Is it any good? If you like your spies to be all-action heroes like James Bond and Jason Bourne, you better look elsewhere. The spies of this film are emotionally repressed, duplicitous, lonely men who inhabit a grey, smoke-filled world of dreary offices, files and subterfuge. Glamourous, it ain't. Similarly, if you like your plots spoon-fed to you in easily digestible chunks, you'd better think about defecting to some other film. This film expects you to pay attention, read between the lines and generally think about things to understand what's going on. And even then, if you're not familiar with the story, you might still end up wondering who-knew-what-when. However, it is intelligently adapted from the densely plotted novel and Alfredson has assembled the film beautifully and precisely, layering it with a melancholic, almost miserable mood, which suits the material perfectly. He also does particuarly well to convey the wheels turning in Smiley's head as he investigates. All the actors are excellent, although Mark Strong stands out, even in a film where no-one puts a foot wrong.
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"I'm the best in this film!" |
I don't trust you. What do others think? Critics have gone bananas for it, showering it with plaudits and five-stars like confetti. Fans of the book
Anything else I should know? John le Carré's real name is David Cornwell and he worked for MI5 and MI6 in the 50s and 60s, based in Berlin. His cover was blown by the Cambridge Five affair, and the unmasking of Kim Philby as a double agent for the Russians. With his intelligence career ended, Le Carré turned to writing and exacted a type of revenge by effectively casting Philby as the mole in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy. Look out for his cameo in the flashback party scenes in the film. More recently, British PM David Cameron revealed the KGB had attempted to recruit him in his youth. He refused, of course. Or did he.....?
What does the Fonz think? The Spy Who Came in For The Mole. Classy, but cold.
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