Ryan McNeil
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY features no communist bombshells sent to extract government secrets. There are no gadgets, very few guns, and not a drop of a martini. What is there is a lot of talk, hushed tones, and suspicious glances. In many ways it’s likely a lot like what life at MI6 was truly like in the cold war, and while the result might not be sexy, it is quite engaging.
The film opens with an MI6 chief named Control (John Hurt) sending his agent Prideaux (Mark Strong) to Hungary on a mission to buy information. The mission goes awry when Prideaux gets shot in the back, and the ensuing melee forces Control to resign and likewise his number two man, Smiley (Gary Oldman). The operation (aka “The Circus”)is then handed over to the agents remaining agents – Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds) and Toby Esterhase (David Dencick).
However, Smiley is not long for retirement as an agent named Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) comes forward alleging that there is a mole in The Circus – specifically, within its commanding circle. MI6 reaches out to Smiley to try and weed out the traitor.
To do this, Smiley needs to work quietly so as not to alert his former colleagues that they are under investigation. Likewise, since he is retired, he needs an insider to gather various forms of information and set wheels in motion. It can’t be just any insider though – after all this barrell is rife with rotten apples. Smiley recruits an idealist named Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) since his spot on the outer edge of the inner circle allows his to get sensitive materials without raising too much suspicion.
As Ricki Tarr’s allegation is proven, and the truth about the leak becomes more and more apparent, Smiley, Guillam and MI6 assign codenames to the commanding circle of The Circus and must now move to determining which of them is responsible for the treason: the tinker, the tailor, the soldier, or the spy.
TINKER TAILOR is a spy film from another era, and it relishes that role. It knows full well about the physicality and kinetic energy the Bond and Bourne kids are playing the spy game with these days, and it has no interest in trying to keep up with their younger legs. Instead, it wants us to be patient and attentive. It doesn’t only want us to watch, but also wants us to listen. How many modern spy films want us to listen anymore? Heck, how many spy films have something worth listening to anymore?
Much of the film’s thoughtfulness and patience comes from the top: namely, Gary Olman’s portrayal of Smiley. By now, Oldman has firmly established himself as an actor who automatically elevates any project he’s in and this film is no different. There’s no surprise that Oldman is able to lead the top notch cast that’s been assembled for TINKER TAYLOR, but what might surprise some is the manner in which he does it. Oldman’s performance is one of the most subdued roles he’s played in some time. His Smiley is an unassuming older gentleman you might expect more to find working in a post office than deep within MI6. He moves as if he’s in no particular hurray, hides behind big thick glasses, and speaks barely above a whisper.
That manner of speaking though, is what speared you in closer to him. You zero in and see past the thick glasses, to eyes that glint with patience. And as you listen closely to his quiet voice – one that gives a monologue as quiet yet intense as Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech in JAWS – you realize that you’re listening to a man who is likely two moves ahead of you, and planning the third. Smiley is the sort of character that knows what’s happening far before the rest of us do – he’s just working out what he wants to do about it.
That pensiveness is echoed in Guillam (which might be why Smiley recruits him). Perhaps he reminds Smiley of an ideal version of the men he used to work with: intelligent, soft-spoken, effeminate. Perhaps his calm demeanor strikes him as a better option to get to the heart of the matter than the somewhat mercurial Ricki Tarr. Or perhaps Smiley just sees something in Guillam that represents what MI6 is supposed to stand for, rather than the self-serving backstabbery it has become. Whatever the reason, Guillam is handed the film’s most tense scene – the extraction of a file. In a spy film as patient as this, that’s the equivalent to Tom Cruise running through a sandstorm.
While all of this pensiveness is elegant in a muted easern European way, the way it permeates the film might be off-putting to some. This is a film where nobody yells, nobody raises a hand, and sparse few shots are fired. It takes a fair measure of concentration, and even then, the entire twisted web might not be abundantly clear. As the film unfolded, I remembered trying to read its source novel this past spring but putting it down as it left me cold. That old feeling is laced into this film a few times over. It’s as if director Tomas Alfredson looked at his previous film, the low-simmering LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, and thought “Too sexy”.
