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Movie Monday - Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy

 

For me, what makes the best in the spy genre, whether film or book, is its seasoning of ennui. Not the ennui which the retiring hero, Nathan Muir, played by Robert Redford, may have in Spy Games. For while Muir may have seen and done everything in his long career as a spy and spymaster, hence the ennui, he spends his last day at the CIA clandestinely planning, under the noses of his bosses, one kick-ass military escape from a Chinese prison for one of his former colleagues. No, Nathan might be spy-war weary but his successful "mission" moves this movie into the trite realm of another blow-em-up, unrealistic example of the genre. (Plus, does the audience really think the CIA was going to let Nat just drive off into the sunset after that stunt?)

 

No, I'm talking about the ennui found in the writings of John Le Carre which have been translated at least twice successfully to the screen with the early The Spy Who Came In From The Cold -1965, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - BBC series, 1979; film, 2011. (I haven't seen his other books to movies such as The Constant Gardener, The Little Drummer Girl, etc.) There is a deep weariness emanating from the protagonist, George Smiley, in TTSS. He's been there, done that so often in the spy world that you know when he says late in the film that there's not that much difference between them and us (the British and the Soviets) he's lived long in the land where he's found this to be a profound truth.

 

But while I might enjoy the low-key, "you had better be wearing your sharp eyes and keen ears as you watch this movie" flavor found in this version of TTSS, I can imagine a first viewing might be very unsatisfactory to many. Fortunately, I've read the book twice so everything made sense to me, finally. However, I do remember my frustration with the book the first time where, as a virgin to this genre, I mistakenly believed Le Carre was one of the most obfuscating authors around. I was soooooo wrong. For, in prep for this review, I started the book TTSS again and found it extremely well-written, far superior to anything pulp spy novelists are producing today and narratively written in the style of Dickens and Tolstoy. It's not a fast read but it's an extremely satisfying one. I think part of my confusion with my first try at reading TTSS is that the book begins with Jim  Prideaux at his teaching job then moves on to George Smiley and Ricki Tarr. I'm sure my first reading must have produced a silent: WTF is going on here? On my second reading however, all the lights were on in my brain and the book narrative flowed like melted butter.

 

A quick movie plot summary: Control, the head of British intelligence, believes there's a mole (Soviet spy) very high up in his organization. Promised the name of this mole from a Hungarian general, he secretly sends Jim  Prideaux to get it. Of course, it's a trap, Jim is killed, Control and George Smiley are forced out and soon after Control dies. However, some time later the British government believes there may indeed be a mole and Smiley is brought back from retirement to get to the truth. The movie is the tale of Smiley's quest for the mole.

 

That's the nutshell version of the plot. It's really a who-done-it but so subtly done-it at times that if you blink and you'll miss an essential plot point. (I missed the fate of Irina the first time and that was an in-your-face one.)

 

It's a literate, low-key, well-acted minimal-talking (the longest speech is Smiley's when he and Peter share drinks one night) drama minus your car chases and CGIs. Unfortunately to a first-timer in Smiley's world, it may also be confusing and boring. My problem with this version of TTSS is that I think Le Carre has some valuable insights into the wacky world of spy-versus-spy which are especially valuable again today as the West once again lines up against a world-wide enemy they believe they must squander enormous budgets in order to defeat. Unfortunately, unless you're an insider (that is read the novel), the film's laconic style misses almost all of this and you're left with a well-acted, well-written and directed, short, 127 minute, film which needs a lot more "flesh" to it.

 

Read this for another opinion:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy_b_1392437.html 

 

which headlines as:  Forget the Film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: See the BBC Original. It looks like YouTube has Part I of the BBC TTSS (though if that's really how the series starts, from my quick glance, you're better be in for the long haul since that opening looks more confusing that either the book or recent film) and Amazon has the entire series for sale.

 

I'm going to recommend this 2011 film with reservations. If you're a film buff, a spy genre buff, a good acting buff.......watch it. And don't miss the book, TTSS, nor the other Le Carre books related to this subject (search for the mole and his Soviet master.)

 

BoxOffice.com says TTSS' budget was $33M and it grossed $80M worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes rated it fresh at 83% and IMDb has it at 7.1 out of 10. 

 

Next Week: I venture into the world of sci-fi. Oh, the horror!

Coming Soon: A look back at Roger Ebert and some earlier movie critics.