might have worked, but Safin has a concealed trap-door.
Guess it's a bit of a draw.
The Set-Up: Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) is the only survivor of a family who supplied toxins for the crime organization SPECTRE. In turn, the head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) instructed his agent Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to kill the family using their own dioxin chemicals and take over their island manufacturing facility. Now, Safin, in revenge, has wiped out Blofeld and the entire SPECTRE organization using a DNA-targeted poison (dubbed "Heracles" by the British government who were financing it as a deterrent), and, presumably, also Mr. White (who died in the previous film in the series), who happens to be the father of Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), lover of James Bond (Daniel Craig) and mother of Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet)—both of whom he has taken to his family's island in the South China Sea. Bond, five years in retirement, and the current 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch) are sent to rescue Swann and Mathilde and destroy the Heracles toxin.
Inevitably, in these things, there comes a time for negotiation.
Action.
Safin’s GUARD stands behind him, TWO more GUARDS have their
weapons trained on Bond from behind the staircase.
Safin tosses a cushion.
Safin leans back. Appreciating his cards.
SAFIN
No,
SAFIN He smiles at Mathilde.
Beat.
Safin says nothing.
(beat)
BOND
No.
SAFIN
I’m not...
BOND
No, no,
Safin is
enjoying this.
Safin’s hands drift off of Mathilde’s shoulders. 
SAFIN (CONT'D)
This is power.
Words by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Pictures by Linus Sandgren and Cary Joji Fukunaga.
No Time to Die is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from M-G-M Home Video.
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