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 | intelligence | 

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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:

Focus Features Official site

Country:

France UK Germany

Language:

English Russian Hungarian French Turkish

Release Date:

6 January 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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

Gary Oldman based his performance as George Smiley on a line from the novel: "George is like a swift, Ann once told Haydon in George's hearing. He lowers his temperature until it's the same as the room around it. Then he doesn't lose heat by adjusting." Tomas Alfredson further compared Smiley to a turtle, "because the turtle has so much of its body hidden inside a shell; it is fixed, and it doesn't have a lot of different expressions."

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Goofs

The price of the train ticket to Norwich was quoted as 'One pound fifteen'. By 1974, this price should have been decimal, but appears too cheap for a ticket for that distance during a year of high inflation. £1. 15 shillings (1.75) would have been allowed in 1973 (just - as we introduced decimal in 1971) but not 1974.

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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

At the end of the closing credits, there is a mention of Karla Films. This is a homage to George Smiley's nemesis.

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Connections

Referenced in The Graham Norton Show: Gary Oldman/Toni Collette/Nick Frost/London Grammar (2014)

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Soundtracks

The Proudest, Loneliest Fool
Written by Gordon Galbraith and Ricci Mareno
Performed by Charlie Rich

User Reviews

Chronological editing too confusing

Great cast of actors. Great visuals. But... the chronological editing of events is just too confusing. It goes back and forth through time and you've no idea of when a transition occurs, that is, if the next scene is a continuation of the last one or gone back in time or back to the present. I couldn't tell if there were 10 or 50 time changes. I could tell from the silence in the auditorium last night that no one else understood it either, perhaps this is why the critics have given it such high ratings. I think this gratuitous confusion added to the film really takes away from it. I won't bother trying to watch and understand it again.