Directed by: Tomas Alfredson.
Running time: 127 minutes.
What does most spies do in real life? They waited in dark room, smoking, drinking coffee, typing telegrams and discussing. The real actions were done by the one in the field and not as glossy as James Bond. No car chases or fancy gadgets or let alone, sexy girls for the guys.
The story is straightforward but you really need to pay close attention (and intellect so to say) as to why, who and where since it does not being stated clearly on the screen. Having said that, concentration is a must. Bringing the A list of British actors, the acting is not disappointing. Even Benedict Cumberbatch we all know as Sherlock from BBC can shine here.
Main plot is about Smiley (Gary Oldman) who just being 'sacked' from MI 6 (The Circus is the nickname here) and try to find a Russian mole inside the top brass. To assist him is Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), head of the Service’s strong-arm ‘scalphunters’ unit and Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy), Guillam's so called henchmen. With multiple flashbacks often from different angles, we can see a glimpse of the main character's personality.
You can feel the atmosphere of cynicism, distrust, betrayal and insecurity from this one. It makes you feel, as a viewer, how cold, silent and soulless the world of spy is. Sadly this make the film lack emotional and dramatic impact. Not only because of the nature of spying but also the film duration that try to compress the meticulous story into two hour only. Had it been 30 minutes more it can explore more on the mole suspicion to add the thrill or perhaps some personal insight into some characters.
Running time: 127 minutes.
What does most spies do in real life? They waited in dark room, smoking, drinking coffee, typing telegrams and discussing. The real actions were done by the one in the field and not as glossy as James Bond. No car chases or fancy gadgets or let alone, sexy girls for the guys.
The story is straightforward but you really need to pay close attention (and intellect so to say) as to why, who and where since it does not being stated clearly on the screen. Having said that, concentration is a must. Bringing the A list of British actors, the acting is not disappointing. Even Benedict Cumberbatch we all know as Sherlock from BBC can shine here.
Main plot is about Smiley (Gary Oldman) who just being 'sacked' from MI 6 (The Circus is the nickname here) and try to find a Russian mole inside the top brass. To assist him is Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), head of the Service’s strong-arm ‘scalphunters’ unit and Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy), Guillam's so called henchmen. With multiple flashbacks often from different angles, we can see a glimpse of the main character's personality.
You can feel the atmosphere of cynicism, distrust, betrayal and insecurity from this one. It makes you feel, as a viewer, how cold, silent and soulless the world of spy is. Sadly this make the film lack emotional and dramatic impact. Not only because of the nature of spying but also the film duration that try to compress the meticulous story into two hour only. Had it been 30 minutes more it can explore more on the mole suspicion to add the thrill or perhaps some personal insight into some characters.
Thanks to a tight script and editing, the film manages to squeeze Le Carre's book into a two hour movie although sometimes fail to deliver Chekov's gun to make things interesting.
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