It’s the 1970s and intelligence superman George Smiley comes to the rescue when a mole starts to really mess up MI6’s lawn.
Utilising some of Britain’s finest actors, it isn’t especially surprising to bear witness to some of the year’s most captivating performances. While the younger-guard is lead by supreme talent Tom Hardy, here over-playing his pivotal role a little, the old-guard steals the show with Gary Oldman delivering a career-best performance.
Adapting John le Carré’s famous spy novel was a bold move for director Tomas Alfredson. A suitably gloomy atmosphere is created with smoky cinematography not unlike that in Let The Right One In (which shares the same cinematographer as well as director) and amazing, consistent attention to detail across all areas of production design. There are a lot of characters and interweaving events to keep track of and I must admit to being a little confused at times but Alfredson cements his young reputation, doing an exceptional job holding together both the story and the fine talent at his disposal.
19th Sep 2011 | Official site | On IMDb
Comments
Then that's certainly something they've got in common. Gary Oldman really is superb.
Patrick Griffiths, 19th Sep 2011
Well, just seen this and I absolutely loved it. I wouldn't say I was confused at any point but it did keep me keenly focused all the way through.
A couple of gear changes - the first at the library, and the second at the secret house - really had me on the edge of my seat.
I have lots of questions about the story, and possible alternative views on proceedings. Great stuff. Definitely one of the very few movies I'll watch again at some point.
matt, 11th Oct 2011
I was talking to Emily's Dad about this yesterday, and he said that the original TV series was confusing at times but he didn't care because Alec Guinness was such a good actor.
matt, 19th Sep 2011