"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" Review

I had a busy weekend, as it happens.  Despite the last movie I'd seen being back in August (The Debt,) I found myself faced with two movies that I've been waiting for appearing in theaters the same weekend.  So I went and saw them both.  You can read what I had to say about Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows one entry before this on my blog.  This review is about the British Cold War spy film, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

As usual (by which I mean I did this in the Game of Shadows review also) I'll reserve my spoiler-free comments for the first part of the review, include a picture, then expose you to spoilers in the second half.

One line opinion: Moody and atmospheric, and well worth your time if you're willing and able to pay close attention to what's going on.

There are two audiences for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.  The first is those who are familiar with the material, either from reading the original John LeCarre novel or from watching the 1979 BBC mini-series starring Alec Guinness.   Or, as in my case, with both.  The second audience is people coming into the movie blind.  Since I'm firmly in the former camp, I'm not really sure how well the movie explains itself to people in the latter camp.

Knowing what I did about the plot and characters made it more about seeing how this version of the story is played out rather than wondering who was who or what was going on.  So from that perspective, the 2011 version of Tinker, Tailor was a great success.  It's always difficult to compare a book to a movie, since they approach their storytelling from different angles so I'm not sure which version I prefer.  However, I can say with some certainty that I did prefer the 2011 movie to the 1979 mini-series.  That's the case despite the fact that fans consider Alec Guinness' portrayal of protagonist George Smiley to to be the definitive one, so much so that  John LeCarre modeled his writing of Smiley after Guinness' version for all the character's remaining appearances in text after 1980.

The thing about the 1979 version, however, was that it was slow.  With six episodes to fill, the story creeps along with a lot of setup shots, driving around shots, and flashbacks.  By comparison, with only a couple of hours to tell the whole story, the 2011 film really moves.  That's to the story's benefit, since it ratchets up the tension and keeps you involved nearly from the very beginning.  If, as I said, you paid attention.

The downside to 2011's Tinker, Tailor is that it doesn't really slow down much to let you catch up.  It rarely pauses to explain what just happened.  It is not a summer popcorn flick where you turn off your brain and enjoy the explosions or swordfights.  It is, instead, a film that demands that you keep your brain on and follow what's happening, or else risk getting lost and never catching back up.

All that said, the film is very well done, and given how they pushed the American release date back from August to December, clearly the producers know it and are hoping for some Oscar love.  If you're willing to engage your intellect in a film, then Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a movie for you.

(I should note, however, that the film is in limited release, so if you want to see it you'll have to look for it.  In Chicagoland there are two choices.  I saw it at the Century 12 in Evanston.  The other local choice is the Landmark Century in Chicago.)

(Spoilers after the poster.)

(Abandon all hope of being un-SPOILED all ye who enter here.)

It was interesting what they added to the film that wasn't in the mini-series.  For instance, they cut back and forth throughout the film to a Christmas party at the Circus which is mentioned in the book but doesn't show up in the '79 version.  There's no significant dialogue in the party scenes, but you learn a lot by watching who is with who, and by interpreting various glances from one person to another.

Something else they added was making Peter gay, and him having to end a relationship to protect himself from surveillance.  That's definitely not in the mini-series or even the book, since Peter's an inveterate skirt-chaser in both older versions, and happily married two books later in Smiley's People.  And yet, the scene works because it forces Peter to make even more of a sacrifice to maintain his position as Smiley's right hand man.

Another thing about the film is the degree to which they use modern techniques to make the film so much more stylistic than the earlier version.  The scene where Smiley confronts Toby is made so much more threatening by placing it on a tarmac with a plane landing as they talk than the simple conversation in a room in either the book or the mini.  It's touches like those throughout the movie that make it succeed much better than I was expecting.

And why I strongly recommend the film, with the conditions I outlined above.