Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: John le Carre’s great whodunit

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the new film version of the classic John le Carre spy novel.  The British have learned that the Soviets have planted a mole – their own double agent – near the very top of British secret intelligence service.  Only the old spymaster George Smiley, having been forced out to pasture, is beyond suspicion.  Only Smiley has the intellectual brilliance, institutional knowledge and ruthless doggedness needed to ferret out the traitor.  Gary Oldman plays George Smiley.

It’s a great tale, and the movie is good.  Oldman is joined by an impressive cast, inlcuding Colin Firth Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Jones.  Tom Hardy and Mark Strong are especially good.

I would be more enthusiastic about this film, but I harken back to the 1979 television miniseries version of the same book, starring Alec Guinness in perhaps his best role. That miniseries had even better performance by Guinness, of course, and Ian Richardson, Sian Phillips and Patrick Stewart.  It’s available on DVD, and I recommend that you rent it.

DVD of the Week: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

In this 1979 miniseries version of the classic John le Carre spy novel, there is a Soviet mole in the highest echelon of British intelligence.  It could be anyone except George Smiley, whom the other top spies have pushed out to pasture.  Smiley, in one of Alec Guinness’ greatest performances, begins a deliberate hunt to unmask the double agent.  Guinness is joined by a superb cast that includes Ian Richardson, Patrick Stewart, Ian Bannen and Sian Phillips.  It’s 290 minutes of pressure-packed whodunit.

The Labor Day weekend is a great opportunity to watch the old master spy drilling down through the characters of his former peers to expose the mole – one of the best mysteries ever on film.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has been remade into a much shorter theatrical version that will open in the US on November 18.  This new film version will also feature a top tier cast – Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Fassbender, Ciaran Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones and Stephen Rea.   The trailer is at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

Other recent DVD picks have been Poetry, Queen to Play, Kill the Irishman and The Music Never Stopped.