Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – 3 1/2 Buckets

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the very British English-language debut by Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson, is a paradox of a movie. Based on a weighty mystery novel by John le Carré, it plays like an intricate audience guessing-game on the surface, as Cold War MI:6 agent protagonist George Smiley works to uncover a mole in the organization. It is difficult to follow at times — the time-period shifts without notice (the clearest reference point is often Oldman’s glasses), characters are brought in with little introduction, and conversations are often deceiving. Most first-time viewers will be completely occupied by the task of figuring out exactly what’s going on.

What is paradoxical about the film–and what I discovered on second viewing–is that it really isn’t about figuring out who the mole is, for all the viewer is encouraged to try. In fact, given the degree to which Alfredson and the screenwriters obscure information from the viewer in the first two acts, it is impossible to even make an educated guess. Instead, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is actually about what it is to be a secret agent — not the James Bond kind, but one charged with the difficult task of protecting his country from unseen threats during wartime. Given how heavily dramatized the film is, it can’t exactly be read as a deconstruction of the genre, but it certainly feels more authentic than the shoot-’em-up spy films that we’re accustomed to seeing.

For as insignificant as the details of the central mystery are to the film’s thesis, the act of trying to piece them together is nonetheless integral to it. The frustrating experience of trying to determine the mole based on incomplete intelligence–that is, the selected bits that Alfredson feeds us–puts the viewer into an agent’s shoes far more than a film that allows for immediately gratifying “Aha!” moments. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is largely about the constant paranoia and fear that pervade in (Cold) wartime, and there is no better way for Alfredson to simulate these emotions in the audience than to tell them there is a mole, but to not give them all the tools necessary to figure out who it is.

Oldman’s George remains cold and enigmatic throughout, but the audience forges a connection with him because they share in the figurative looking over one’s shoulder. This duality makes the character a unique achievement: even though he is the spitting, stone-faced image of the intelligence community–often the villain in Hollywood productions–he is a character the audience roots for because they share in his predicament. To some degree, this sympathy stems from the old-fashioned desire to root for the good guys (the Brits) over the bad guys (the Soviets), but it’s also important to credit Oldman’s nuanced performance. With so little dialogue, Oldman conveys much of George through the eyes resting behind his thick-rimmed glasses. As with the larger narrative, it is near-impossible to figure out exactly is going on inside George’s head, but we watch with a sort of admiration, and the exercise never ceases to be engrossing.

The supporting performances are equally distinguished, as you would expect from the accomplished British cast. John Hurt is especially noteworthy as MI:6’s Control, who is the first to theorize the presence of a mole, but dies before he can crack the case. Hurt is the perfect fit for the role — an old geezer who, having served in intelligence for so long, has a secret for every wrinkle on his face. Tom Hardy is also particularly strong as an agent who has wrongly been branded a defector, once again proving he can’t be ‘typed.’ Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Ciarán Hinds, and David Dencik round out the cast as the main mole suspects.

It should go without saying that the technical elements are all top-notch. Even those viewers who fail to comprehend all the details of the twisty plot should still find themselves sucked in by Maria Djurkovic’s impeccable period production design and Hoyte Van Hoytema’s goldish-grey scope cinematography. That said, provided they exert the necessary amount of effort, most adult moviegoers should be able to enjoy the true top-down excellence of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

* * *

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011; UK, France, Germany). Produced by Tim Bevan, Liza Chasin, Eric Fellner, Alexandra Ferguson, Ron Halpem, Debra Hayward, John le Carré, Peter Morgan, Robyn Slovo, Alex Sutherland, and Douglas Urbanski. Directed by Tomas Alfredson. Written for the screen by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, based on the novel by John le Carré. Starring Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Firth, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbach, Stephen Graham, and Tom Hardy. Distributed by Focus Features. Rated R, with a running time of 127 minutes.