Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Rent & Buy
George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
What critics thought
Alfredson's adaptation of le Carré's novel landed as one of the most acclaimed films of 2011, with critics singling out the screenplay's feat of compression — turning a labyrinthine spy novel into a coherent, tension-soaked puzzle without flattening it. The main point of dissent came from le Carré devotees who felt that stripping the story to its essentials cost the film precisely the texture and depth that make the source material special.
“The script is a brilliant feat of condensation and restructuring: writers Peter Straughan and the late Bridget O'Connor realise the novel is overtly about information and its flow, and reshape its daunting complexity to highlight that”
Jonathan Romney·The Independent
Accolades
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Tomas AlfredsonDirector
Gary OldmanGeorge Smiley
Colin FirthBill Haydon
Tom HardyRicki Tarr
John HurtControl
Toby JonesPercy Alleline
Mark StrongJim Prideaux
Benedict CumberbatchPeter Guillam
Ciarán HindsRoy Bland
David DencikToby Esterhase
Kathy BurkeConnie Sachs
Stephen GrahamJerry Westerby
Simon McBurneyOliver Lacon
Alberto IglesiasComposer
John le CarréWriter
Peter StraughanWriter
Hoyte van HoytemaCinematographyTinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
What critics thought
Alfredson's adaptation of le Carré's novel landed as one of the most acclaimed films of 2011, with critics singling out the screenplay's feat of compression — turning a labyrinthine spy novel into a coherent, tension-soaked puzzle without flattening it. The main point of dissent came from le Carré devotees who felt that stripping the story to its essentials cost the film precisely the texture and depth that make the source material special.
“The script is a brilliant feat of condensation and restructuring: writers Peter Straughan and the late Bridget O'Connor realise the novel is overtly about information and its flow, and reshape its daunting complexity to highlight that”
Jonathan Romney·The Independent
Accolades
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Tomas AlfredsonDirectorGary OldmanGeorge SmileyColin FirthBill HaydonTom HardyRicki TarrJohn HurtControlToby JonesPercy AllelineMark StrongJim PrideauxBenedict CumberbatchPeter GuillamCiarán HindsRoy BlandDavid DencikToby EsterhaseKathy BurkeConnie SachsStephen GrahamJerry WesterbySimon McBurneyOliver LaconAlberto IglesiasComposerJohn le CarréWriterPeter StraughanWriterHoyte van HoytemaCinematographyRent & Buy