Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
“The Film of the Film, not the Film of the Book”
"The film of the film, not the film of the book" is how Le Carre describes it in one of the fascinating interview extras accompanying this DVD release, and this is very much the case. As a devotee of the iconic 70’s series I found Tomas Alfredson’s film wholly cinematic, brilliantly cast and a superbly realized-take on a familiar, and much-loved modern classic. Having watch the series as a teenager on a weekday night, taking notes on the plot, discussing the intricacies and confusions with my sister and rewatching it on the Sunday (if memory serves) night repeat, I found the Cold War convolutions and Secret Service code words less daunting than many others seeing this version as Tinker Tailor virgins. And thank God for that as it gave me space- even more so on this repeat DVD viewing- to wallow in acting of the highest level and a re-imaging of 70’s Britain and Europe which has a heightened realism miles away from social realist/kitchen sink or indeed nostalgic recreation of the past.
The Circus (Cambridge) which Le Carre co-opted as the perfect setting for Britain’s’ Intelligence Service, is a wonderful symbol- as the film opens the Ringmaster, Control, (brilliantly played by John Hurt) is on his way out the door taking his second-in -Command, George Smiley (Gary Oldman) with him, disgraced after that awful business in Budapest where Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong- fantastic in a devastating sub-plot) has been bloodily dispatched and renegade spy Rikki Tarr (Tom Hardy) reappears with the news that there is a mole at the highest level of the Circus. So can Smiley keep all the plates spinning while endeavoring to unmask the double agent in MI5s’ midst? Or is the sad cuckold destined to be the clown?
That’s basically the plot, and what a wonderful construct it is. But as said by Alfredson, the actors, writer Peter Straughan and Le Carre in the DVD extras, the film they have striven to make is less a spy story than a character study and this is where its power and beauty lies. Alfredson made the wonderful Let the ‘Right One In’ and as much as that was a vampire film for people who aren’t necessarily interested in vampires, you don’t need to like spy thrillers- though it’s a GREAT spy film and extremely tense and thrilling-to appreciate Tinker Tailor. This is, thanks to Alfredson, very European both visually and in its measured, but trigger-finger pace. The story grips from the off, with a literal knocking in the dark, cutting to Smiley imprisoned in goggles, both all seeing and blinkered, then whips us forward into the Hungarian bloodbath. All pre- titles. Great visual storytelling but also psychologically astute.
And so it continues, with layers of meaning unfolding through tense, often wordless, exchanges, spare but profound dialogue, and a powerfully created atmosphere of fear, distrust, post- war disillusion and aching melancholy, the latter embodied in the shrewd, slightly cruel and deeply isolated figure of Smiley. The one line I recall, possibly inaccurately, from the TV series was Sian Phillips’ Ann saying “Life has always been such a puzzle to you, George” and quoted it often over the past 30 years. Oldmans’ Smiley is vulnerable, yes, with the ever- present shadow of his romantic cuckold persona haunting him. But he’s made of tougher stuff than Guiness’ almost loveable George. As Gielgud, I think, said of Guiness ”You’re so good at playing the little people, Alec.” Here we have an incredibly nuanced and subtle performance by Oldman but he could never be accused of playing “little”. The menace and cruelty is underneath at all times. He may be an intensely lonely figure but he is fully aware of the power he wields, especially in a scathing attack on Toby Esterhase, (heartbreakingly portrayed by David Dencik).
This scene, played against the terrifying backdrop of an airfield- well, terrifying if you’re a possible double agent!- sums up the themes of betrayal, loyalty and self-interest at work here and features acting at its best. But the entire cast is superb. The potential moles-Colin Firth (Haydon), Dencik, Ciaran Hinds (Bland) (a little undeveloped as a character in the film but finely portrayed) and Toby Jones (Allelyne- a little quirky, but creepily so) are matchless but if I have an cavil it is that inevitably in a 2 hour movie the moles lack screen time so our emotional investment in the big “reveal” cannot be expected to match that of a 6 part series. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Peter Guillam is really Oldmans co-star and is totally up there with the old hands, as is Hardy. Lovely Cathy Burke is playing in a different style but is a breath of fresh air in a suffocatingly duplicitous male club. Her poignant plea for the days when, unlike the Cold War environment she has been ousted from , there was a war “men could be proud of”, is a rare moment of truth- Carre speaks in the extras of the Secret Service he worked in as a building which stunk of war nostalgia. Alfredson, with the help of two fine screenwriters, Straughan and O’Connor, brilliant cinematography and perfectly pitched 70’ soundtrack, has created a beautifully tense, powerful and perfectly pitched thriller which cares more about the complexity of human nature than the machinations of plot but realizes both in equal doses. A film for grown-ups, says Oldman. Hopefully, like my teenage self and the series, the lure of Bridget Jones’ Mark Darcy or the geezer out of Harry Potter will bring some younger audiences into Smileys world. They won’t regret it.
Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy is out on DVD 30th January 2012.
VIEW TRAILER
5 Stars
Caroline Burns Cooke
carolinecooke@blueyonder.co.uk