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:

Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 35 wins & 93 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:

spy | cold war | mole | woman on top | hungary | 

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Taglines:

Trust no one. Suspect everyone.

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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:

Focus Features Official site

Country:

France UK Germany

Language:

English Russian Hungarian French Turkish

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:

£2,814,860 (United Kingdom), 18 September 2011, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$310,562, 11 December 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$24,149,393, 22 March 2012

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,630,608, 22 March 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

StudioCanal,Karla Films,Paradis Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point, the song "Mr Wu's A Window Cleaner Now" is played on the radio and sung along by several characters. This song was originally from To Hell with Hitler (1940), in which George Formby played a ukulele player, mistaken for a spy.

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Goofs

Technical equipment can be seen in Smiley's glasses when he asks the whereabouts of an agent.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Control: [opening door] You weren't followed?
Jim Prideaux: No.
Control: Better come in.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits constantly move back and forth across the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood on Set: Tinker/Tailor, Soldier, Spy/Young Adult/Alvin & the Chipmuncks Chipwrecked (2012)

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Soundtracks

All Kinds of Everything
Written by Derry Lindsay and Jack Smith
Performed by Dana

User Reviews

Small pleasures, big impact

Clearly wasted on the attention-deficit cohort, this slow-burner rewards the effort and concentration you give it tenfold. It is only when you see the characterisation that cinema is capable of, in films like this, that you realise how crudely drawn and unsatisfying most performances are at the moment. Others have commented on the plot, but that is not the most interesting part of Tinker Tailor. It is the pulse that is palpable in the small static moments, where every image and gesture seems to thrum with an expectation of something wrong; a jarring discord that never lets the audience settle. You are brought into the personae of the characters in a way that makes you feel culpable; never letting you off the hook morally. This film is so good - packed with a thousand tiny pleasures - that it is sad that not everyone loves it. I wish it had had the confident US release that it deserved.