Contrary to what Ian Fleming may have lead you to believe with the Bond series, not all spies lead explosive, glamourous lives filled with explosions and supercars and impeccable suits. No, in reality by their very nature spies are a more subtle breed, and Tinker Tailor Soldier spy has succeeded in being a realistic, and gripping account of the life of Cold War era spies.
Let The Right One In director Tomas Alfredson chose to follow up his hugely popular first movie with an adaptation of the classic John Le Carre thriller, previously seen on screen featuring Alec Guiness in a miniseries. It’s not a remake of the series though, more an adaptation of the book – and all the better for it. Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, a retired (not by choice) spy caught up in a plot to take down a mole within British Intelligence, planted by the Russians many years ago. Through a number of flashbacks we see how Smiley’s boss, Control (John Hurt) found out about the mole through a young spy, Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy). What follows is a clever, immensely detailed and consistently interesting hunt for the mole – one of five men high up in MI6.
A film like this lives or dies on the strength of it’s cast and Alfredson really could not have been luckier. Colin Firth, Toby Jones, David Dencick and the brilliant Ciaran Hinds play the four other top spies in MI6, each of them with their own motivations and distinct personas, and thanks to expert performances you’re kept guessing throughout the film. John Hurt delivers as always as the veteran MI6 leader, a role that was pretty much made for his gravelly voice and immense presence. Once again, Tom Hardy proves himself a massive star in waiting in the role of Tarr – easily the most emotionally blatant of all the characters, he’s incredibly easy to empathise with as the spy who isn’t comfortable with his work. Kudos is also due to Benedict Cumberbatch (as Tarr’s boss and Smiley’s right-hand man) and Mark Strong as a fellow spy who round out one of the best ensemble casts in a long time. There’s even a great little role from Kathy Burke!
But as brilliant as the cast is, the film belongs to Oldman. To say his performance is ‘nuanced’ is a huge understatement – you find yourself drawn into every little movement he makes, so calculated and precise are his actions. His incredibly subtle performance at times makes him seem almost invisible – the mark of a great spy perhaps? Oldman has been a standout in many films over the years but his performance here is easily one of his career highlights. One scene in particular, where he describes an encounter in Russia (you’ll know when you see) is one of the best I’ve seen this year. A properly brilliant performance.
Alfredson proves himself to be more than a flash-in-the-pan too, bringing a lot of the clinical approach to this film that he had in his first effort but with an added touch of class and style. There’s no sexing up of MI6 here – the film is all greys and subdued hues – but it looks fantastic, and the score is beautiful too. With this only being his second film, it looks like the beginning of a wonderful and exciting career for him.
Whilst it’s easy to get lost in the hype of a movie like this, I really did find it very hard to fault. At two hours, it never drags and whilst it may go back and forth throughout, the conclusion is both concrete and satisfying. Oldman is rightly getting praise from all corners for his role but the whole cast elevate the film and easily cement it as one of the highlights of 2011, and brilliantly shows us a more realistic and tangeable side to espionage than we may be used to – although, to be fair, even in this film they do all get to wear some great suits. A superb piece of work.
