Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

"I made a mark"

Tomas Alfresdon, on the back of a very strong showing with Let the Right One In, follows up with a brave imagining of John le Carré's well-loved and oft adapted novel.  At least he had the blessing of the author, who told him: "Please don't do the book, it already exists".  This latest work has strengths similar to those of his breakthrough outing but in the same way, a few question marks remain.

The film revolves around the world of British secret agents of the early 70s but James Bond, this ain't.  Despite growing up in Sweden, Alfredson was "breastfed" on British TV (which he proved by reeling off a number of production house themes and icons in the Q&A) and spoke of memories of "damp tweed".  You can certainly see where he got his inspiration for this rather grey adaptation.  Writer, Peter Straughan, also got in on the act claiming that, while James Bond worked in a world of black and white, le Carré's is a world of grey.  And there's a lot of it on screen: overcast skies, grey buildings and even greyer men.
The central character, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), is ousted from these dull surroundings by these dull men in rather humiliating circumstances but is soon called back to investigate them and discover that they are maybe not quite so dull after all......
Smiley is given no real back story.  indeed, he is barely given an introduction, walking silently through the opening scenes of the film; presented as a loner, an observer.  He spends a great deal of the film in silence, does Gary Oldman, but he is always in command of this most difficult of performances.  When he finally does open up into a most wonderful monologue you can't help but sit forward in your seat, leaning in for a more private audience with a master.
Smiley's main accomplice in this spy-spying-on-spies thriller is Benedict Cumberbatch's Peter Guillam.  Rather a ladies man by all accounts, Guillam is from a new generation of agents but still fits in with the suited and silent brigade of those who came before him (albeit with a rather trendier haircut).  The real youth of the piece is Ricki Tarr (a brilliant performance from Tom Hardy).  He is the slightly more flashy of the set - going off-mission when he spies an opportunity (even if it is work related) with a pretty girl.  Tarr is the emotional heart of the film, engaging and moving as he finally gives up on trying to keep his heart out of it.  As for the other suits?  We barely get to know them.  We see them in meetings, in varying states of stress and distress, but we spend little time with them as Smiley focuses on their activities and we are encourage to watch but not to know.  Toby Jones does the best of the four but even he seems to have very little screen time.  Last but not least is Mark Strong as Jim Prideaux.  Straughan told me that his was the character he most connected with when reading the book but I didn't find that that transferred to the screen.  The character flits in and out of the story and feels almost an afterthought on many occasions.

As with Let the Right One In, Alfredson does a good job of focusing on the human aspects rather than anything too flashy (indeed Straughan spoke of concentrating on who the real victims of this quest for information are).  This is where the strength of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy lies.  Absolutely, the attention to 70s detail is outstanding and the production design sticks to its brief brilliantly, but when focusing on Smiley and Tarr, this is when the film comes into its own.  But there is very little pace to the piece and it lacks the one vital element for a thriller - suspense.  There is only really one scene in which your palms get a little sweaty.  In fact, as the film comes to its conclusion it feels rather deflating.  The ending feels rushed and the film lacks the emotional punch to move it from the 'good' to the 'great' category.
Alfredson is expert at playing out a beautiful human story against a slightly inhuman backdrop and Tinker Tailor is a quiet, stately consideration of life as a loner, an observer.  If only they hadn't had to squeeze the plot in.  It isn't a thriller in much the same way that Let the Right One In wasn't a horror and it feels disappointing at the end not to have had more heart-racing moments.  Despite being a very well put together piece, I fear I won't remember it in for long.

Too much damp tweed and not enough thrill.  A rather empty thriller - 7/10