Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

A fine adaptation of the le Carré novel. You have to read the movie to appreciate it

The lingering bitterness of betrayal suffuses this extraordinary adaptation. David Cornwell (John le Carré) lost his cover in British intelligence primarily due to Kim Philby, who defected to the Soviet Union in 1963. Much earlier, another British Intelligence officer, Colonel David Smiley, whose unusual last name may have been borrowed by le Carré to create the fictional George Smiley, also suffered suspected ‘leaks’ by Philby.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a work of extraordinary casting and art direction. Set in 1973, and with locations in England, Budapest and Istanbul, the film does not read anything out to you, and if you are not interested, you will lose the plot. But if you are curious enough to read the film, it can be an enormously rewarding cinematic experience, trust me.

There is a mole in ‘the Circus’ (British intelligence) and George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is brought out of the cold to ferret him out. That’s the whole movie, and apart from an assassination attempt in Budapest, the incident that triggers the search for the mole, conversation—in measured tone and Oxbridge accent—dominates. It is a tonal film, no doubt about it, and the visuals are grey and gloomy and the mood sombre and sad and lonely.

Yet, it is a film that draws you in, like a tedious argument of insidious intent, to lead you to an overwhelming question, asking who, among Tinker (Toby Jones), Tailor (Colin Firth), Soldier (Ciaran Hinds) and Poorman (David Dencik) is the Spy? It is a male-dominated film and women are virtually absent, but the betrayals and heartlessness of relationships in the film mirror human sexual duplicity very accurately. When the Spy is shot dead at the end, the shooter is heartbroken and wipes a tear from his eye.

What the le Carré novel and this excellent adaption does is take the cheerful idea of ‘the old school tie’ and strangle you with it.

Gary OldmanJohn le CarréKim Philby