The film is an adaptation of John le Carré's novel of the same name. It's a nail-biter, an action packed mystery box of a story. I'm saying action packed but there's little real 'action' in this film. It's main character is not like that other famous British spy with his many ladies. There's no gunfights nor Martini drinking, instead we are invited into a dreary world full of treachery and impending doom.
Oldman plays intelligence officer George Smiley who works for MI6, referred to as 'The Circus' throughout the movie. At the start of the film he and his superior Control (John Hurt) are forced into retirement. His life after his work can only be called boring. Smiley's alone, his relationship with his wife is unstable due to her affair. After an apparently deadly incident in Budapest Smiley is called back in. He's put on a search for a mole within The Circus, the young Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) is assigned to assist him.
'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is a peculiar film. It takes its time to tell its story, which is fine because it is told in such a beatiful way. The atmosphere is one of distrust and melancholy. The spies know their time is up, the cold war has reached its peak and the glory days of the Second World War are long gone. It is moving to see these people, hardened and cut off from the world, play their shadowy games in their shadowy rooms. On the surface there is no emotion but the quiet moments between the characters reveal otherwise.
Director Tomas Alfredson, who showed us his flair for understated drama with 'Let The Right One In', has created a film close to perfection. Silent, thoughtful and amazingly tense; 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' should be considered one of last year's best.
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