Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy [15]

Serpentine and silvery-grey, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a snake of a movie. Cold, quiet, slithery and full of menace.

George Smiley has been fired from the Circus, the top echelon of the British spy game. But his former boss – edged out too – thinks there’s a mole. And rogue agent Ricki Tarr confirms it. But with one member of the Circus shot dead in eastern Europe and every member of the circle now a suspect, Smiley is stalking his own. It’s a deadly game.

Gary Oldman excels as Smiley, a study in quietness. Ageing himself believably and affecting a monotone immediately recalling Alec Guinness’ TV spy, it’s a masterful portrayal of a man whose life is all about watching others. Partnered with man-of-the-moment Benedict Cumberbatch, Oldman’s Smiley is counterbalanced by a younger devil-may-care version of himself. It works dramatically and thaws the otherwise glacial effect of the central character.

Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) is an inspired choice as director, his quiet characterful style suited to the tics and nuances of Le Carre’s story. And it’s a cast to die for – a perfect storm of British acting talent: John Hurt, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Toby Jones and the young bloods Tom Hardy (Bronson, Warrior, Inception) and Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse).

In the wide-boy role, Hardy is convincing as the tortured soul Ricki Tarr. But it’s Cumberbatch who really catches the eye – and not just for his sandy blonde hair. It’s a cool-as-cucumber performance that credibly conveys the dangers and sacrifices of the spying life. His mission to infiltrate the upper storeys of the Circus and retrieve a file drips with dread.

And yet the quirky telling of the tale, somewhat out of sequence, and the sombre-grey photography sap some of the cinematic edge making it as suited to DVD as the cinema screen. Especially so given the opportunity to revisit the movie again - as anyone taken by it will no doubt want to do. It’s a multi-layered film, sadly not served by a multi-layered disc, with only the sketchiest of extras.

A spy film of this calibre deserves a better and deeper release, suited to its subject. But as an antidote to rushed film making and telegraphed plot points, Tinker Tailor is a refreshing change. An accomplished, affecting film, it’s heavy atmosphere has an almost ghost-like chilliness, strongly evoking the deadly claustrophobia of Cold War espionage.

Glenn Watson (DI Reviewer), 07/02/12

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This film is not for those that need fast pace, drum n bass music to make it more interesting than it is, or a cut every second. It's slow, meandering, with purpose, fairly tight in script, and moody. The ending is a little contrived but mostly v.good. Watch it on big screen before it's removed!

raasklaat (Unverified), 13/11/11

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I can't believe that people found this film dull or fell asleep in it. For me it was two hours of knuckle-chewing, bottom-denting tension, tempered by huge admiration for all the bold choices made by that brilliant swedish bloke who directed it.

Even if the relentless grey and grainy feel is more to do with Swedishness than how London was in the 70s, it was still massively atmospheric, and similarly the scenes in Budapest (buildings still pock-marked with bullet holes from 1956). The music was also stunningly brilliant, wringing us to an agonizing pitch of tension. It was a good deal more brutal than I remember the tv series being.

It is a triumph of film-making, to get that huge and very complex novel into a tightly constructed two hour movie and still give the impression of having time to do long lingering shots of Gary Oldman's wise old eyes beholding everything sadly from behind his thick glasses. Only one thing puzzled me, and that was why did we never see Anne Smiley's face? Mark Strong was also brilliant, and somehow they managed to get Tom Hardy not to overact.

I feel very lucky to have seen it on the big screen. See it now before it disappears.

Andrea Hopkins (DI Reviewer), 14/10/11

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I like walking out of things but I stayed for this, though my wife was fast asleep next to me from 10 minutes. On the other hand she's American and they could never understand a word of the Guinness version--"circus" "circus" , what's that.......??!! I admired the sheer slow passivity of it all, the director seeing how far he could test our patience. The marvellous stuied moments of the back of Gary Oldman's head looking at a picture in homage to Magritte.....so much more. The reviewer who contrasted it with the Damon movies is spot on...this is the opposite.

yalexanderw (Unverified), 30/09/11

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This really seems to be a marmite of a film, and not just in the number of shades of brown. I thought it was great, but half our party fell asleep plotting revenge on those of us who persuaded them it would be worth seeing.

