Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Bill McNeal (A) on January 12, 2012 at 14:45:30

First off, I quite agree with Tinear concerning the waste of some fine acting talent in this one. Very little character development of the supporting cast.

Second: I'm a big fan of some of LeCarre's work -- the Smiley trio (Tinker Tailor, Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley's People), Spy Who Came In From The Cold, A Perfect Spy in particular. I read Tinker Tailor about once every 10 years. It is that good. And the current film version convinces me that my pleasure in viewing it yesterday is hopelessly compromised by my love of the novel.

Third: I also loved the British TV productions of Tinker and Smiley's people. I cannot imagine Gary Oldman being altogether comfortable having his performance compared to the spot-on job Alec Guinness did with this character.

Fourth: As I suspected before seeing the new version, there's just not enough time to spin a tale this convoluted in a two-hour film. I don't have any real recollection of the time for the Brit TV mini-series, but it must've been at least 4 hours? Anyhow my wife found it just too difficult to keep the plot straight amidst the flashbacks & scene changes in the new flick. LeCarre is quite adept at weaving tales that don't seem like they're ever going to come together until near the end, and this is not good box office, to say the least.

Fifth: It occurs to me that comparison of the new film and the old, more time-developed TV mini would be a splendid study for aspiring film students/makers-to-be. For instance, here's a link to the TV's potrayal of Smiley's confrontation with the Toby Esterhase character:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHKiVwUbYvE

Now this takes up over 11 minutes, uses very, very basic camera technique etc. And, to me anyway, is quite well done.

Compare this to my least favorite sequence in the film, where they got the idea to set it in a plane-landing zone (Smiley threatening to send Toby back to Hungary, and Toby a whimpering wreck in practically no time).


Sixth: Well of course you would have to watch the movie in order to compare, and I actually encourage you to do so even if you've never read the book. There are some good elements in amidst the shrinkage. Mostly where there's some time taken. (For instance, I quite appreciated the wordless walk of Control & Smiley through the Circus building upon being let go. I even felt emotional about it, but perhaps if I hadn't re-read & re-viewed so many times.....who knows.)

Seventh: Overall view of somewhat rundown London and Europe well-done, ditto most of the musical bits.

Eighth and last: And somehow it does manage to convey the ruthlessness of real-world spy trade, the grubbiness of it all in the end.