Dinner and a movie
Sep. 22nd, 2011 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylAfter a longer than expected day, supper — sweet and sour veg with tofu and rice — with the usual crowd at tyepyedong before heading on the cinema to catch Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which, despite my love of the TV series, more than convinced me of its merits.
The film's period details seemed very fine, conjuring up a rundown world of battered institutional furniture and grim grey walls, of vile patterned wallpaper, of knackered English cars and rundown hotels close to busy railway lines, against which the brilliant orange retro-futuristic briefing room made a particularly shocking contrast. The acting too was something special. Gary Oldman's Smiley was brilliant: silent, all-seeing, occasionally ruthless, and damaaged but determined not to let it bring him down; a total contrast to Alex Guinness' more expansive Smiley. Benedict Cumberbatch also stood out as Guillam. In place of the slightly desperate womaniser of the books, Cumberbatch's Guillam was gay, torn in his loyalties, and obviously melting down under the pressure making his explosive attack on Ricki all the more convincing.
Although the clarity of the plot suffered slightly from the compression required to fit it all into two hours, some of the additions more than made up for this. The decision to play out Smiley's encounter with Karla as a monologue rather than a flashback worked brilliantly, as did the flashback to the wonderfully horrific Circus Christmas party — Lenin on stage as Father Christmas, with the entire staff belting out the Soviet national anthem. I also liked the decision to keep the two main influences on Smiley's life almost completely off screen: Karla features as a disembodied voice; while Ann, who appears only from behind, can only really be seen through Smiley's reactions.
Highly recommended.
The film's period details seemed very fine, conjuring up a rundown world of battered institutional furniture and grim grey walls, of vile patterned wallpaper, of knackered English cars and rundown hotels close to busy railway lines, against which the brilliant orange retro-futuristic briefing room made a particularly shocking contrast. The acting too was something special. Gary Oldman's Smiley was brilliant: silent, all-seeing, occasionally ruthless, and damaaged but determined not to let it bring him down; a total contrast to Alex Guinness' more expansive Smiley. Benedict Cumberbatch also stood out as Guillam. In place of the slightly desperate womaniser of the books, Cumberbatch's Guillam was gay, torn in his loyalties, and obviously melting down under the pressure making his explosive attack on Ricki all the more convincing.
Although the clarity of the plot suffered slightly from the compression required to fit it all into two hours, some of the additions more than made up for this. The decision to play out Smiley's encounter with Karla as a monologue rather than a flashback worked brilliantly, as did the flashback to the wonderfully horrific Circus Christmas party — Lenin on stage as Father Christmas, with the entire staff belting out the Soviet national anthem. I also liked the decision to keep the two main influences on Smiley's life almost completely off screen: Karla features as a disembodied voice; while Ann, who appears only from behind, can only really be seen through Smiley's reactions.
Highly recommended.