Personally I think that even if you didn't enjoy it you should admire the way they've taken an incredibly introverted story which treats its characters episodically, suddenly introducing a new person with no warning and dropping them again. Out of this they've made a film which kept me awake where the TV version (brilliant though Alec Guinness is) most certainly didn't. By the end of that interminable series I had no idea whodunnit or even what they did. Here, I cared.

These days we're used to films where the outcome is of great significance, at least to the hero if not to the world. But in this story even if there is a mole it only seems to matter to 6 or so people at the top of the Circus. Even the other operatives don't seem to be affected by it. We're also used to the characters being introduced gradually, where each action leads onto the next. But no, Le Carre eschews all of this. And so does this film. It shouldn't work, especially when they've had to leave out great chunks of connecting tissue in order to make the scenes they have go so sinisterly slowly.

The use of colour is superb in its awful restraint. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kathy Burke are unlikely and superb; Colin Firth is predatory and foxing. The Christmas party is a nightmare of Boschian proportions. It's got all its details right. And you need to like it really - the significance of the colour black in the last scene? Definitely preparing for a sequel...

Jen Pawsey (DI Reviewer), 28/09/11

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I found this terribly boring. I know Gary Oldman is supposed to have turned in a masterpiece performance - all that subtle gazing into space - but the trouble with this was that he is not a fascinating actor to watch. There was no subtlety: he WAS just gazing into space. I know that the relentless grey tones of the film were supposed to reflect the grimness of the 1970s but the 70s weren't THAT bad or we would all have committed suicide. I was also put off by the masculinity of the thing - all those grey men. It made me almost thank Mrs T for breaking that particular mould!

morwenna (Unverified), 28/09/11

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I think it's all been said but this film (well most of it as I walked out about halfway - and I don't often walk out of films) is not just utterly pretentious but smug, self-satisfying and empty. The attention to detail as good as it is - and it is good in parts - is there to show just that how clever they are and not to enhance the contents, character or plot. The acting is stilted and inconvincing. Woth only a visit if you want to walk out.

Chanson (DI User), 24/09/11

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After hearing the original artiste’s recording the cover version usually disappoints. Having seen the 1979 TV adaptation, surely the definitive version, and read the book and listened to the 2009 BBC radio dramatisation I went to see this with limited expectations. I came away pleasantly surprised. I’m not sure if familiarity with the story helped, but I didn’t feel it hindered.

Comparisons with the Alec Guinness version are inevitable but ultimately unfair. With over 300 minutes to play with the TV version had far more scope for character development than a 120-minute film, this showed particularly in the four main suspects who were a little sketchy. The acting, however, was superb; Gary Oldman makes a great Smiley, though he would seem to have modelled the character on Guinness’ portrayal. Kathy Burke makes a superb Connie Sachs.

I’ve seen this described as slow. True; and if your idea of a spy film is the Bourne trilogy (I’ve seen one of these and it was at least one too many) then you are going to be bored. The photography was superb. Some of the sets were a bit strange; the Circus (SIS headquarters) looked more like a factory than an office block. I also wondered what the director was trying to do with some of the scenes, e.g. the repeated shots of the office Christmas party, which seemed to add very little, though they did provide a cameo role for LeCarre. Still, all in all, an enjoyable evening. Ignore the nay-sayers and make up your own mind.

catsman (DI User), 20/09/11

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I WAS so looking forward to this film, and for the first 10mins, it was truly enthralling, the attention to detail, the grainy cinematography evoking 70s London, that feeling of dread and foreboding, the stultifying bureaucracy surrounding everyday life. But soon all your left with is a complex mesh of nothingness and a feeling that you should be smart enough to try to get back into the film. But it drags on, and then hey presto the director must have woken up, and decides time to wrap this all up, and the plot suddenly becomes too coherent and slams to a far to tidy finale where there's nothing left to wonder about. Its nothing like as good as the critics think it is, and if the distributors think the public will flock to see this, I think they're in for a shock. Oh and if you're an adult in the 70s, please tell me it wasn't really as bad as 'post war Britain' which is the era mistakenly portrayed here.

moviemoghul (Unverified), 20/09/11

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This film is a pretentious dribble, I struggled not falling asleep. It was like reading the book but not being able to use your imagination and left only with the option to watch a group of elderly grey man with bad hair looking miserable all the time.

Alex (Unverified), 18/09/11

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