Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
France/UK/Germany/2011
Studio Canal/Karla Films/Kinowelt Filmproduktion/Working Title Films
#1096 of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die (combined list)
First viewing
IMDb users say 7.1; I say 7.0

George Smiley: [on Karla] He’s a fanatic. And the fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt.

This is based on the John le Carré novel. The plot is really complicated so I will just hit the high points.  Control (John Hurt), the Head of British Intelligence, is forced to retire after an operation in Hungary goes badly wrong.  He had sent an agent on a secret mission to uncover a Soviet mole in the top management of the agency. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) retires at the same time.

Control and the “Circus”

New management pursues the highly compartmentalized Witchcraft Project in hopes of luring the U.S. to share intelligence. Later, the Minister also begins to believe there is a mole and hires Smiley as an outsider to ferret him out. Smiley uncovers layer after layer of betrayal, spies of country, lovers of each other, and friend of friend. Also starring Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Spying on the spies

This kept my interest for the whole 2+ hours but I was not invested in any of the characters, with the possible exception of Smiley, so I could not get worked up about the solution of the mystery. It is one of those plots that throws the viewer into a mix of flashbacks and current scenes without any exposition. The story got progressively more engaging but I find this kind of thing also keeps me at a distance.

On further reflection, however, the pieces kept coming together and I’ve come to the conclusion that the film worked better than it first appeared.  I especially liked the use of the scenes between the child Bill and his teacher Jim Prideaux.  These went right over my head while I was watching.  I wound up raising my rating from 7 to 8 out of 10.

I thought the best thing about the movie was the opportunity to enjoy some top-notch acting by all the principals. I have never seen Gary Oldman give a bad performance and this was particularly fine. I also find Colin Firth awfully easy on the eyes and was pleased to find him here.

Oldman’s expressive face

When did the movies start to need to show a bathtub full of intestines to convey the idea that someone has been brutally murdered?  The person would be equally dead with a couple of bullet holes!  There were at least three or four really gruesome deaths in this one.  Yuck.

Trailer