Motifs in Film

In a film or story, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance, often there because it has a deeper meaning. Some examples of motifs include, a specific phrase,colour,prop or a soundtrack.

In several scenes, of the movie Skyfall from James Bond you can see a Royal Doulton china Bulldog on M's desk. At the beginning of the film on M's desk we see the small ceramic dog, to a casual watcher of the film this may seem completely irrelevant and insignificant, but this item reappears again and again throughout the movie. The bulldog is facing outward as if M is watching England at the start of the film, throughout the rest of the film the British bulldog is facing M, insinuating that England is watching M.

Also, in the first instance we see it, it is in a very quick reveal and we see it in the corner of our eyes on the desk. The symbolism of the dog is that its a British bulldog, which coincides with the general idea of the film being typically British. Furthermore, the British bulldog symbolizes the idea of 'for king and country' and with James Bond being a British spy it represents his promise to his country.

At the end of the film after M has passed away James Bond receives the same ceramic British bulldog as at the beginning of the film. This is a symbol as it represents Bond's duty to the country and that although M is gone the bulldog being passed along to James Bond could represent the passing of responsibility to the British spy.
This motif of a British bulldog represents pride and protection that James Bond provides the country with in his constant battle against the antagonist.