Review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) by Paul S — 19 Nov 2012

If for one second you think that this adaptation of John LeCarre's seminal novel taking place during the 60's cold war is not relevant today, then you need to re-examine your thinking. The Spy business is alive and well, and good information is just as all important now as it was then (though the villain, for the time being may have changed).

That being said, this is a very dense, expertly filmed (every frame has context and meaning), vision that somehow is just too British Buttoned Down for it's own good. Director Tomas Alfredson moves the film along at a slow but steady pace - giving you time to contemplate all the clues and red herrings, just as the main character George Smiley (in a magnificently controlled performance by Gary Oldman), tries to work it all out.

The film starts out with a bang - a BSS agent enters the flat of BSS head man "Control" (the always wonderful John Hurt). Hurt tells the agent that he is going "off the books" to "bring over" a Hungarian Colonel who is dangling the ultimate carrot: the identity of a mole within the BSS. Of course, since there is a high level mole in place according to this source, Control cannot let anyone else within the agency know of this agent's mission.

The agent arrives in Budapest and makes contact with a man acting as a front for the Hungarian Colonel. Alfredson does a wonderful job of allowing the camera to follow the agents' gaze: taking in all the people hanging out in and around the outdoor café where the meet was scheduled. This paranoid viewpoint, where anyone and everyone could be a plant or enemy agent is wonderfully filmed and just one example of how every frame of the film is planned, staged and with meaning.

Later, Control steps down (in somewhat of a disgrace) and mentions to the "inner circle" that ageing agent Smiley is retiring as well. Now that Smiley is "outside" the circle, he is now free to investigate said circle and try to ferret out the mole.

So what comes next is a byzantine and complex puzzle with Smiley taking it all in and processing what it all means. There is no James Bond action here, just a very smart, minimalistic man pursuing the threads of a conspiracy. He looks at several of the inner circle, peopled by such European stalwarts as Colin Firth and Cairan Hinds. Firth in particular is a joy to watch as he seemingly floats above the actions around him with his winning smile.

In my mind what prevents this film from becoming the standard for all spy films is that somehow the sense of urgency is lacking. It is as if there is no life or death consequence and while it would be nice if the mole is discovered, one gets the sense that it isn't a deal breaker (which is absurd, for it indeed is - as one spy tells the other "everything we think is gold is shit"). Perhaps it is just this - the action is all words and wordplay - nothing wrong with that (as I'd wish most Hollywood films used a bit more discretion in the shoot em up dept.) - but the tension level never seems to heat up to the boiling point. Regardless, this is a very intelligent film that's beautifully crafted. It assumes that you have a degree of brain power, so it doesn't spoon feed you the clues on a platter... which is so reminiscent of Brit spy films of the 60's and 70's like The Ipcress File and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.