Pietro's Movie Review: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

I don't think I've ever seen a film come as close to realistically portraying the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the Cold War spy trade as this one has. That being said, the story was compressed to the point you'd need the intuition of an MI-5 agent to understand what's going on.

I've been a fan of author John le Carré's spy novels for quite some time, Tinker, Tailor being right behind Smiley's People at the top of my 'must read' list. Not only does le Carré -- which is actually a pen name for former British intelligence officer David John Moore Cornwell -- bring gritty life to an era known for dreariness, he succeeded in establishing realism in Cold War espionage fiction; a genre most notable because of Ian Fleming's James Bond stories.

This film is my third venture into the world of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the second being BBC's mini-series starring Sir Alec Guinness in the lead role of spy hunter George Smiley, so obviously my expectations were very high. During this past week's press junket for the film, both director Tomas Alfredson -- whose last film was the critically acclaimed adaptation of the Swedish horror-drama novel Let the Right One In -- and screenwriter Peter Straughan acknowledged that time constraints were a serious issue with it's theatrical release; a notion further reinforced by actor Colin Firth later in the day. This is exactly what my main issue was with the project, followed closely by poor editing choices that swapped entertainment for realism.

First and foremost the entire production was shot beautifully, and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema deserves to get some Oscar love this year. Recreating every detail of any dismal era -- such as Cold War-centric, 1970's England -- is no easy task, but this film pulled me into the world as though I was living in it. I felt it missed it's mark bringing the thrilling and rich world constructed in the novel to life, though. After many hours of mulling over what I watched, I found that I wasn't so much let down by what I saw but what I didn't see on screen; but I can still easily identify it's moments of brilliance.

The main cast of Tinker, Tailor is a who's-who of widely popular British thespians, from Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) in the lead to Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes), Ciarán Hinds (There Will Be Blood), Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger), Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse), John Hurt (Melancholia) and Tom Hardy (Inception). All of them attempted to bring forth the affective potential of their roles -- particularly Oldman's introverted and haunted rendition of Smiley; unfortunately the film's abbreviated length did not allow much breathing room for us to care about the plight of these enigmatic characters. They are compared throughout the film to chess pieces, and in the long run they will be remembered as such: cold, small and inaccessible on an emotional level.

I can't reiterate enough how the two-hour run time of this film plagued it's character development and storytelling. That aside, when looking at this film for what it is instead of what it could be you have to give praise to the cast and crew for making one of the most realistic cinematic renderings of the spy business that has ever been shown in theaters. It was told to those of us in attendance of the film's press circuit that when screened for actual members England's secret intelligence community (no doubt thanks to le Carré/Moore Cornwell's still active connections), it was very well received for it's true to life portrayal. In and of itself that not-too-easy feat should be applauded, but as a film that is supposed to be accessible to mass movie goers I'm not sure how it's emphasis on stillness and ambiguity will be accepted. But iff you are looking for the most true-to-life spy film you can get your hands on, Tinker Tailor will satisfy you tremendously.

Through a love affair with the wife of a Moscow Centre intelligence officer, British agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) discovers that there may be a high-ranking Soviet mole within the Circus. Tarr alerts Oliver Lacon, the Civil Service officer responsible for the Intelligence Services, and Lacon enlists Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his mentor, retired agent George Smiley (Gary Oldman), to investigate. Smiley and Guillam must investigate without the knowledge of Circus leadership, which is headed by Percy Alleline and his deputies Bill Haydon, Roy Bland, and Toby Esterhase, as any of these could be the mole.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, scheduled for US theatrical release on December 9th, 2011, is directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) and stars Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Stephen Graham, Simon McBurney and Christian McKay. The title comes from the names Control (the Circus Chief) assigns to various senior intelligence officers under suspicion of being a Soviet mole. The code names "Tinker", "Tailor", "Soldier", "Poorman" and "Beggarman" are derived from the English children's rhyme "Tinker, Tailor".