Elegant. Cool to the touch. Brilliantly layered and carefully doled out. Possessing a quietly stylish veneer that stresses every single shade of brown imaginable. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is one of the more literate modern spy films, directed with classy panache and extreme intelligence by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), and adapted from John le Carre’s celebrated novel by Peter Straughan (The Men Who Stare at Goats). Released in December of 2011, the film wasn’t given the splashiest push by its distributor, and already feels underrated to a certain degree, despite excellent critical support. Set in 1970’s England, the dense narrative pivots on the actions of MI6 chief, Control (a magnificent John Hurt), who sends one of his best agents (Mark Strong, always persuasive and commanding) to rendezvous with a general from the Hungarian army who might possibly have information leading to the uncovering of a duplicitous Russian agent who has infiltrated the ranks of the British spy organization. Of course, the mission becomes compromised, leading to double and triple crossing, allegiance testing, and a general sense that anyone could be anything at any point.
An ex-British spook named George Smiley (a perfectly weathered Gary Oldman) is called in to weed out the potential mole, in an effort to stop leaked information finding its way into Soviet hands. Filled to the brim with fantastic supporting performances from a stellar ensemble cast including Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, David Dencik, Kathy Burke, and the always potentially sinister Simon McBurney, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy hums along without any sense of forced narrative conceits or extraneous plot developments, keeping everything tight and smart. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar, Her) and composer Alberto Iglesias were in perfect aesthetic synch, with fleet editing provided by Dino Jonsäter. There isn’t one false step that this film takes, with everything leading up to a quietly powerful finale. Also, that scene at the airport on the tarmac with the plane landing in the distance and slowly taxiing its way up to the actors – ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
Podcasting Them Softly 