Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Dir: Tomas Alfredson
- Ridley Coote
- May 28
- 2 min read
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Technically speaking, I have already seen this Tomas Alfredson directed spy thriller, based on the 1974 book by John le Carré, but it was at least ten years ago now, and i can honestly say I remembered next to none of it. I've thought about revisiting it for some time, and thankfully, I did at last gain the motivation watch it again. It's decently rated online, and its cast boasts just about every famous and well-spoken English male actor ever, which certainly helped its appeal no doubt.
This, as a lot of Cold War films tend go be, a very drab film to look at. It was full of various shades of browns and greys, none of which I found to be particularly inspiring visually. Honestly, however, the most egregious thing about the film's visuals was the collection of very bad haircuts on show - it was distracting, as much as anything else.
The narrative was certainly rather cerebral, and undeniably interesting, but it was also very slow. This lack of pace was not helped by the intertwining but definitely very convoluted nature of the story. It wasn't impossible to follow, but there was a lot of criss-crossing storyline threads, and the non-chronological nature of the structure meant that it would be easy for someone watching to get lost amongst the intrigue.
Gary Oldman provided the film with a typically consistent and watchable performance, as he often does. Oldman's character was very reserved in nature, which meant that he had to show more with his eyes - something he did very well, in fairness. Of the supporting cast, there were a couple of standouts, as far as their acting was concerned; Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt. None of them actually have a huge amount of screentime, but each one managed to leave an indelible impression on the film.
The likes of Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mark Strong were as solid as ever, but, at least to my liking, weren't quite as strong as those mentioned just prior to them. I would also like to give some very brief mentions to Stephen Graham, David Dencik, Ciarán Hinds, Kathy Burke, and Simon McBurney, for their minor but certainly responsible appearances in the film.
Overall, I found this to be a good, but fairly typical British spy thriller, which had plenty of positives and negatives. If a slow burn narrative isn't an issue, then one can certainly find a lot of enjoyment in the political espionage and sense of mystery provided by the film. With that said, I for one thought that it didn't quite toe the line between steady and slow as well as it perhaps could have. It's the kind of story that reads better than it watches, I think.
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