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Sadly Over-hyped

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A powerful honorable cat-and-mouse game of gentlemen entrenched in obscure offices and safe houses, stenching with cigarette and drinks, papers all around revealing codes, numbers and all sorts of information; not much action going around but those spies, informers and intelligent people know that when the danger comes it's better to find a way out of it. John Le Carré's anti-James Bond character the taciturn yet brilliant George Smiley was presented to readers in several novels, including "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and the Karla trilogy, which consists of Smiley's greatest efforts, in order "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy" and "Smiley's People". To audiences, he was introduced with great detail in this BBC miniseries with Sir Alec Guinness as Smiley, providing a multi-layered performance that truly captures the essence of this realistic poor man's secret agent. John Irvin's seven part miniseries is a towering effort of all sources, highly commendable and worthy of praise...but it's appeal is slightly lost on me. Reason: Tomas Alfredson's masterpiece released in 2011 with Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy was simply mesmerizing and a true work of art that actually made me feel as part of that complex web of lies, countless characters and their complicated means. That film used the original source, maintained what was fundamental in it and drastically altered some plot points, schemes, abused of puzzling flashbacks that angered a great deal of people - there in the theater I had a minor yet bothering headache which started in the middle of the film but when all the answers were starting to come, it faded away like magic - but I absolutely loved it! It's like a magnificent chess game. Alfredson's cast and his choices for art-direction, cinematography, everything fit perfectly the film and his team of writers managed to condense everything in two hours, which is more amazing, and thanks to the mode he visualized this Cold War world, I started to read Karla trilogy with different (better) eyes. Above all, Oldman captured with exact measure the personality of Smiley: calm, always in control of the situation and always aware of what the enemy might do next. A bright intelligence, great worker for the British intelligence but whose life at home isn't completely sorted out, always having to deal with the infidelities of adored wife Ann. An enigmatic character and a challengeable role for an actor since Smiley is a man who holds back every emotion, and Oldman had to use a lot of nuances to express feelings and thoughts without let them completely visible. But the actor acknowledges: Guinness was his inspiration while playing the role.As for the miniseries, Guinness does a tremendous job and once again he disappears into a role with full commitment and passion. It's not an easy job to hold yourself back when all you want to do it's to react to what other people do or ask you to do. But I enjoyed his George Smiley, it felt real and quite close to the one we imagine from the books. In fact, the great advantage this film has over Alfredson's work is the fact that they covered the book in very faithful ways (obviously BBC had the time for it, 7 hours!), including verbatim from Le Carré's novel, descriptions and sequences, providing minor altering (they don't focus on much Peter Guillam is a ladies man - good point - but they made the special relationship between Prideaux and Haydon in innuendo terms that don't explain much for those who haven't read the book or seen the 2011 film). In terms of the challenges faced by a writer transforming a complex and detailed book into a film/miniseries "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is a bright case for study. Le Carré isn't totally cinematic ("The Honourable Schoolboy" is his most filmic yet it's the one that never gets made into films because it's long, covers a great deal of important plot points in several locations. Now with the success of "The Night Manager" I seriously hope that Netflix, Amazon or HBO can make a miniseries of it...if possible with Gary Oldman as lead) but he offers alternatives and gripping stories that can be adapted for the screen, always with great chances to make it more palatable. However, BBC while making this project very close to the original source made it something wordy, heavily dramatic and at times exhausting to follow - I watched this in full with some breaks and not an episode per day; and with this lack of rhythm that makes it seen you're seeing a staged version of a novel instead of a film experience, the series lost in tension, in thrills and Le Carré is a creative genius source for those. Impossible not to compare it with book and another film but judging by itself it's a well made, well produced and well acted film. The epic proportions for such project is something that must be required when it comes to adapt Smiley's novels. I enjoyed positively the acting and the script in some moments (there's plenty of humor in it) but I don't think Mr. Irvin made a good use of locations, art-direction to reflect the 1970's, it's all painfully claustrophobic at times and very tiring. The final result avenges (but I still think people overestimate its quality. Sure, BBC never made anything like it back in the day but now it's common standard though with not the same precision in following an original material). I'm willing to give it a try with Guinness and BBC again with "Smiley's People". This time there'll be no other picture to compare (unless if Alfredson goes faster and release it now, and I'm still waiting for his return to his acclaimed film). 7/10

