Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyWhen surrounded by deception, who can you trust? Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a suspense story of spy versus spy, set during the Cold War in the British intelligence organization. Following a change in leadership resulting from a combination of perceived failings by the department's prior head--known as "Control" (John Hurt)--and the embrace of an apparently successful secret operation known as "Witchcraft" by the politicians accountable for the department's success, a rumor resurfaces that there is a double agent--a "mole"--in the organization, a rumor which former member, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), is tasked to investigate.
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The appeal of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is in the pervading aura of distrust and suspicion, the building blocks of a good political thriller and tale of spies. The mole is the great elusive element which haunts the film, and ensnares the audience's attention, creating a guessing game. The idea that the intelligence community in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a game is perpetrated throughout the film, especially when George begins his investigation at the late Control's former flat, and discovers a collection of chess pieces, each with small photos of members of the upper echelon of the British spy ring attached. Control initially began his own efforts to root out the mole through an agent, Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong), who was sent to Budapest to acquire a potential defector who claimed to have inside knowledge of who the traitorous mole is. However, when the operation turned into a violent shootout, not only did the lead escape Control's grasp, but his reputation began to plummet, while Witchcraft's success rate improved. And as the winds of change blew, those Control suspected as moles replaced him as the new leadership of the organization. As George continues his investigation, he discovers that Control applied code names for his suspects: Percy Alleline/"Tinker" (Toby Jones), Bill Haydon/"Tailor" (Colin Firth), Roy Bland/"Soldier" (Ciarán Hinds), and Toby Esterhase/"Poorman" (David Dencik). The spy ring is commonly referred to as "the Circus" by its members, whose operatives communicate over long distance by ciphers and adopt false identities. The masks and euphemisms that make up this world distance its members from a connection with reality, making it easier for them to do their jobs without the burden of moral accountability, jobs which sometimes involve assassination and torture. But the disconnect also allows for deceit and subversion to thrive; it grows in the darkness, where no one can truly know who is loyal to whom. The sense of camaraderie and friendship displayed during flashbacks to a Christmas party for the office is contrasted with the feeling of disharmony and segmentation following the change in leadership. The organization appears to be more successful than ever, but it is an illusion, like shadows playing upon the wall of a cave.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a period piece of the 1970s, which recreates that world of spies and the Cold War, from the fashion and cars, and especially the political climate. It is a time where the fear of World War III as an inevitability was the reality. The moral ambiguity of the spy genre makes it something of an inheritor to film noir, where alliances are unclear and falsehood is stock and trade. Throughout Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, there is also a sense that the characters--notably George--are being watched, just as they are being watched by us, the audience. Tropes of the genre are abundant, and the plot contains other threads with supporting characters which tie back onto the main story, interwoven into the paranoid tapestry. The rumor of the mole resurfaces as a result of Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy), a disavowed spy assumed to be turned, coming in from the cold and providing information to George Smiley about the rumor's authenticity. To help him discover whether there is any truth to Ricki's testimony, George recruits a former colleague of Ricki's Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), and sets him to spy on his own side at great personal risk. Flashbacks to Ricki's story reveal that this information was a result of his own investigation into a lead while on assignment in Istanbul, another crossroads between East and West like Budapest. Ricki met and seduced a double agent named Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova), although Ricki's ambition got the better of him, which led to his great secret ultimately falling into the wrong hands. Other seemingly ancillary scenes involving Ricki, Peter, and even Jim Prideaux call back to spy stories of the time, and to the pulp novel style of authors like Ian Fleming and others. These webs of intrigue and the setting are so interesting that comic book writers like Ed Brubaker have written their own takes on the genre with titles like "Velvet". Along with these moments in the lives of the spies of the Circus, other moments show the members of the intelligence community carrying on more mundane parts of their lives, such as their swimming together in a lake for exercise. These moments heighten the feelings of suspicion, aware that one (or more) of the key players might be portraying a facade, and that even in these humble moments, the camaraderie is an illusion, and even what looks ordinary may conceal something deadly.
Recommended for: Fans of an intelligent and twisting tale of spies and deception, double agents and false identities, set during the height of the Cold War. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy also boasts an embarrassment of riches with its talented cast of actors.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a period piece of the 1970s, which recreates that world of spies and the Cold War, from the fashion and cars, and especially the political climate. It is a time where the fear of World War III as an inevitability was the reality. The moral ambiguity of the spy genre makes it something of an inheritor to film noir, where alliances are unclear and falsehood is stock and trade. Throughout Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, there is also a sense that the characters--notably George--are being watched, just as they are being watched by us, the audience. Tropes of the genre are abundant, and the plot contains other threads with supporting characters which tie back onto the main story, interwoven into the paranoid tapestry. The rumor of the mole resurfaces as a result of Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy), a disavowed spy assumed to be turned, coming in from the cold and providing information to George Smiley about the rumor's authenticity. To help him discover whether there is any truth to Ricki's testimony, George recruits a former colleague of Ricki's Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), and sets him to spy on his own side at great personal risk. Flashbacks to Ricki's story reveal that this information was a result of his own investigation into a lead while on assignment in Istanbul, another crossroads between East and West like Budapest. Ricki met and seduced a double agent named Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova), although Ricki's ambition got the better of him, which led to his great secret ultimately falling into the wrong hands. Other seemingly ancillary scenes involving Ricki, Peter, and even Jim Prideaux call back to spy stories of the time, and to the pulp novel style of authors like Ian Fleming and others. These webs of intrigue and the setting are so interesting that comic book writers like Ed Brubaker have written their own takes on the genre with titles like "Velvet". Along with these moments in the lives of the spies of the Circus, other moments show the members of the intelligence community carrying on more mundane parts of their lives, such as their swimming together in a lake for exercise. These moments heighten the feelings of suspicion, aware that one (or more) of the key players might be portraying a facade, and that even in these humble moments, the camaraderie is an illusion, and even what looks ordinary may conceal something deadly.
Recommended for: Fans of an intelligent and twisting tale of spies and deception, double agents and false identities, set during the height of the Cold War. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy also boasts an embarrassment of riches with its talented cast of actors.