Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by daffodil » 15th Jan, '12, 11:09

Based on the tv series of the same name , the movie is set in the cold war era 1970's. The head of British Intelligence (John Hurt) believes there's a high ranking mole and orders an operation to uncover the traitor. When this ends badly he is forced to retire along with George Smiley (Gary Oldman) who is subsequently asked to find the mole, working outside of the service.

Quite enjoyable if slow paced - though I couldn't get a grasp on the major suspects as the movie doesn't offer any background or insight into them , which I think would have made more sense. The clue to the moles' identity is revealed around a 3rd of the way into the movie and the final scene in which Smiley confronts him is a bit of an anti-climax.

The acting is pretty good - lots of familiar British male actors in the cast which reflects the male dominated espionage word of the time. James Bond is definitely isn't !

Would be interesting to see the tv series, or maybe try to dig out the book by John le Carre instead.
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by Pinklepurr » 15th Jan, '12, 13:45

The book too was slow, but then a lot of Le Carre's books are aren't they? I remember the TV series, and it was excellent (for it's time), but then they had a lot more time to introduce everything. I thought they may have a little trouble getting all of the nuances etc into a film.
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by Fat Bob » 16th Jan, '12, 11:34

Based on the TV series, eh? Even though the book came 5 years before the TV series?

Out on DVD in UK at end of the month, will watch it then. Knew the storyline before, more interested in the acting capabilities, which should be great. May invest in the TV series too.
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by daffodil » 16th Jan, '12, 13:42

Book / series / chicken / egg, whatever.

Overall the acting is strong - particularly from Oldman, Firth, Cumberbatch, Strong though the guy that plays Percy Alleline is dreadful, what on earth was that accent supposed to be!
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by Tas » 13th Feb, '12, 10:33

This film going guns in the awards, but the reviews still very mixed I think. Deciding on whether to bother this weekend. These comments making me wonder if better of seeings something else..
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by nev » 13th Feb, '12, 10:52

I fast forwarded though most of the yadda yadda yadda... Excruciatingly slow movie. I wiki-ed the plot and skipped straight to the end. Only the ending was interesting. I wouldn't pay to watch it.

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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by Fat Bob » 13th Feb, '12, 12:54

What? You wiki'd the movie plot so you could skip to the end? Why not just press "stop" on the remote control?
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by nev » 13th Feb, '12, 13:19

I can't... it'll bug me. I'm weird that way.

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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by daffodil » 13th Feb, '12, 13:22

I'd say worth checking out on DVD, Tas.

It's a subtle movie, with some great performances though definitely helps to know the basis of the story beforehand.
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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by Burbage » 17th Feb, '12, 09:52

Get the DVDs of the original TV series. Far better value, and vastly superior product.

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Re: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post by Tas » 25th Jun, '12, 11:00

Watched the DVD last night - think was best format for it (on a decent sized screen) didn't strike me as a large cinema movie, but excellent as a quiet sit down with no distractions. Fantastic acting for majority, loved the performances. Having seen it now have a better perspective on the critiques. I didn't fully agree with some of the comments around slow and too much talking - it was a nice change from obvious bad dialogue with loud bangs and crashes as the main means to emote. The flashbacks were confusingly handled, though the device with Smilies glasses frames obviously fixed that for his scenes. Did love the underplayed more subtle tones, particularly to handling 'housekeeping' of persons lives. I decided in the end it wasn't the 'GREAT' story it could have been because the climaxes and emotions weren't moved through highs and lows in the way a memorable film does. It bought to mind a recent example of similar period drama with a common actor, A Single Man - also fairly quietly played out but the emotional pull in some of the dramatic scenes was quite devastating, that emotion was missing from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
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