Movie Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

We begin in a dark room illuminated by a single, dim light. An old man crouches behind what appears to be either a desk or a small table. A younger man sits in front and to the left of the desk. Stacks of files and papers surround the old man. The desk is heavily cluttered. Ashtrays over-flow with mashed down cigarettes.

“Trust no one, Jim,” the old man says. “Especially not in the main stream.” In front of him is a chessboard. The pieces have pictures of five faces taped to them. He aligns the pieces at the front of the desk. “There’s a rotten apple, Jim, and we have to find it.”

The five faces are those of top agents in MI6 (the CIA for Great Brittan), also known as the Circus. The old man is Control (John Hurt), and he believes one of these five is a mole for the Russians. This belief has become an obsession. An obsession that Control believes he is at the verge of resolving. He secretly sends Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) to Hungry in hopes that the final piece to his troubling puzzle is there.

Unfortunately, the mission Control sends Prideaux on is botched, forcing Control to retire and take his right-hand man, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), with him. The internal investigation is forgotten until Minister Lacon (Simon McBurney) is approached by an AWOL spy about a mole at the top of Circus. Sadly, by this point Control has passed away, and the knowledge he has goes along with him. In desperation, Lacon decides to bring Smiley out of retirement to lead a team to spy on the spies in MI6.

A question lingered in my mind as I watched this film: is it based on a true story? Only after the film was over and the credits began without noting any such real-world events did I realize the answer to my question. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (127 minutes) is set in 1973, at the peak of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and is an impressive portrayal of the same-named novel by John le Carré.

The reason I wondered if it were based on a true story is because of the realism. These appeared to be real agents, in a real organization, following real-world laws of physics. Other spy movies tend to have completely fake and unrealistic plots with the carved-chin cool and confidant heartthrob who is mankind’s only hope for survival. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has no such heartthrob. The majority of the agents portrayed in this film are rather old and those that are young are the agency’s scalp hunters and pawns.

The agency is presented realistically. The women in the film only work secretary positions and are frequently flirted with by the gentlemen in the film. This is a very probable environment in 1973. The dim light and smoky environment give the film a dark atmosphere.

Tinker Tailor Solder Spy is a brilliant orchestration of espionage, betrayal and treason of the highest degree. It also accounts affairs and forbidden love, as well as the twisted emotions that result. This is a world where no one trusts anyone, and tensions are always on edge. Even though this is a spy movie, the plot is very thick. This is one of those movies you have to watch twice in order to fully understand and appreciate. The violence is brutal in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In one scene, a woman gets shot in the head while nursing her infant. In another, a spy witnesses domestic abuse while observing a Russian agent.

The only gripe I would really have is the flashbacks. They occur in this movie without warning. It is very easy to think you’re watching the current time when it is actually from the past. This can throw you off and confuse you while trying to follow the plot. As said earlier, this is a movie you’ll probably need to see twice. But it is definitely worth the second view.

I thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of George Smiley by Gary Oldman. The closed off manner of his interactions told of a man who had endured countless years of pain. He only speaks when he has to, and when he does it’s powerful.

The screenplay, written by Bridget O’Conner and Peter Straughan, is skillfully crafted. O’Conner actually passed away from cancer before the movie went into production. A dedication is made to her at the end of the film, before the credits. The director, Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) does an outstanding job of bringing the smoke-clouded and checker-walled world of the Circus to life.

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is rated R (due to violence, language and sexuality).