Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I have seen every James Bond movie at least four times (except Quantum of Solace).  I mention that to point out just how much I enjoy spy movies.  I have also read most of the original James Bond books, as well as several spy novels by Robert Ludlum and John le Carré; I mention that to prove that I understand the difference between a James Bond movie and an actual spy film.  The reality (according to the fiction I have read) of espionage is that unremarkable people patiently do a lot of work as subtly as they can, with potentially Earth-shaking results.  When I saw the first trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy --- based on one of the best action-free spy stories ever --- and saw the excellent cast, I knew I would be in for a treat.  A subtle, quiet treat, but a treat nonetheless.

Above: an action sequence in the film, shown in real time

Control (John Hurt) is dead.  The former head of British Intelligence (AKA SIS, AKA MI6, AKA --- in le Carré's books, anyway --- The Circus) died in disgrace.  Convinced that there was a high-level mole feeding information to the Soviets, Control approved a mission to bring over a defector from the Eastern bloc that allegedly had hard proof as to the mole's identity.  The mission was a failure; the MI6 agent, Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong), was identified and shot (not dead, though), and an international incident was born.  Control and his right hand man, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), were forced into retirement.  The rest of Control's elite inner circle of intelligence men simply moved up a few rungs and have been ruling ever since.

First new rule: reclining seats for the Q-Bert room

After Control's death, Smiley is approached by someone in the British government to investigate a claim made by a Circus operative, Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole in The Circus; the incident that made Tarr suspicious happened after Smiley was sacked, so it seems that A) Control was right all along and B) Smiley couldn't have been the leak, since he had no access to Tarr's situation.  Smiley is tasked with finding the double agent amongst the Circus elite, but doing so without The Circus' knowledge, and without direct access to The Circus himself.  That may sound difficult, but that's because it is.  And also because Control was certain that the mole had to be one of his inner circle.  He even assigned them each a code name; "Tinker" was Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), "Tailor"  was Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), "Soldier"  was Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds), "Poorman"  was Toby Esterhase (David Dencik) and "Beggarman" was Smiley.  Even the most trusted spies in The Circus were suspect.  But if we know who Tinker, Tailor, and Solider are, who is Spy?  That's what Smiley's trying to find out.

...and probably who's on the receiving end of this shot

The acting in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is very low-key, but also quite good.  I really liked Gary Oldman's portrayal of Smiley; it is difficult to make a deliberate, contemplative character come to life on film, but I thought Oldman's Smiley was brilliantly cold and calculating, but also jealous and lonely.  His performance was more inaction than action, but I think that's what draws you in.  The rest of the cast (which is pretty huge) is good, but the silence of Smiley is really what this film is about.  Tom Hardy was good as the spy equivalent of a blunt instrument with awful, awful hair. 

Shouldn't spy jackets conceal things better than this?

Rivaling that hair was Mark Strong's combover, although it was nice to see Strong playing a non-villain for a change.  It turns out that he's still fun to watch, even when he's not evil.  John Hurt was probably the most explosive character in the movie, which seems a little odd, given that he's in his seventies, but just imagine him being loud and cranky and you'll get the gist of his performance.

"Get off my lawn!"

The other fairly emotive character in the film was current holder of the coveted "Most British Name" award, Benedict Cumberbatch.  His character was understandably nervous, but I felt he was a little too high-strung at times.

I just like saying his name.  Try it: Cum-ber-batch!

The rest of the cast was made of fine, establish British actors.  Colin Firth is the most noteworthy, but I thought Toby Jones and Ciarán Hinds also gave solid performances.  I also found it interesting to see Konstantin Khabenskiy in a film released in the West that was not directed by Timur Bekmambetov; Khabenskiy basically played the stereotype of a hard-drinking Russian jerk, but he's pretty good at that.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first major English-language film from director Tomas Alfredson, and I think he was a good stylistic match to the source material.  For some reason, most of the Swedish directors I have seen have excelled at slowly-paced, subtle films, and that's exactly what this story needed.  I liked how quiet and claustrophobic this movie felt at times, and I thought Alfredson did a great job with the actors.  My only problem was how dense the narrative was.  I like that Alfredson didn't dumb the story down or over-explain things, but this is a movie that demands your attention --- and if you're not sure that it makes sense, you're going to need a few viewings and a flow chart to make a definite conclusion. 

