Movies often depict international espionage as an exciting life full of sex, explosions, and evil geniuses bent on destroying the world. In reality, we know that it is more likely lots of paperwork, hours upon hours of patient surveillance, and smoky conference rooms. This is the spy life depicted in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy an adaptation of John LeCarre's 1974 novel of the same name. LeCarre knew his source material very well, and it is likely that at least some of his novel is based on actual events. LeCarre's real name is David Cornwall, a British spy at MI6 who was betrayed by Kim Philby a double agent working for the Soviets. The film adaptation of this story, is full of twists and turns, but it is paced very slowly and deliberately in order to increase the tension to new heights.
The film begins with a mission to Budapest where a British spy is going to meet a Hungarian general to learn the code name of a mole inside of British Intelligence. The mission goes awry and ends up alerting the Soviets that the Brits are aware of their mole. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is a former spy who has been pulled out of retirement to complete the work of finding out the mole. We learn that the former head of MI6 knew that the mole was one of five men: “Tinker” Percy Alleline, “Tailor” Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), “Soldier” Roy Bland, “Poorman” Toby Esterhase, and “Beggarman” Smiley himself. What follows is Smiley's careful internal investigation of the British Intelligence shown in many paranoid meetings in smoky, sealed rooms and flashbacks that reveal information about events that lead up to the mission in Budapest. Alleline is the head of a top secret operation named Witchcraft in which British agents exchange low-level information to a Russian informant in exchange for quality intelligence on the Soviets. Later, another agent named Tarr (Tom Hardy) makes an appearance as a suspected defector who returns to England with information he gained regarding the Operation Witchcraft while in Istanbul.
It's an interesting film that truly engages the viewer. Unlike many other films that revolve around a mystery, Tinker Tailor doesn't make anything obvious to the viewer, we feel just as in the dark as Smiley trying to piece together clues. I was slightly annoyed by the presentation of the flashbacks as it wasn't clear until the movie ended what the order of events actually were. Unlike other movies like Memento where the obfuscation of the timeline plays an important role, there was no need for it in this movie, and I think the film would have benefitted more by making it clearer what was happening when.
Besides that though, I didn't find much else wrong with this movie. The acting was stellar. Gary Oldman gives the performance of his life for which he deservedly was nominated for Best Actor. His portrayal of George Smiley is quintessentially British, he's in the middle of a very tense, emotional situation but he keeps a stiff upper lip throughout. However, there's more to his performance beyond that; though it is never really shown, you can sense that there is a lot going on beneath the surface of Smiley's calm exterior as his lifetime of service in British Intelligence seem to weigh on him like a stone. The score and cinematography also work very well in conjunction to help build the tension right up until the end. I did find the big reveal of the identity of the mole to be somewhat anti-climactic, but the epilogue does a good job of making up for it.
Rating: 8/10 - Righteous
No comments:
Post a Comment