Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

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.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday - A craft week which took an unusual turn

 

I would have said "No way" if the fortune teller had predicted for me last Friday: You will spend the coming week crocheting. But she would have been right. It started with the arrival of the baby alpaca lace from Knit Picks which I mentioned last Friday. You know the stuff which has me wanting to stroke baby alpacas all day because they are soooooooo soft. Here's a picture:

#1 Baby alpaca

 

I have enough of each color for 3 very ample crocheted shawls or scarves. Let me answer some questions you may be thinking: Why crocheted shawls/scarves? Because past mistakes taught me that it would take me a lifetime to knit in lace and there are very few patterns for crocheted lace garment. Why these colors? Because they were the ones on sale. And I am sooooo cheap.

 

Looking for the right pattern for my baby alpacas, all last week I worked on the A Little of This a Little of That Shawlette pattern from Ravelry which I linked to last Friday:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-little-of-this-a-little-of-that-shawlette

 

It turns out this is not the pattern for my alpaca beauties but I did make 4 shawls from this pattern during the week. (Yes, I really like this pattern.) 1. The prototype where I didn't understand what I was doing a lot of the time. 2. In heavy cotton, where I followed the directions to the letter as I read them (obviously not as the designer read them since the back cluster area on her Ravelry page shawl is not the same as mine.) 3. In crochet thread where I worked rows 1 - 23 then rows 12 - 16. 4. In purple Wool Ease (what was I thinking when I picked that color up?)

 

# 2 I love it!

All the shawls have returned to the frog pond except #3 in cotton thread.  O.A. modelling it in pic 2. This shawl answers a goal I've had for a long time: a summer shawl over camis, long enough to cover my shoulder skin and light enough for hot weather. I love it! Which is surprising because I almost never work beyond 4 row crochet patterns and this pattern has 31 rows. Plus, it is written by a designer who prefaces her Ravelry page with: this is my first shawl design.

 

There was an understanding curve for me with this pattern and I never did figure out the few rows starting with Row 14.

 

#3 Trouble spot marked

Pic #3 has the marker on Row 14 as I interpreted it. This is a double crochet cluster row and the marker shows that you skip these clusters right in the middle of the row. However, my interpretation of the directions (which I thought was correct) does not produce anything like the pic on the Ravelry page. (I think the design change on Row 14 is necessary to change the cluster count for Row 18 where you alternatively work double crochet and triple crochet clusters across.) But the pattern is so great that I was able to fudge these rows and you can see from pic #2 that I just worked clusters straight across.

 

After having said I love this pattern, let me add: it's not for timid beginner crocheters since you'll be doing some serious and not-so-serious interpretations. Just one simple problem is Row 1 which reads: ch 4, dc, ch 1, 7xs in circle, ch4. First question: since each instruction ends with a comma do you just ch 1 7xs in the circle (pretty tough to do), dc and ch1 7xs in the circle (easy to do) or ch4, dc, then ch1 7xs in the circle (another possibility)? Of course she means: Ch 4, dc & ch 1 7xs in the circle, ch 4, turn. But that would mean your end turning chain would have 5 chains, not 4 (you have to add the 7th ch1 of "dc, ch1".) However, you're only supposed to have a 4-chain turning chain because Row 2 begins with "Ch 4 counts as 1 dc & ch1 of V." So this is how I would write R 1: Ch 4, *dc, ch1* 6xs in circle, 1 dc in circle, ch 4. 

 

Row 1 is only a minor problem but it gets slightly more difficult on some following rows. This was one of the few crochet patterns where I would have liked to see a chart.

 

But if you are an adventurous beginner crocheter, do not be put off by these minor challenges. A good part of this craft is analyzing and tweaking patterns to fit your needs. What is a real plus here is that if you hit the wall with some rows you can "do your own thing." As you can see from pic #2, I definitely did that.

 

A couple of final thoughts:

1. I won't be blocking this shawl because I like the puffiness of the clusters which you can see in the unfinished picture of the shawlette in pic #4. You lose the puffiness with blocking.

#4 Puffy clusters

2. This would only be a short, light summer shawlette for me. (I never did work through all the rows.) It's a gorgeous look but not my style.

3. Considering I worked up 4 shawls in less than 7 days, this is definitely a fast crochet. I wonder how it might work as bridemaids' cover-ups.

4. If this is your style for a long shawl, the purple Wool Ease I started (then frogged) was working up into a very nice shawl as you can see in pic #4. 

5. This pattern has "resting rows" where you don't do any increasing (R 13) and you could repeat these for added width.

6. I worked single crochets around the top of the shawl, placing them as Teri suggested.

 

So that was how I spent my last week in crafts; very unexpected. Now I'm looking at scads of purple Wool Ease and I'm saying What? as in what am I going to make fast with it? I'm thinking of a light scarf, a very long light scarf. Plus, I just can't keep stroking the softness on my alpaca, there must be a pattern(s) for them. More on this next Friday.

 

Happy Knitting.