Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

This is what you call a serious film. Serious, steady and stern. It centres on men who do serious work and take what they do very seriously. I cannot emphasise this enough: it’s serious. As a consequence, such austerity isn’t for the faint-hearted cinema-goer. Or, for that matter, isn’t exactly ideal movie material after you’ve just had a large Sunday roast dinner and a couple of glasses of wine, like I did. It took a serious effort of will to keep my eyes open throughout, particularly during the middle section.

On-screen the intricate plotting, character interplay and chronological jumping between past and present (completely not signposted so be wary) further make this the kind of film that you could quickly miss the point of entirely. Mrs. Comet remarked, as we exited, that she hadn’t understood any of it. And yet the plot is straightforward. A botched operation prompts two men – Control and George Smiley (John Hurt and Gary Oldman) – to be removed from their positions. However, Smiley is brought back in to continue Control’s work in uncovering a Soviet spy from one of five suspects.

A group of guys. One’s a spy. Gary Oldman’s brought in to figure out who it is. Plot synopsis complete.



Style and subtlety are the order of the day here. Director Tomas Alfredson (previously responsibly for the very measured vampire movie Let The Right One In) isn’t interested in dazzling the audience. It actually struck me whilst watching that the 70s setting of the film and how it actually plays out on screen could very easily convince anyone that the film was made in the 1970s. If you were ignorant to who the actors were or that this was a new movie there’s nothing in terms of content to clue you in to its modern day creation. It’s old-school, and doesn’t suffer because of it either.

There is style here, mind. Two key characters are referenced and glimpsed but never directly shown, either caught in close-ups or obscured in a lack of focus. And watch the early opening scene, where Mark Strong’s Jim Pridaeux takes a simple meeting outside of a café, noticing details about the behaviour of the customers, the sweat coming off the waiter, the reaction of his contact that convince him, and us, all is not well. It’s tightly-coiled whilst simultaneously subdued – a description that permeates the rest of the film.

I must admit I did expect slightly more here to quicken the pulse. Beyond an extended sequence showing Benedict Cumberbatch’s Peter Guillam infiltrating MI6 to steal documents without looking suspicious there’s not a lot here to set your heart pounding. This is fine, of course, except I thought the part of the film that ought to pack a punch – the reveal of the spy! – was so lacking in surprise revelation, so low-key, you’d be forgiven for any initially confused questions of, “Is that him?”

It was really only with that over-muted reveal did the film feel like it fumbled the execution.

A stately pace, few thrills and a fluffed climax, what, you may wonder, is there to recommend Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy? Well, it’s all about the performances. It’s Alfredson’s unfussy direction and a leisurely script that allow big hitters like Gary Oldman, John Hurt and Mark Strong to show off their acting chops. There’s also Colin Firth possessing an edge I’ve never seen him show, Toby Jones deliciously officiously menacing and up and coming actors like Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch more than holding their own in this esteemed company.



Oldman is the standout, in the lead. His George Smiley is innocuous on the outside to mask the whirring deviousness within. One scene where he gets animated, in recounting a meeting with perhaps his nemesis (for want of a better term), sees him literally re-enact the conversation to an empty chair. An unflinching close-up of his face, filling the screen, lets you watch every flicker and detail of his expression. It’s an important monologue in terms of the plot (it’s a meeting where he betrayed something crucially important to his enemy) and stylish in that the same weakness is clearly still apparent for us all to see. If the performance was so perfectly restrained, by necessity, I’d consider him a shoe-in for an Oscar nod – whether the academy recognises something so nuanced remains to be seen.



This is a movie of proper craftsmanship, and it’s heartening to see that it’s done so marvellously well at the box office (though I suspect there’s a good portion of people that left with their expectations not met). Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is refined, composed and reeks of quality. It’s also serious. It’s very serious. Take it seriously.