A second viewing of 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', and it was so easy to watch all episodes in a row in one night once again. I'm not sure who else could play Smiley so perfectly as Alec Guiness did, as I am also not sure if I really want to try the remake with Gary Oldman, even if he is a great actor, too...The story, the acting and the settings in 'Tinker...' are often very much understated and subtle (although there are plenty of emotional eruptions as there are picturesque sceneries), as is Smiley's investigation, which is the wrapped around the many stories that are at play here. Smiley is the ultimate analyst of this complicated world of cloaks and daggers, who brings as much heart as intelligence into the process. After the death of 'Control' (what an appropriate name), he is the one who should put things right, having quite a few bones to pick, but on the other hand, not so much else do either, really. And his wife...? Their conversation at the end, their only one throughout the whole series, tells so much.A very big 9 out of 10 for now.

I revisit John Le Carre's books every few years, and just finished the Smiley trilogy...Had seen the movie version of Tinker, Tailer when it came out, and I must say, it left me very confused....Hungary, Smiley swimming, Prideaux in a shopping mall, and on and on....Hadn't seen the TV series version in quite some time, so I decided to watch it again....It felt like returning to the heart of a great spy story....Brilliant.... Of all the fine acting performances I greatly appreciated Joss Ackland in a cameo role as Westerby and Anthony Bate as Lacon....But what makes this version work is the honesty of the script, the fine directorial balancing...Well done...

It was only after I watched the recent film version that I decided that I should probably watch the BBC miniseries of the same material; I had always seen it included in various "best TV shows ever" lists but had never actually gotten around to watching it. With the film reasonably fresh in my mind I figured that I would have a better shot of following it if I watched it sooner rather than later. This was the case to a certain extent, because I did find the story easier to follow than in the film. Partly this is because I was already familiar with the overall flow but that is not to take anything away from the TV series, because I did think that having almost 7 hours instead of 2 made the story much clearer in terms of development.Characters have more room to be painted and the story is laid out slower so that even the less intelligent viewer such as myself has plenty of time to pick up on who is who and where this is all going. It also helps that it does move slow and that we are moving along at the same sort of pace as Smiley in regards weighing up the characters as the mole. While this is the thrust of the plot, I also liked the added detail around the edges as it not only filled out the characters but also added to the feeling of Britain as a rather faded superpower and of this backend of the Cold War being public schoolboys engaged in their own private game which comes with pre-packaged rules and etiquette. It has this downbeat tone throughout and the slow burn of the delivery only adds to the slightly awkward stiffness of men in rooms smoking and drinking coffee. The delivery of this feeling is across the show while at the same time drawing the viewer into this internal piece of espionage. Of course this slow pace and lack of traditional action may frustrate some – not helped perhaps by the fact that, although easier to follow than the film, it is still a mystery so there is a fair bit of not totally understanding what is going on, simply because you're not being told everything all at once.The cast are mostly very good but of course the standout is Guinness who tells a long story of hurt with just his plain expression. I liked Oldman's performance but it is secondary to this one; the difference between that one felt Oldman was giving a good performance, whereas here it simply feels like Guinness is this character; he understands him because he has lived the life. Support is good from Richardson, Bennett, Jayston, Hepton, Bannen and others but the show belongs to the lead. Irvin's direction is very good, perhaps it has dated a little but the whole thing has such a sense of place that it feels like it fits the period (as indeed the recent film did). I also liked that the camera had the patience and trust in the material to often be quite static while the dialogue did the work.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not the easiest story to follow but the miniseries is more engaging and accessible because it gives you the space and time to keep up and for everything to make that bit more sense as it unfolds. The tone of drabness may be partially the dating effect but it is certainly effective in the world of the spy, sitting in drab rooms, smoking, playing it as a game even though the heydays are long gone. Guinness is excellent in the lead role, adding to this feeling and wearing the character to the point where it doesn't even feel like acting. For those that enjoyed the film (and I did) then miniseries will be additionally enjoyable because it does everything the film did but does it better and has more time to breathe and develop while doing it.