Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Nothing is What it Seems.

Film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Year: 2011
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Written by: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, based on the book 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' by John le Carré.
Starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, David Dencik, Simon McBurney.
Running time: 127 min.

In my English class at the moment we're doing a film study on The Shawshank Redemption. As much as I love the movie, the analysing of all the shots, lighting, sound blah blah blah is driving me nuts (it is interesting, but seeing the opening scene seven times is not my idea of fun). As I sat down to watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy around three hours after I left my English class, I still had the whispers about camera techniques and the like bouncing around my head. And while I was watching Tomas Alfredson's first English film, I couldn't help but notice that he turned everything that I had been told in my English class upside down. The thing with The Shawshank Redemption is that the symbolism is always right in your face, directing everyone's line of thought in the exact same direction. Tinker Tailor is nothing like that. This is the spy world, remember, so nothing is ever what it seems. Tomas Alfredson realises that, and makes it in the most subtle - yet detailed - way that he possibly could. This is a film that would be hard to teach at schools.


Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of spy movies, but this one was somewhat different. John le Carré's novel was called the 'novel that redefined the spy genre', which was only to be redefined with run and gun blockbusters. Tinker Tailor is one spy film that is not from 'our time': it embodies the bleak outlook of the Cold War. The film is set in the world of British Intelligence, starting with the head Control (John Hurt) resigning after an operation in Budapest goes wrong. This also forces George Smiley (Gary Oldman) into retirement, but he is recruited again when he is asked to investigate a claim made by Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy) that there may be a mole at the very top of the British secret service. He has the task of putting all of the pieces together to find the mole, and also find the true intent of Operation Witchcraft (a source of Soviet intelligence).


This is a film that requires your utmost attention, but I don't know if it really demands it. My eyes were glued to the screen throughout the entire thing, trying to soak in every piece of information that I could. However, the information was given in such a way that everything was given the same urgency, which meant I was destined to miss things. Another watch would probably be good so I can iron everything out, but the slowness and the immense subtlety that goes on in this film will never fail to make me deviate away from it now and again. Also, the way the film jumps from place to place challenged me a little more than I wanted to be challenged. While, in the end, I could fit most of the pieces together, I thought the script aimed a little too highly and presumed a lot of it's audience - but hey, it did a good job of not falling into the 'mindless entertainment' category that most spy thrillers fall into.


I had my qualms about the screenplay, but whenever I fell out of sync with the movie I was reeled back in by the way it was made. Everything about it: the set design, the score by Alberto Iglesias, the editing, the cinematography, the direction...it was all perfectly done. Tomas Alfredson is a master of creating atmosphere, which I first saw in the icy vampire horror Let the Right One In and now with his work in this film. There is little colour in this film, with even a scene at party being muted just to show how murky the world is for these characters. Alfredson chops and changes between long shots and close ups, but never lets the camera invade the character's space. You feel like a fly on the wall, sucking in details yet feeling ever so distant from the characters and everything that's happening. That's why it is so hard to be sure of who is who, because Alfredson never lets you get into the bubble that the character's exist in. Yet, you feel a part of their world, drawn into the greyness and the golden enclosure of the room where the 'Circus' have their meetings. Alfredson gets everything right. It might not be right for me to say this but I truly believe that he is one of the best directors around at the moment.


It goes without saying, though, that the entire cast is fantastic. Without seeing the film you could come to that conclusion. Gary Oldman headlines it, with his first ever Oscar nominated performance, playing George Smiley with subtlety and detail. His performance isn't one that smacks you in the face; it is one that silently overpowers you, with Oldman being a commanding presence on screen even though he does and says very little. While he was the only one to get an Oscar nomination, I don't think anyone should dismiss the brilliant ensemble. Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, the amazingly underrated Ciaran Hinds and John Hurt are all brilliant in their roles, filling them all with that 'you're never what you seem' spy persona that makes the film even more tricky to connect with. Colin Firth gives a stand out performance, taking the backseat after two wonderful showcases in A Single Man and The King's Speech, playing who is perhaps the happiest person in this movie. However, the true star of this film was the ever brilliant Mark Strong, who takes his role as Jim Prideaux and brings a certain intensity, coldness and surprising heart to the role. It isn't anything out of the ordinary for Mr. Strong, though: no matter what film he's in, he instantly becomes the stand out. I also have to mention my new favourite Christian McKay, who plays a tiny role in this film, but still manages to light up the screen with his immense talent. I will not stop going on about him until everyone knows who he is.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy may not be a film that packs a huge punch, but it will be whirling around my head for days to come. I have a feeling that I'll appreciate it more on a second viewing. And that second viewing will be 95% because of the way this film is made. That's what you call stellar movie making.

What I got:

21 comments:

  1. This is one movie I'm really glad I saw in the theatre. Seeing it on the big screen really helped the whole thing to soak in fully and I didn't have as much trouble following the plot as I thought I might. Easily one of the cleverest and best films of last year. There's very little to complain about with this movie.

