Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6.

Director:

Tomas Alfredson

Writers:

Bridget O'Connor (screenplay), Peter Straughan (screenplay),

Stars:

Mark Strong, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 51 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Strong	...	Jim Prideaux
John Hurt	...	Control
Zoltán Mucsi	...	Magyar
Péter Kálloy Molnár	...	Hungarian Waiter
Ilona Kassai	...	Woman in Window
Imre Csuja	...	KGB Agent
Gary Oldman	...	George Smiley
Toby Jones	...	Percy Alleline
David Dencik	...	Toby Esterhase
Ciarán Hinds	...	Roy Bland
Colin Firth	...	Bill Haydon
Kathy Burke	...	Connie Sachs
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Peter Guillam
Stephen Graham	...	Jerry Westerby
Arthur Nightingale	...	Bryant

Storyline

In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control, resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian agent - a mole - and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. Smiley had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent, Ricky Tarr, that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him.

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Plot Keywords:

hungary | intelligence | mole | spy | cold war | 

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Taglines:

How do you find an enemy who is hidden right before your eyes?

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Germany]

Country:

France UK Germany

Language:

English Russian Hungarian French

Release Date:

6 January 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El topo

Filming Locations:

Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$310,562 (USA) (9 December 2011)

Gross:

$24,104,113 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

StudioCanal, Karla Films, Paradis Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Swedish song heard in Control's first scene is "Land, du välsignade" (Blessed Country) sung by Jussi Björling. The director Tomas Alfredson is Swedish; however the song also serves as an indication of Control's patriotism.

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Goofs

In one of the flashbacks to the Christmas party, presumably before Control resigns in 1973, a "Lenin Santa" has everyone sing along to a recording of the Soviet National Anthem. The version that is played is the 1977 version - the original 1944 words fell out of favor after Stalin's death in 1953 and the anthem was played without words until the new version in 1977.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Control: [opening door] You weren't followed?
Jim Prideaux: No.
Control: Better come in.
Control: Trust no one, Jim. Especially not in the mainstream.

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Connections

Referenced in The Thick of It: Episode #4.2 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Salut D'Amour"
written by Edward Elgar
arranged & produced by Michael Price

User Reviews

The classic Cold War spy thriller turned into a ravishing looking thinking man's thriller

I have not read the book nor seen the 1979 landmark series that garnered so much acclaim for the BBC and Sir Alec Guinness, but such contextualisation is not needed to recognise that this version of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' is a masterful re-telling of John le Carré's seminal work about British espionage during the Cold War. An early scene really encapsulates the whole tone and mood of the film. A retired George Smiley (played majestically by Gary Oldman) is sitting at home and enjoying a documentary about Winston Churchill (which seems suitably apt for a man of his former position) when his doorbell suddenly and unexpectedly rings. His head turns slowly to the left in the direction of the impudent sound and the instantaneous look of sheer effrontery and disdain on Oldman's face will leave you chuckling as his peaceful reverie is rudely disturbed. Such scenes like this leaven the film with humour but ultimately this is a chamber piece; expertly played by the cream of British acting talent headed by Goldman and Hurt (who incidentally could also have been a great George Smiley) and told with a languid verve that unravels the complex plotting in a series of tableaux vivants laden with mystery and suspense, but which also acts as important plot points and clues.

The film is about the hunt for a Soviet 'mole' in the highest echelons of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6 but fictitiously known as 'The Circus') by George Smiley, an intelligence officer who has been brought out of forced retirement by Oliver Lacon, the Civil Service overseer of the Circus. Through a love affair with the wife of a Russian intelligence officer, a British agent, Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) discovers that there may be a high ranking Soviet mole within the Circus. Aided by Peter Guillam (Bendedict Cumberbatch) who is Tarr's handler, Smiley sets about uncovering the mole without the knowledge of Circus leadership, anyone of whom might be the mole, headed by Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) and his deputies Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds) and Toby Esterhase (David Dencik) – the 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' of the book (codenames assigned by Control, Head of British Secret Service).

The director, Tomas Alfredson, established his reputation with 'Let the Right One In', an icy Swedish romantic horror that dealt with relationships and this too, is a film about human nature, moral dilemmas and relationships – friendship, loyalty and betrayal on intimate and grand scales with personal and national implications. Like 'Let the Right One In' Alfredson imbues 'Tinker, Tailor', Soldier, Spy' (his first English language feature) with somnambulistic pacing and mood that requires the audience to be patient, but this is richly rewarded with scenes, shot after shot, that ravish the eye and heavy with period atmosphere and drama. James Bond this is not and George Smiley has more in common with Harry Palmer than Ian Fleming's vigorous secret agent. Indeed, Robert De Niro's admirable treatment of the early history of the Criminal Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 'The Good Shepherd' (2006) has a similar cipher in Edward Wilson – a 'grey man' whose very ordinariness renders him invisible to counter espionage and thus makes him the perfect intelligence operative. A raised voice towards the end of 'Tinker, Tailor' is as excited as Smiley gets but for those not familiar with the story the ending will leave you with a broad smile of satisfaction as the 'grey man' (note Smiley's grey hair, grey countenance and grey suit replete with over-sized glasses and shambling gait) of the secret intelligence service wins the day.

The screenwriters, Peter Straughan and the late Bridget O'Connor, have done an exceptional job in condensing down what is clearly a labyrinthine Cold War thriller into a classic two hour potboiler without losing any of its exposition, characters, and plotting. John le Carré and his fans will be proud. This is a thinking man's film about a period of recent history that is as murky as it is exciting and relevant today with its eternal themes of friendship, loyalty and national security. There must be many more stories of espionage to mine from both sides of the Iron Curtain and I do hope this film kick starts a renewed interest in telling the stories of the Cold War warriors who shaped the modern world. If the film does 'King's Speech' levels of business I think it just might and Hollywood would be the richer for it.