Based on a novel by John le Carre, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the latest film from director Thomas Alfredson, best known for acclaimed vampire flick Let the Right One In. It marks a change of pace for the Swede, from horror to thriller, modern-day to 1970s Cold War paranoia and fear.
In the wake of a botched operation in Hungary, spy master Control (John Hurt) and his right hand man George Smiley (Gary Oldman) are sacked and sent out into the cold. However as suspicions of a Soviet mole surface at the top of the British intelligence machine, Smiley is called back in to investigate from the outside and spy on the spies. The investigation is centred on London, but spreads out across the Iron Curtain and encompasses spies, politicians, families and soldiers.
If you go to see this hoping for a Bond or Bourne-esque adventure you will be disappointed. There is a distinct lack of explosions, wobbly cameras and pumping soundtracks. The pacing of this film is slow, even glacial. It builds piece by piece, developing themes and characters at a pace more associated with a 6 part TV drama, not a 2 hour film. Tension and mystery builds as suspects are held up and then discounted.The reason this slow burn story telling works so well is the quality of the cast. It is an tour-de-force of British cinema. As well as the afore-mentioned Hurt and Oldman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy and Kathy Burke all impress. The characters they create are compelling and nuanced, drawn with absolute conviction. You believe they are real people, flawed and fragile,developed with skill and depth.Gary Oldman’s understated George Smiley in particular, is a triumph. There is talk of an Oscar for him based on this performance, and it would be well deserved. In a quiet, disciplined fashion he drives the movie, providing the hook that drags us in.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy matches its superb cast and script with stunning visuals. Set in the 1970s, the film transports you into that period, recreating London and Soviet locations with equal skill and attention to detail. The visual style that director Thomas Alfredson employs is completely sympathetic with the script and actors with long, lingering camera shots matching the pregnant pauses that fill every scene, allowing the tension and suspicion to build as the plot unfolds.
However this is a film that splits people. As much as I found it compelling and absorbing, I can see that others would find it tedious and confusing. This is not a film for everyone, it will divide opinion, delighting and frustrating in equal measure. If you like your spy films to feel like Casino Royale or the Bourne trilogy, this is not the film for you. But if you have patience and the desire to think when you go to the cinema, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a richly rewarding film. A stellar cast put in performances of superhuman subtly and strength, the pay-offs from the big reveals more than compensation for the fog of uncertainty and confusion that precede them. Absolutely brilliant.
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