    Also, re: The Shawshank Redemption. I'm glad they're teaching movies and stuff in schools, but it seems to me painfully lazy to pick a movie like that. I can name dozens of movies that are not only better than Shawshank, but have more to analyse and are much more rewarding with analysis. Citizen Kane, for example! Or Battleship Potemkin. The day those two films are taught in high schools I will be happy.

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    1. I wish I saw this film at the cinemas. Don't know how it got away on me, but there were a couple of movies that were a higher priority back when it came out.

      This is coming from the teacher who chose Braveheart as our film review standard. As much as I'm sure those films would be good to teach with, we're teenagers. No-one is as well versed in film as I am (not to toot my own horn or anything). The Shawshank Redemption is generally a film we can all agree on (even though it is so lazily made in turns of 'film as an art form'). We're watching Schindler's List next year, though :D

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  2. Oh this film creeps up on you. The art direction in this is incredible!

    What I love most about the cast is how against type all of them play- Oldman is a silent, introspective man, Firth is well, a bastard, Strong is a good, troubled man Cumberbatch is not the witty and sharp-tongued Sherlock. I'm not explaining this well, but you get it :)

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    1. I get it! They all play against type so well. I wish they all got a lot more credit for their work.

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  3. I am happy you enjoyed it Stevee. For me I found it sub standard to what I was hoping for. The hype out did the movie for me!!

    I can't remember much about it now, apart from being bored.... I am a bad person.

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    1. That's fair enough. I can just imagine the folk in Dannevirke taking this home and being bored out of their tree!

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  4. I couldn't agree more. I thought TTSS was one of the stand out films of last year and if it hadn't been for The Artist then I am sure Gary Oldman would have a little gold statue on his mantlepiece. To help understand the plot in more detail I would recommend the 1979 BBC TV 6-hour mini series, which stars Alec Guiness as Smilie. It is obviously slower paced but there is a lot more of the original book in it. It would be quite interesting to watch the BBC mini-series and then the film directly after.

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    1. Oldman deserves an Oscar some time soon! I'll definitely check out the mini series, and also read the book. By then I'll be a pro Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy!

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  5. Nice review Stevee. This flick definitely should have been longer with all of the information it was throwing at us, but it still featured plenty of great performances from this ensemble and kept me guessing until the end. Wish I could have liked it a lot more as others did.

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    1. It should have been longer! Still, they did a good job within the time constraints.

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  6. I will admit I was first drawn to seeing this solely because of the cast. When I saw it, I was very much impressed by how it was crafted. Left me a bit confused, so I plan to re-watch it sometime soon. Personally, I would have been happy had Oldman won this year. (One of the exceptionally rare times where I would approve of AMPAS giving their traditional "sorry we didn't give an Oscar earlier in your career" Oscar.)

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    1. Same here! I think Oldman could give a truly shitty performance and they could give him an Oscar since he deserves it so much.

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  7. One of the 2011 I still really need to see. I can imagine how annoying it must be to analyze a film in school... or actually I know, because we had to analyze Ghost once. Sometimes I really hate all this analyzing stuff, it often kind of destroys a work of art - most often literature, because that's what we do most in school. Yes, it also makes you... wiser... and it might even make a work of art seem more beautiful and even better, but still. I don't really like doing it. Or having to do it.
    Good review.

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    1. Analysing is so stupid. I hate seeing the same things over and over again and having them stopped and started by the teacher. I don't know what it is, but it is the most annoying thing in the world.

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  8. Great review Stevee, I'm glad you enjoyed the film! I loved how no-nonsense it was, the characters' deaths were sometimes shown for a split of a second though they were big parts of the story and the contrast between the greyish colors and the blood made for many interesting moments when it comes to cinematography. I loved Mark Strong's performance in this movie, he was superb.

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    1. It was definitely no-nonsense. I like things that get straight to the point. And Mark Strong is always so great. Why doesn't anyone see that?

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  9. Couldn't agree more about Mark Strong! He is brilliant in everything he touches. I definitely plan to get this on DVD (and I think it's out now actually).
    Funny thing about how they teach film in high school - it's completely different to the cinema studies I do now. We never talk about lighting or camera angles. It's all about film form, and how the narrative is constructed and all that jazz. :)

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    1. It should be out for you guys. From what I can recall, you got it the same day in cinemas as we did. After I left Melbourne :'''''(

      Cinema studies is where I wanna be!

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  10. Great review Stevee! TTSS was one of my favorite 2011 movies- the performances and the grey settings and cinematography really made it special, at least for me! The standouts from the cast were Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong, both were fantastic!

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    1. I loved all of that, too. Cumberbatch and Strong were both amazing. Should've been nominated for Oscars, in my opinion.

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  11. Great review Stevee! The movie kind of came and went when it was in theaters and this kind of slow-burning movie never really find popular success so I didn't went to check it out. But now, I'm officially really excited to check this out now. If only Netflix would send it to me...

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You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

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