Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

There will probably be few Impact readers who actually grew up alongside the likes of spy hunter George Smiley as played by Alec Guinness. More will remember Guinness as a certain Jedi-knight and have simply heard of the famed 1970s’ BBC adaptation of Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy merely by its legacy. Modern thriller fans should take this opportunity to treat themselves.

Consider the big 2011 screen adaptation as the anti-Mission Impossible. No rush to jump off tall buildings, no racing at breakneck speed in cars or jets, no internet from which to do instant research at a keystroke, nor to employ CGI masks… no, the disguises here are all those in plain sight or at least only hidden by a fog of cigarette smoke coiling up dangerously from stiff upper lips.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the story of espionage and diplomatic duplicity in a different era and at a sedate, more civilised pace. George Smiley (an understated, but ever on-form Gary Oldman) is brought out of retirement when it appears there may be a mole near the very top of the British Secret Service. Smiley, the most ironic surname of a dour, weathered officer, trusts no-one, knowing that there’s no such thing as loyalty and friendship in the business - each and every person he works with has an agenda of their own. Enlisting the help of a close circle of associates - including Sherlock’s Benedict Cumberbatch and Only Fools and Horses’ Roger Lloyd-Pack - Smiley and his people need to play a very dangerous game of cat and mouse to uncover the threads of betrayal and secrets behind an operation called ‘Witchcraft’ and a London house that shouldn‘t exist. This a slow and steady movie, moving backwards and forwards through the timeline and its raft of characters with various connected operations and even by classic standards a younger, modern audience may feel it is too lethargic for them. But this is ensemble acting 101: Oldman, Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Young, Kathy Burke… this is a Who’s Who of A-List British talent. If the running time could be a little tighter, it deliberately sets out to evoke the less obviously urgent style of the films in the era it depicts. Tension, it knows, takes time to build. Perhaps if a comparison to modern viewing is needed, this is the grandfather of Spooks and should please that demographic no end. If any final convincing is needed, all-out action fans should also note that, like the coming Dark Knight Rises, this sees Oldman and Tom Hardy in the same film, though while Oldman’s James Gordon has somewhat Smileyesque subtlety, Hardy’s role could hardly be more different.

Not for every audience, then, but dripping in methodical melancholy and menace, Tinker is a finely tuned example of the type of movie often passed over for inferior, easier product to sell to a complacent less-fickle audience. It isn’t perfect, the ending doesn’t have quite as much bite as one hopes, but it is a quality period British film that we used to do so well and may yet triumph at the upcoming Academy Awards - both the BAFTAs and the Oscars.

8/10