I was a teenager when I watched the television series of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I knew I was watching something special and that Alec Guinness was superlative but I was also totally baffled by it.
Cast: Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Hurt, Toby Jones, David Dencik, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Firth, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Simon McBurney, Stephen Graham
Rating: (M)
Five stars out of five
All I remember is Smiley conducting endless enigmatic interviews where an eyebrow raised at the wrong time told him all he needed to know, but left me far behind.
So you can imagine that I was a little afraid to see the movie version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Rialto and Hoyts). What if I still could not understand it?
I do not think I have got any better at deciphering micro-facial movements but this time I was able to follow Smiley (Gary Oldman) into the labyrinth and keep up. Actually, the point of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not in solving the puzzle but in luxuriating in the perfectly evoked bleakness of early 1970s Britain and the rolling out of more and more perfectly polished performances.
Oldman is wonderful with a minimalist performance that we did not know he had in him. Everyone else makes full use of the spaces he leaves and the end result is a movie you want to see again just to enjoy the way someone drinks their tea.
Best thing: I have been scratching my head over Mark Strong for a while. He is normally cast as the baddie but the man has so much charisma he should have had a go at a lead role by now. Here he is the heart and soul of the film.
Worst thing: You do not get me saying this very often but this could have stood being a little longer.
See it with: A clear head - you have to pay attention.
- Christine Powley