Because Smiley sure as hell won't tell you

As much as I enjoyed this subtle, complex film, I wasn't as blown away as I had hoped.  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is definitely a solid movie, but it's not the sort of movie that I want to re-watch in the immediate future.  It's very, very slow --- and I think that pace fits the story well --- so I will need to be in just the right mood to watch this again.  There's isn't anything about the film that I downright disliked, but (aside from the overall consistent quality) there wasn't anything that I positively loved, either.  Oldman was great, but his role is almost an anti-presence in the film; who he isn't spending time with and what he's not saying aloud are kind of his defining traits.  While that was artfully done, it's not the sort of performance that amps me up.  Still, this is a very cerebral spy drama.  It might not exactly "thrill," but it is one of the best examples of what espionage is (probably) truly like.

Let the Right One In

There are basically two types of vampire movies.  There are the ones that focus on the seductive nature of blood sucking, like Dracula and the Twilight series, and there are the ones that treat vampires as monstrous abominations, like Nosferatu and 30 Days of Night.  Every so often, though, a vampire movie is released that doesn't play by the rules.

Let the Right One In is the story of Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson).  Oskar is a timid twelve year-old boy whose mother works late and father lives in another town.  He doesn't have any friends and is mercilessly bullied at school.  The only satisfaction he seems to get is by role playing revenge scenarios where he stabs his bullies; he only does this outside, at night, with trees taking the place of his bullies.  Maybe he'll grow up to be a lumberjack; there's a silver lining to every depressing childhood, you know.  Oskar's world changes when he meets Eli, a girl who moved into the apartment next door.  Eli is different.  She doesn't go to school, she smells funny, and she seems blissfully unaware of weather and culture.  Despite her oddness, Eli clearly has a strong personality and Oskar is drawn to her.  The two begin an awkward friendship; Oskar starts to stick up for himself and Eli tries to be less obviously peculiar.  In many ways, this is a love story between these two lonely twelve year-olds.

Did I mention that Eli is a vampire?  Yeah...good luck with love, Oskar.  Watch out for hickies.

That's all I think I want to cover of the plot.  This is a movie made of small moments that are best experienced firsthand.  Let the Right One In feels different than most vampire movies because it is in fact different; it is the Swedish film adaptation of the novel with the same name.  The foreign actors and setting alone make this unique, but the most unusual aspect of the film is that it has child actors in almost every single scene.  Most of the time, that's a bad indicator for acting quality.  I don't know if it's the unusual style of the film, the subtitles, or perhaps even a talented young cast, but I didn't mind watching kids in a vampire story for two hours.  Leandersson, in particular, was very effective as the film's token monster.  Perhaps the credit should go to director Tomas Alfredson for directing the children so well and still retaining a sense of dread in the film.

What really sets this movie apart from traditional vampire movies is the way it approaches horror.  Instead of focusing on spectacle, like gory movies, or on cheap thrills, like slasher movies, Let the Right One In is very subtle.  When I was done with the movie, I went through three distinct stages as I reflected on the film.  Initially, I was unimpressed; I have read the book and I thought that cutting down the supporting cast, while understandable, took away from the depth of the story.  Next, I recalled the silliness of Oskar's concerns when he learned Eli's secret; he was nervous, but not horrified.  After a while, though, something about the film nagged at the back of my mind.  Children are absolutely frightening at times; this film has the same sort of you-know-it-could-happen-like-this quality that Lord of the Flies has.  Yes, Eli is a monster, but is she any worse than Oskar's bullies?  At least she has a reason to attack or kill people.  Using a vampire story to point out how horrible children can be, while a touch heavy-handed, is effective.  It's strange, because you end up rooting for Eli and Oskar to find a way to make their impractical friendship work.

While light by vampire movie standards, this is a fairly bloody movie.  There are some standard gore moments where Eli rips out the throat of her victims and, at one point, a guy even pours acid on his face.  Most of the violence is shown off-screen, though; this is most obvious in the climactic scene, even though it is still a pretty cool moment.  The most frightening scene in the whole film is also the bloodiest.  Eli has to be granted permission to enter a room or home and, in a moment of childish stubbornness, Oskar refuses because he wants to see what happens.  What follows is a fantastic visual in a pretty low-key movie.

As a whole, though, I felt that something was missing from the film.  The direction was good, although the cinematography was merely competent.  The acting was surprisingly good, but only Eli stood out as a character.  The pacing of the movie fit a dramatic romance, but it felt out of step when things got monstrous.  As a horror film, this was lacking the catharsis that most horror films provide, satisfied with sowing the seeds for a sense of disquiet.  No aspect of the film was utterly satisfying; for every positive, I was able to immediately find a negative to balance it.  As a film with a very low budget, I think Let the Right One In is an excellent example of trying to scare you with what is not shown.  The pacing and inconsistent tone were just too much for me to overlook.