Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

tinker_tailor_soldier_spy_movie_poster

Compared to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy most films appear to simply be extended commercials with music videos for the emotional parts. Telling the story of Soviet infiltration of the British secret services through an interlocking series of clues, this film takes the approach that Agatha Christie might use for one of her cerebral murder cases and applies it instead to international espionage. It will never outsell The Avengers because in this film, every detail is part of the mechanism that builds up to an intense finale for its ultimate revelation. Even more damning, themes in this movie illustrate human narcissism, how the West was destroyed by the same individualistic self-interest that made it strong, and the importance of honor, loyalty and truthfulness.

Gary Oldman stars as John le Carré’s character George Smiley, modulated from the outsider nerd in the book to a methodical and highly analytical man who finds much of society around him to be short-sighted and erroneous. Like the best characters from literature, he endures civilization as it is but upholds it as it is at its best, creating a worldview that would approve of the mythological analysis of the human soul as found in Slayer lyrics or the darker days of grindcore. Exiled from his position at MI6 because of his refusal to endorse a new and magical source of Soviet secrets, and passed over by those who built careers on it, Smiley hunts for a “mole” or double-agent who is compromising British intelligence whenever it tries to operate in enemy territory. Unlike those who have taken over his former role, he searches through the type of logical analysis and study of the relationship between details that made sleuths like Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, Hercule Poirot, the Continental Op, Phillip Marlowe and Miss Jane Marple legends in their field.

Sadly for most modern audiences, this film requires attention. No detail is spurious and every scene follows from the systematic and interlocking pursuit of details. In addition, the filmmakers layer that story with parallel themes of love and loss, loyalty and motivation, and strength of character versus the tendency to appeal to pleasant but erroneous notions that receive the aplomb of journalists, politicians and the faceless voting masses. While its logicality deserves praise, the emotionality of this film in bringing out the loneliness of its characters and the equal isolation of the struggle for truth, as not a motivator but a shaper and revelation of personality, enhances a solid story into an epic one. The acting is brilliant without being self-absorbed — no one in this film looks like they are acting, or resembles other characters they have played in other films — and the soundtrack is minimal and on point, the cinematography both bleak and elegant, and the directing and editing show a perfect sense of timing that both preserves atmosphere and cuts out anything but the powerful. Of the films made in the 2010s, this will either be the best or in the top three, because movies this intense rarely come along at a rate of more than a handful per generation.

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10 thoughts on “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)”

  1. disremember says:

    there is another 80’s british series you might want to check out
    Codename: Kyril
    form the writer who adapted le Carre’s books

    orrorView.com said of the serial: “[T]his is glossy prestige TV at its height, but with the kind of attention to character detail you don’t always get to see these days.”[13]

    And Alex J. Geairns at Cineology wrote that:

    Codename: Kyril comes from an era where espionage menace comes from the deadly silence of its protagonists. This mini-series offers complex characterisations and an intelligent treatment of the theme of trust and betrayal. It’s not from the James Bond crash-bang school of spying, having been adapted by the award-winning John Hopkins — whose previous credits include Smiley’s People and Z Cars.[14]
    http://www.amazon.com/Codename-Complete-Series-NON-USA-Kingdom/dp/B003YTQH92
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codename:_Kyril

    1. thali says:

      very interesting.thank you for this

  2. Wait a moment. I thought Brett Stevens was the only one who wrote movie reviews here? This also reads like Brett Stevens wrote it.

    Is it possible that Brett Stevens is also Vijay Prozak?

    1. We’re just trying to confuse you. This review was written by Obama.

    2. Cortez says:

      Somebody is new here, welcome!

    3. Spazztic Brett says:

      Vijay / Spinoza Ray Prozak is Brett Stevens
      https://www.facebook.com/Vijay.Prozak

      1. Mind = blown away (o_o ->->->

      2. billyboy says:

        I contest this notion! if you read the special thanks of Goatcraft’s debut album “All for Naught” it quite clearly states special thanks to Vijay Prozak and special thanks to Brett Stevens (among other luminaries). They are separate people.

  3. Daniel says:

    Modern audiences have no attention span. A great example is the second half of Return of the Jedi where the film falls flat on its face and never recovers from its makers going out of their way to explain the plot of the previous film verbatim to the average viewer.

    They’re also functionally illiterate. Only 13% of the US population is fully prose literate. A Kurosawa film is completely out of the question.

  4. Rupert Pupkin says:

    Tomas Alfredson is a great director, Let the Right One In is also good.

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