Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Screenplay - 3/5
While the film sounded extremely smart and sophisticated, it doesn't mean that it's easy for an audience to truly understand what people are talking about. I get that it's tough to condense a novel into a film format, especially knowing that there's a 7 episode television series (which would be about 7 hours devoted to the source material), but clearly there were just too many characters to remember and just too much going on.
Editing/Pacing - 3/5
Again, bringing up the fact this film is based off a novel that has so much material, it's tough to find the perfect balance. The film does start off a tad slow, but it does slowly build itself up. At times it does feel awkward, but it's due to the fact that the film is trying so hard to fit as much as possible. It all does work out in the end for a fantastic finish.
Score - 4/5
It's not overpowering to where it'll blow your ears off (looking at you Hans), but it's not something that'll move you to feel a certain way. It helps to dictate the direction the film is going. At times, the score is so subtle that you can confuse it for something that's playing in the life of these characters. The score was created by Alberto Iglesias, who has also composed for films such as The Constant Gardener, Volver, and The Kite Runner.
Mise-En-Scene - 5/5
The look of the film feels so much like Britain during the 1970's as far as the color scheme goes. It all feels like an espionage film, which is where you have to give credit to Art Directors Tom Brown and Zsuzsa Kismarty-Lechner. The film is filled with brown and gray palettes, and you can just feel something shady is going on.
Acting - 5/5
This was expected with the superb cast that takes part in this film. Gary Oldman, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Stephen Graham, Kathy Burke, Svetlana Khodchenkova. This is a massive list, and all of them play their parts perfectly, regardless of how small a role it may have been. Gary Oldman, playing the lead role of George Smiley, really just takes the role and runs with it. He challenges Guinness, who was amazing in his portrayal of Smiley. Gary Oldman should be considered for Best Actor, but we'll just have to see what happens. John Hurt, who had a short amount of screen time, gives it his all, and it's obvious he's exhausted from his search to find this mole that lies within his men. I could go through each actor one by one, but I'll jump to the actor who really took it away: Benedict Cumberbatch. Most of you may not know him, but I'm telling you...he'll be around for quite some time. He ends up playing the role of Smiley's right hand man, Peter Guillam. For the sake of the movie, I won't say much more about the character, but you'll most definitely be impressed.
Directing - 5/5
Taking a piece of literature like this is tough to put into a film, especially when there's a lot that comes with the challenge. Tomas Alfredson takes the challenge and makes the world of 1970's Britain his own. Every choice that Alfredson made worked out perfectly for the film, and I'm sure he won't get the appreciation he deserves come Oscar season, but it surely won't go unnoticed. Alfredson, who also directed the vampire film Let The Right One In, has a great idea of what he wants, and brings out the best in his actors.
Overall - 4/5
This is a dark horse film that could possibly win Best Picture in the majority of award shows, but, being realistic, it probably won't win much. That doesn't take away from how fantastic this film truly is. It has so much going for it, and to pick out any flaws the film may have actually hurts me. I will say this, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the best film I've had the chance to watch to come out in 2011.
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