Film Reviews

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

• Rating:
• Director: Tomas Alfredson
• Starring: Colin Firth
• Details: UK/France / 120mins (15A).

A grimy spy thriller drenched in paranoia, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy might be out of date but it does boast that rare quality that so many films rarely have – complete and total immersion. For its duration it is the 70s, the Cold War is still in effect and the Russians have spies everywhere. Fans of slow-burning realistic spy thrillers like The Good Shepherd should enjoy this but it could take more than one viewing to get a grasp of everything going on here.
After a bungled mission in Hungary that ended in the death of spy Jim Prideaux (Strong), Control (Hurt) employs George Smiley (Oldman), who was forced into early retirement, to root out a suspected Soviet mole at large in MI6. It could be anyone in The Circus, the high echelon of the British Secret Service: Percy Allenine (Toby Jones) aka Tinker, Bill Haydon (Firth) aka Tailor, Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds) aka Soldier or Toby Esterhase (David Dencik) aka Poor Man. Smiley meticulously goes about eliminating his suspects…
That's a brief synopsis for a film that tackles John Le Carre's expansive novel and a 70s series starring Alec Guinness that took seven forty-minute episodes to get to a climax. But this film adaptation feels as in-depth. 'Meticulous' is the byword: lavish detail is extended to every corner of the screen; from the clothes to the sets, right down to the cigarettes they smoke, the overall effect is the viewer's complete absorption in this world. Credit to director Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In) who never takes his eyes off the ball and allow the detail to overwhelm the plot, which is always foremost in his mind. It might move at a snail's pace but it always moving. If 'meticulous' is a byword, then 'intricate' would be another. Try 'intimate', 'eerie', 'chilling', 'thorough' and 'bleak' too. A shower may be needed afterwards.
With so many star names, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy could have drowned under that weight but it manages to be a superbly plotted film and an acting tour de force. Oldman is front and centre with his quietest performance to date: Smiley has lines to say and is asked to move about but Oldman is so slight in his delivery it is as if he goes through the entire movie sitting in a chair in silence. If he downplayed a little more, he'd simply disappear. Everyone chips in with subtle turns with Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy pitching in too. It's a shame, though, that Firth and Hinds aren't as prominent as the marquee would suggest.
With so many names and double-crosses and whatnot to remember, it's hard to keep abreast of it all but this thinking man's spy thriller is one of the movies of the year.

Review by Gavin Burke