Film Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Even though I had never read John Le Carre's book, or watched the BBC's 1979 adaptation starring Alec Guinness, I was still looking forward to this new film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with a great deal of anticipation.

And while I was excited at seeing the top drawer English cast that had been assembled together (Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, the ubiquitous Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds and Benedict Cumberbatch), the main reason for wanting to see it was for the director, Tomas Alfredson, whose last film was, of course, the excellent 'Let The Right One In'.

It was a film that not only was one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but one of those rare films that actually transcended the genre. It was a masterpiece. So Alfredson's follow up was also going to be something I'd pay close attention to.

George Smiley (Oldman) is an MI5 operative forced into retirement along with his superior Control (Hurt), but after details emerge of a possible Soviet spy within the group, he is called back in to investigate. The story (based during the time of the Cold War) goes back and forth to piece together the events as they play out.

As with 'Let The Right One In', TTSS is not really a film for the casual film-goer. But with the starry British cast, that's exactly the audience it seems to attract.

You may know the sort of person I mean - last seen at a cinema for more palatable stuff like 'The Kings Speech' or 'Mamma Mia!', and they may get quite stymied by the incredibly deliberate pacing of TTSS. In fact, during the Sunday afternoon screening I went to, 10 people walked out! Out of a full screen, but still the most walk outs I have ever witnessed at a film.

As well as the deliberate pace, no attempt to made to tell the audience what is a flash back and what isn't. That isn't a negative by any means, in fact it brings along a great payoff later in the film.

What put a couple of the walkers off (or so it seemed) was the violence. Not having seen the BBC adaptation, I can only assume it was constrained by what can be shown on the BBC at the time. This has flashes of violence, but it was quite brutal when it occurs. Very similar in fact to 'Let The Right One In' in that respect.

The film is full of great performances, with obviously all the attention on Oldman's Smiley, which is already being tipped for an Oscar nomination. This isn't a manic performance from Oldman like you've seen in Leon, True Romance or State Of Grace, it's a subtle performance, best highlighted in a scene where he tells his young partner (Cumberbatch) a story about what happened to a lighter that was given to him by his wife.

Last years Oscar winner Colin Firth is also great (the odd times he is in it) as Haydon, the lecherous colleage of Smileys at MI6. I would have loved to have seen more scenes with Oldman and Firth though, the screen really lit up the couple of substantial scenes they have together.

With all these great performances (and I struggle to think of a duff showing from any of the cast), I still wasn't totally blown away by the film though. It's not quite a five star movie, but probably one of the best British movies of this year.

There are more Le Carre novels that feature the George Smiley character (one of which, Smiley's People, was also adapted by the BBC), so I hope that Oldman and Alfredson return, because unlike the ignorant people who seem to demand explosions in their movies every 30 seconds, I would love to see more.

****
Not quite the 5 star masterpiece I was hoping for, but a fantastic film with great performances from all and more masterful direction from Tomas Alfredson, showing he's just as suited in this genre as horror. Recommended.