We don’t know what the next James Bond movie will be about, but we may know how it will end – at Palio di Siena horse race. Don’t know what this Italian tradition is? Don’t worry, Wikipedia to the rescue:
At 7.30 p.m. (July) / 7 p.m. (August), the detonation of an explosive charge echoes across the piazza, signaling to the thousands of onlookers that the race is about to begin. The race itself runs for three laps of the Piazza del Campo, the outer course of which is covered with several inches of dirt and the corners of which are protected with padded crash barriers for the occasion. The jockeys ride the horses bareback from the starting line, where there is only room for nine horses. The tenth, the rincorsa, stands behind those nine. The start is given by a local authority called Mossiere, who has to wait for all the horses to be in the correct position. When this moment is (with great difficulty) achieved, he activates a mechanism that instantly removes the canapo, the starting cord.
On the dangerous steeply-canted track, the riders are allowed to use their whips not only for their own horse, but also for disturbing other horses and riders. The winner is the first horse to cross the finish line with its head ornaments intact — the rider does not necessarily need to finish, and often does not. The loser in the race is considered to be the Contrada whose horse came in second, not last.
The next race will happen this Thursday and the Bond film crew will be there to capture the scene; in the film 007 will be chasing a villain through the streets and rooftops of Siena as the race goes on around and below him. The actors won’t shoot this stuff for some time to come, and will be edited into the action via cinematic trickery!
Meanwhile, outrageously beautiful Shilpa Shetty is the latest rumored Bond girl; apparently her Bollywood fame makes the producers salivate, as they want a Bond film that will murder in Asia.