Jan 6 2012
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Review: Jarv’s Take
Our agent across the pond Jarv, brings us the lowdown on the real identity of the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy adaptation. How does it measure up to the book, or for that matter, the Alec Guiness mini-series? Read on to find out….
PCN Rating: 
I’ve thought long and hard about this film. When I first saw it, my original reaction was somewhat toxic. The film had, frankly, sent me into paroxysms of boredom, and I was begging to leave the cinema. However, in retrospect, this initial reaction was a long way off base, as I am guilty of missing nuance, of underestimating subtlety and at the end of the day for not appreciating the obvious stately merits of the film. Alternatively, it’s still a dull film, but a supremely crafted dull film.
Tinker, Tailor is based on the first of novel of John LeCarré’s Smiley trilogy. The events as unfold here deal with a mole at the highest level of British Intelligence, “The Circus”, and George Smiley’s attempt to root him out. As the film meanders its way across the screen we’re treated to vignettes of Smiley’s life in flashback, such as the party where his wife, Anne, was first unfaithful, to the cringeworthy scene with her lover andso forth. All of this adds to the rich tapestry of character to Smiley, each moment informs his actions and each flashback reveals more of the depth behind his stoic façade.
First off, this is a supremely well acted film. Oldman achieved the impossible by turning in a performance comparable to the great Alec Guinness’ seminal turn, and John Hurt is supreme as the craggy-faced bile-spitting Control. Toby Jones as the duplicitous Alleline and Mark Strong as a spy cut loose are also on fine form, but it is two of the younger actors, Tom Hardy and the brilliantly monikered Benedict Cumberbatch that put in the best support to Oldman. The only actor that isn’t up to par is Colin Firth, but to be fair he’s utterly miscast in the first place.
Given that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is about espionage, and features award-worthy performances, it sounds strange that I’m not screaming it from the rooftops. However, there are several serious problems here. The first is that this isn’t espionage a la Ian Fleming. It is espionage from the pen ofLe Carré. The original novel, indeed the whole trilogy, was essentially a long term game of chess. Smiley is an old man, he’s been forcibly retired from the service, and this is not an action film. Rather this is espionage at its most cerebral; a cold, emotionless battle of wits with the enemy, where analysis trumps action and paperwork is king. What we have here is cinematic chess, and not just that, but chess played out between emotionally crippled individuals. There are two moments that stand against this. The first is Cumberbatch after Smiley tells him that he must break any ties he has, and the second is the action featuring Strong at the school- spotting (arguably grooming) a young boy with espionage potential. Unfortunately Smiley is at the centre of the film, and his emotions are locked up, chained down and unlikely to see parole any time soon. However, what more can be expected of a film where the mole’s reason for his treachery is purely cerebral? It’s an aesthetic judgement in that the West is too damned ugly now.
This, incidentally, is not an accusation you can level at the film. The depth of texture, the dedication to historical accuracy and the sheer sumptuousness of the cinematography make Tinker Tailor a fabulously rich film. Unfortunately, the glacial pace of the movie means that eventually I began to tire of staring endlessly at a canvas of 1960’s beige and browns waiting like Godot’s flunky for something to happen.
There is plenty to admire here, the historical accuracy, the performance by Oldman, the deliberately glacial place the film moves at, and the intelligence on display. Nevertheless, as much as there is to admire, there isn’t anything to love. It’s too tedious, and as I knew the identity of the mole going in, completely inert. This is, once again, a film that I want to like rather more than I do; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that I’ll appreciate them having a stab at, even if it’s one that I’ll never really warm to.
At the end of the day, I’m not a fan. I can see this cleaning up at award time, and I can see it being garlanded with more laurels than almost any other film this year. It’s exactly the sort of worthy piece of cinema that us Brits love to put out, and on top of that, it’s a period drama to boot. There isn’t a critic in the country that hasn’t gone weak at the knees for this film, but I’m going to stand alone here: watching Oldman checking paperwork is not interesting to me no matter how well filmed, and a film as cold as this one is never going to find its way into my heart. I think I’ll stick to either the novel or the miniseries.
Jan 06, 2012 @ 09:12:29
Not to complain Jonah, but the paste seems to have gone a wee bit wonky here.
Jan 06, 2012 @ 11:37:18
Argh. I had fixed it once. Still seems a slight mess. Let me correct that.
I was going to do a new review, but my feelings on this one are pretty much identical to yours. I admire it, and love the atmosphere but it’s far too slight in substance and comes off as dull. It’s a shame because the truncating of the novel and the rejiggering of the chronology has resulted in a film that’s occassionally confusing (if I didn’t already know, I would have assumed all of Strong’s scenes through the midpoint were flashbacks) and feels anticlimactic. Because it’s really all down to the plot points, ‘who is the mole?’ is the presiding question of the day and it operates like any old spy thriller minus the thrills. I kick myself for saying it, but this version feels like it’s missing action scenes.
That wasn’t the case for the Guinness series which was also stately but more ensconced in character and dialogue.
Not sure about over the pond, but here in America the studio was handing out actual fold-outs with terms, character names and connections on them, so the audience could use it as cheat sheets. I thought that a bit ridiculous.