Pensiveness included, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY is a methodical and deliberate film in what is usually a run and gun genre. It has some of the best actors of the day doing very little, but doing little so very well. It does well to unsettle the audience not as much with what is seen, but with what is suggested – such as when a character is brought out into the middle of nowhere and gets unnerved when somethin innocent, yet potentially dangerous, appears.. It might no be a film for everybody, but its thoughtfulness will keep those who stay with it nicely engaged.
I am really disappointed with this movie.
As you mentioned in the review, Alredson got the tone and atmosphere right. It’s always murky, worn down and there is a sense of dread to every scene. I think Alfredson is deliberately making an anti-Bond/anti-MI type movie. You can say it’s a character study about these spies, who have been working for years and everyone is hiding their hand with a poker face. The performances are all good, everyone underplays their role and Gary Oldman’s Smiley could be an excellent poker player if he decides to be one. In some ways, the plot is secondary in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it’s always about the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, Alfredson picked the wrong story to adapt on screen. I have never read the John LeCarre novel nor seen the mini-series. But I know the material is very plot heavy, and by downplaying the plot, it ends up hurting the narrative. There are many scenes that I was not very cleared on and Alfredson has no intentions of clearing them up for the viewers. I am not asking for an Inception like exposition, but a hint here or there would be helpful. The movie loses me in about an hour in, as I was lost and lose interest. (it could be Alfredson’s intention too since a regular person is supposed to be lost in this world). When the reveal happens, it’s so underplayed like it’s another day in the office for these spies (again, that’s probably his intention), but for a viewer who invested 2hr plus into it, it’s ultimately unsatisfying. (BTW, can anyone tell the difference between Percy, Bill Haydon, Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase? I don’t mean their looks, but their characteristics, they are all the same.)
TTSS would work better if it’s a 90 minute character study, by simplifying the plot or make it a 3 hour movie so many plot points have room to breath. I think a movie can be made with the same sense of atmosphere and tone with a clear narrative (see Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), but TTSS isn’t one of them.
Well I thank you for your comment for starters, because comments on the reviews have been fewer and further between lately (Guess it’s what I get for posting them day of release).
Yeah, now that you mention it – I wasn’t bothered by the fact that I was just barely understanding the plot, I was just so deeply immersed in the world these men inhabited. We’ve been conditioned to think that intelligence is a lot like what we see in 007 and M:I, when in reality it’s probably a lot like this.
i think a lot of those down moments you speak of would play better – forgive me for suggesting this – on rewatch. Knowing where the whole story is ultimately going would allow you to look for breadcrumbs, and also give you more time to tell that bench squad of four actors apart.
From what I understand, there was a much longer cut out there, though I’m not sure I’d be able to endure it. Come back to it sometime, if only to watch Oldman do his stuff once more – you might find some of those things that distanced you from it weren’t quite so bad.
I actually like the same the things you liked: the performances, the atmosphere, and the tone. I just wished the movie is a little more than that. Perhaps I would enjoy this a lot more if I read the novel, or seen the TV series. And yes, I would probably enjoy it more on a re-watch, though I don’t think it’s high on my priority list.:)
Certainly not in the theatre – perhaps in the springtime on blu-ray.
I thought it was an immaculate-looking film, and the sound mixing (I think…not so sure about sound categories) was really good. About the acting, I couldn’t have put it better than what you wrote – “It has some of the best actors of the day doing very little, but doing little so very well.” Oldman was fantastic.
But then, I thought it was a very distant film. It was engaging no doubt, but I’ve seen a few unsettling films this year like MMMM and Kevin and I did feel something for the characters in them. In TTSS however, I just couldn’t.
And finally, that song in the end was just annoying.
It’s a tough film to be sure…but as someone recently put it to me, just because a film isn’t “enjoyed” doesn’t make it a bad film. I get the feeling TTSS is that sort of film.
Down the road when you see it again on TV or DVD, give it another look. You might find that distance has shrunk.