Just looking at the blu-ray cover of Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy it’s pretty obvious that this isn’t going to be a run of the mill, modern, spy thriller, not just because of the impressive banner of cast members but also because the image is of a darkly washed out (literally and metaphorically) Gary Oldman with grey hair and thick rimmed spectacles.
I’ll admit that even though I’m coming to it some ten years after it’s release (despite it being sat in my ‘to watch’ stack for quite some time) I didn’t know much about, beyond it being a spy thriller unlike most others that hit the mainstream and there having been a version starring Alec Guinness sometime in the past, and having seen it I’m glad I didn’t know much more.
The plot is labyrinthine, concerning Cold War espionage with agents, counter agents, double agents and mysterious spy masters.
This might sound all a bit James Bond but, of course, it couldn’t be much more different as rather than the glamorous jet setter of Ian Fleming we get Gary Oldman as George Smiley, who starts the film being forced into retirement but goes on to unravel the mystery, largely in a dark, smoggy and rainy London and very much more based in the real world, something I’m assuming is a trademark of writer John Le Carre.
The plot twists and turns expertly, hinting and suggesting things to us just enough to lead us along with Smiley, and it is engaging in much the way classic film noir like The Big Sleep are.
Visually the film is stunning, capturing the claustrophobic nature of the world of ‘The Circus’ (Le Carre’s name for MI6, or his version of it) while not being afraid to get graphic to make a point when needed, and it’s clear to see the stylistic links between this and Alfredson’s rather different previous film Let The Right One In.
Along with this it’s rendition of the period is fantastic, being understated but entirely there from the obvious things like the cars and clothes (particularly those glasses of Smiley’s), to elements like signs in shop windows or the design of a packet of mints that give it a sense of time and place that is unmistakable.
Ultimately though the highlights come with the performances from the fairly ridiculous cast.
All of the cast are clearly acting, rather than performing, to try and find a quick way to explain it, with them all being familiar faces from other films but making you forget any preconceptions almost right away, even the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth, who in some fare come across as caricatures of themselves in many ways, are entirely convincing.
Really though it’s Gary Oldman who steals the whole thing.
Giving another of his chameleon like performances he is so convincing as Smiley I almost forgot it was him and every time he was on screen I was entirely gripped and pulled into the plot in a way rarely felt, particularly as what we are dealing with is largely men in rooms talking rather than the now far more usual big screen running, jumping and shooting approach to storytelling.
Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy then is one of those rare things of being a mainstream film, thanks largely to its cast and the notoriety of its source, that entirely does away with any of the expected trappings of the modern blockbuster to create something that is entirely engrossing for two full hours, and I already want to dive back in to try and unpick those little extras of the plot that I know must be be lurking in there for repeat viewings.
Tommy Girard 
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