Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Review

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Mark Strong

Running time: 127 mins

Certificate: 15

Synopsis: In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6’s echelons. Source: imdb

Something is rotten at the top of the Circus. Chiselled down to four agents of M16, the Circus are the Stonehenge of the spy community. Too old, world weary and shrouded in secrets. Among them is a Soviet mole, and Gary Oldman is about to blow this shit wide open. TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY follows the path of Control (John Hurt) a man who knew too much, and was sacked as the Circus ringleader, along with George Smiley (Oldman).

Following Control’s death, Smiley is plucked from a dreary retirement to smoke out the mole, with little more than a few dusty chess pieces to help him unpick the web. There has been much gum flapping about the stellar British cast, but it’s Oldman’s nuanced performance that powers this adaptation. A man so associated with on-screen bellowing there is a Youtube video dedicated to his breakdowns, to see him as the wispy, lacertilian Smiley is utterly unnerving. Don’t let the whispered voice fool you, Smiley has all the moxy of Harry Palmer, and even sharper suits.

Alfredson is a director who takes a sideways glance with storytelling. In 2008, when tweens everywhere were bed wetting over kicked apples and a sparkling Pattinson, Alfredson waved in like an escaped inmate and gave us elegant horror LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Now, he has looked to the bulging text of John Le Carré for his gentle, labyrinthian thriller. To call this movie anti-bourne, anti-Statham, or indeed anti anything misses the point entirely. Afredson never sought to make an action movie, and the unapologetically slow pace breeds a suspense all of its own. Of course, the immersive, shadowy cinematography of Hoyte Van Hoytema and creeping piano notes of Alberto Iglesias can’t hurt.

Although visually TTSS mirrors the great spy movies of the 70s, there are unmistakable shades of THE IPCRESS FILE and THE CONVERSATION here, it never feels synthetic. In a way, it’s even better, like finding your Grandad’s watch in an antique shop.

But TTSS is not all saturated shots and ellipses. There are moments of visceral violence, and scenes so shocking I managed to throw red wine in my own face. It is the understated tension that makes this so compelling. When Circus member Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) sits at a table with a Soviet spy in Budapest, it is the shake of a teacup, the drop of sweat that shapes the story before a bullet is lodged in his back. Alfredson is not devoid of humour either; anxieties are eased as we see the most powerful men in Britain having a fight with a wasp, or a camp civil servant munching on toast while he barks orders at disgruntled Circus members.

Hearts will soar at Waynetta Slob’s return to acting, and god bless Alfredson for allowing our Kathy Burke to do what she does best: drinking, swearing and scaring the audience: “I don’t know about you George, but I feel seriously under-fucked.”

Tom Hardy’s down and out character Ricki Tarr epitomises the true lack of glamour that consumes a covert lifestyle, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Smiley’s reluctant lackey is nothing short of heartbreaking. The only chink in the chain here is Colin Firth, who smacks of an obvious, Oscar influenced casting. He is required to be a coy, upper-class Englishman, with a flower in his pressed lapel. That is exactly what we get, but like a personal order from Amazon, where is the surprise?

But TTSS is not to be judged on its actorly menu alone. With style and storytelling as rich as this, you’ll still deny yourself a toilet break for fear of missing a frame.

 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is out 16 September