Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is based off of John le Carré's famous espionage novel of the same name. It was written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, directed by Tomas Alfredson, and stars an ensemble cast that includes Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Ciarán Hinds.
I knew nothing of John le Carré, or his novels before watching this film. I hadn't even seen Let the Right One In, Alfredson's most famous film before this. All I knew was that this film had the most superior British ensemble cast I'd ever seen. The cast I mentioned above aren't even the entire cast. You also have Stephen Graham (Al Capone, Boardwalk Empire), Christian McKay (Orson Welles, Me and Orson Welles) and Simon McBurney, among many more notable actors. That was the main reason I had to see this film.
What we have here is the anti-James Bond. Apparently, John le Carré worked in MI6 (or the Circus, as it's called in the film) for many years before becoming a novelist, and based many of his novels off of his experience working in MI6. Instead of Bond's suaveness and many gadgets, le Carré's novels portrayed anguish, and complex characters. They featured battles fought with words, not weapons. They were true spy novels, as it appears. This translates very well into the film, and we have a character based, extremely smart, effective thriller. And that's arguably the main reason why this works so well, is because it's so smart. This isn't a film for general audiences, but a film for the critical thinking, the intelligent, the people that are fed up with Michael Bay movies.
George Smiley (Gary Oldman) a recently retired MI6 agent, is brought back in by Control (John Hurt) to find a mole, working for the Soviets, at the highest level of the MI6. It could be new head of MI6, Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), his supporter Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds), Smiley's friend Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), or Control's former protege Toby Esterhause (David Dencik). Smiley must find the mole before the Soviets can take down MI6. All the cast here are on top performance. Gary Oldman, in a career of outstanding performances, has a truly outstanding performance as Smiley. He can bring fear to you by just staring at you, and talking. Not only will Oldman gain his first Oscar nomination this February, he will also gain his first win (well, he should). Every single member of the supporting cast could be nominated as well. Firth, Hardy, Cumberbatch (a personal favourite of mine) all deserve wins. I imagine that Firth will certainly be nominated, but I don't know if anyone else will.
Alfredson does a superb job directing here. He recreates the world of 1970s England brilliantly, even capturing parts of the hippie craze in Britain at one point. He's able to make suspense, just by having two characters talk. In this film, only 3 bullets are shot from guns, and all are just as effective as the dialogue of this film. This film will gain a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, as well as a Best Director nomination.
Overall, we have arguably, the smartest film not just this year, but in many years. I was surprised at just how much I fell in love with this film, and got wrapped up in it. A truly phenomenal film, and while it certainly isn't for everyone, if you're sick of Hollywood pandering down to audiences, then this film is for you. I give it a 10/10.
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