Film Diary 2011: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (From The Argus)

Film Diary 2011: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

12:25pm Monday 19th September 2011

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Cramming John Le Carre's complex spy thriller into a two hour movie was never really going to be an easy task, but Tomas Alfredson manages to pull it off stylishly, aided by a memorable star-studded cast all clearly relishing the opportunity to dive into a 70s set Cold War environment.

However, I get the distinct impression that this film may become a victim of its own hype, which, for some reason might lead people to believe that this is going to be a lively, twisty-turny, nail-biting, nerve-jangling thrill-ride. The trailer is brilliantly editing, using the most benign of shots to suggest all manner of shenanigans, one shot from that promo inparticular stands out for me, and that is Toby Esterhase (David Dencik) standing in an elevator, the doors opening quietly behind him to reveal Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) stood right behind him looking stern and with intent. One would half expect the next moment to be a murderous tussle, a well planned assassination, or at least Toby to jump and go "Crikey, you didn't half scare me there, matey!" No, instead, Toby turns round and they both walk to Peter's car.

If anything, that defines the 'thrills' of Tinker Tailor..., it's a delightfully old fashioned, deliberately paced movie that, in its second act occasionally comes to a plod, but is filled with enough brilliant actors doing solid work to hold your interest. That it never descends into histrionics is extremely commendable, and makes the films outbursts all the more shocking and gut-wrenching. But, that trailer, and, to some extent the cast, suggest that this'll be The King's Speech meets The Bourne Identity, and it most definitely - thankfully - isn't.

Alfredson employed a similar slow and steady pace in his breakthrough feature Let The Right One In, a film which I thought was incredibly over-rated, but that's another story. Here he stuffs the film with so much detail and subtlety that the viewer has to pay attention and keep up to really get into the meat of the story, my housemate fell asleep three times though, and whilst he didn't miss out on the overall 'Who is the baddie?' aspect of the tale, a lot of the complexity needed to be explained, at length, in the car ride home.

Another notable remark I heard from an audience member as we left the cinema was, 'It was too vague for me.' Which, in some ways is true, if you are the kind of audience member who needs everything handed to them on a plate, and expects, when the 'hero' figures it out to have a nice montage re-capping all those pieces of the puzzle, then you might find this film to be 'vague'. You have to be actively concentrating on the film from the get go, scenes and characters whizz by at such a rate that it could perhaps get a little bit muddling, but this is where the starry cast really come to the fore, despite some big names not having much screentime compared to the weight of their celebrity, it is their recognisability that is key in order for the audience to follow a somewhat labyrinthian narrative, which ultimately means most post-film plot synopses will sound thus: "So, Colin Firth was friends with Mark Strong."

"Who's Mark Strong?"

"The guy from Sherlock Holmes."

"What, Benedict Cumberbatch?"

"No, that's Sherlock, the other Sherlock Holmes."

"And what about Charlie Higson?"

"Charlie Higson wasn't in it!"

"Yes, he was, Charlie Higson, he was in Captain America, helped Agent Smith build his super car."

"That's Toby Jones!"

Well, at least, the conversation will go like that if your housemate also can't distinguish revered British thesp Toby Jones and The Fast Show's Charlie Higson. Anyway...

The cast are uniformly on form, each gets the spotlight passed over them and they have their moment here and there. Gary Oldman's George Smiley occasionally feels a little too Alec Guiness-like, with moments where he was almost Leslie Phillips, but he's a compelling screen presence as always and a good rock to ground the film on. It's Benedict Cumberbatch though, for me, who really steals the film, absolutely brilliant as Smiley's right-hand and he has one of the movie's most subtle and sad asides. It's also nice to see Mark Strong playing a role that isn't just a cookie-cutter villain, even in the generally brilliant The Guard his character didn't stray too far from his comfort zone, but here, he brings a great many textures to his part.

Overall the film is a very solid affair, it's beautifully shot and designed, the editing and music are top notch, the ensemble is good - though some scenes wind up a tad plummy - and the story is unspooled in a compelling and intelligent fashion.

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