| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 09/19/2011 : 15:41:54
The thing about assigning this classic British story to a first-time director of an English language feature adds something probably no UK director could manage. Which is that for the experienced Swede Tomas Alfredson, the coded complexities of the 1970s British hierarchical society are as unreadable as the cryptic British Secret Service is for us who live here.
He's had to wedge the film in a space between what we are and aren't allowed to know. And that really helps the story.
Of course, that's not the only advantage. We first became aware of Alfredson with the Swedish original of Let The Right One In. It proved his skill not only as a director who understands exactly the pace required by the story, but one who appreciates the storytelling potency of design and editing as well as assuring all the actors are telling that same story.
For he's been an actor, writer, editor, designer, and more. All aspects of telling screen tales have seeped in, so he can trust the process and concentrate on the story itself.
With Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Alfredson has ensembled a dream cast - actors who trust each other completely, who can be entirely generous with the way they share screentime.
Maybe only the slightly less experienced Tom Hardy feels he has to prove himself among this galaxy of stars who can ACT! Mostly he holds it together as someone whose life has been dedicated to taking risks for others he knows won't ever truly appreciate him. But he's less comfortable exploring the inner layers he needs to process the knowledge that his loyalties will be met with betrayal. In short, sometimes he milks it.
Compare that with a momentary, subtle gesture by Gary Oldman as George Smiley, the consummate effective spy, who - with his back turned to us in a scene fragment near the film's end - provides us with the entire emotional life of a man whose profession has never allowed him to express it. You'll know it when you see it. But pay attention!
In fact you'll have to pay careful attention all throughout the film. Le Carre's story is as arcane as the institution in which it's set. Le Carre skilfully molds into credibility the fiction of Smiley from the knowledge of his own experience. I'm guessing if you work in a building located on London's West End Cambridge Circus - a secret service in the bustling midst of the nation's capital - it is inevitable it would be nicknamed The Circus. But it takes Le Carre to use the name with such subtle irony.
The Secret Service in the 1970s is in transition from a post-war you-know-where-you-are assumption of enemies into a brave new world of coming alliances, punctuated by the stings of music that precisely illustrate the differences. In fact, apart from some visual shock-scenes reminding us we're in the realm of the late 60s, our characters seem firmly stuck in the 50s, and quite deliberately.
Smiley's briefcase is typical. This is no sleek new leathered rectangular box with snappy metallic closings - no, it's the brown leather satchel kind with a strap, like a schoolbag. His whole sense of what to wear seems plucked from a John Betjeman suburb catalogue of bad taste.
But, oh, what a mind ticks behind those silly specs.
There was, recently, on BBC Radio 4, a dramatization of Le Carre's entire Smiley collection. A sort of Le Carre Big Grin. Now I love radio drama, but there were a few drawbacks to this. Namely that the very nature of the genre necessitates cross references, cryptic dialogue, and a cast easily lost in the cross-fire. Without either the luxury of a novel's tangents and inner thoughts, or the superimposition of photographic delineation, you really DO have to pay attention - and often, with radio, what's important is gone before you knew its vital relevance.
Which, of course, is the quality that makes for good spies. Nothing escapes their beady, unreadable eye.
What Alfredson does so convincingly is to tell pictorial stories that complement the action, the dialogue, and the often convoluted direction of the narrative. Take signs, for instance. Pay attention to the signs. An obvious one is the hotel used by some of Smiley's cohort for secret meetings: Hotel Islay. Think about it. There are other signs, some obvious, some not so. And some might make you smile.
This is not what you'd call an action film. Oh, there's death and plenty of it. There's plot and intrigue and betrayal and brutality. None is gratuitous. The pacing is slow, reflecting the very nature of the work.
Here's a quote from David Cornwell - aka John Le Carre - who himself worked in both MI5 and MI6:
"It's necessary to understand what real intelligence work is. ... It's the collection of information, a journalistic job, if you will, but done in secret.
All the rest of it-- intervention, destabilization, assassination, all that junk-- is in my view not only anti-constitutional but unproductive and silly. You can never foresee the consequences. But it's a good job as long as intelligence services collect sensible information and report it to their governments, and as long as that intelligence is properly used, thought about and evaluated."
Apart from a cameo by the extremely versatile Kathy Burke as Connie, a recently discarded member of the Circus, women appear rarely and without any of the dimensions imparted to the men. Le Carre's sister told me he'd originally written The Little Drummer Girl for her when he took to heart criticism that his books sorely neglected women.
But, that aside, the men here offer us a feast of wonderful film acting. Oldman is graced with screen partners including John Hurt as his trusted mentor, Colin Firth's modern Judas Iscariot, Benedict Cumberbatch whose loyalty is as sure as his hair color is questionable, reliable Ciar�n Hinds and Toby Jones, rising Danish star David Dencik, and Mark Strong filling in all the gaps.
You'll undoubtedly be reading rave reviews for this film. I can only concur. Just go see it.
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| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 09/20/2011 : 13:50:06
Now, this isn't my genre of film but with this kind of a review, I promise I'll do my utmost to see it (which will make my husband very happy, as he does like this genre). Thanks! |
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