Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (film): Difference between revisions

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'''Ricki Tarr''': I said that she had information concerning a [[Double Agent]]. }}

'''''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy''''' is an espionage thriller directed by [[Let the Right One In|Tomas Alfredson]] and adapted from the [[John Le Carre]] novel of the same name, the first in [[The Quest for Karla]] trilogy. The film was released in September, 2011.

Set in the 1970s, George Smiley ([[Gary Oldman]]), once a master spy for "[[Secret Intelligence Service|the Circus]]" who is [[Mandatory Unretirement|pulled out of retirement by his former colleague Peter Guillam for one last job]]: rooting out a Russian mole from [[Mole in Charge|among the upper echelon of the Circus' leadership]]. To do so, Smiley must dig into some of the most dramatic incidents in recent Circus history: the tale of AWOL spy Ricki Tarr ([[Tom Hardy]]), the ousting of former chief "Control" ([[John Hurt]]), the leadership coup that put Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) in the top job, a botched operation in Hungary that resulted in the public wounding and capture of Jim Prideaux ([[Mark Strong]]), a covert intelligence source code-named "Witchcraft", and even the persistent rumours that Circus officer Bill Haydon ([[Colin Firth]]) has been having an affair with Smiley's wife. All this leads to a wider conspiracy that Smiley must unravel before the Russian spymaster known as Karla uses it to destroy the Circus.

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== Tropes present in this work include: ==

* [[Actor Allusion]]: It seems that John Hurt [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|always had a lot of experience]] [[V for Vendetta|with British political extremes and secret services]].

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The order of events are changed and one character is merged.

* [[All-Star Cast]]

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Haydon is bisexual, but just ''how'' "inseparable" he and Prideaux are is never made clear. Their relationship is certainly intense.

* [[Anachronic Order]]: Just like the original novel. The film uses a clever technique to help the viewer keep track of the flashbacks--at the beginning, shortly after his forced retirement from the Circus, Smiley is shown buying a new pair of glasses in a different style. So the flashbacks to Control's time in power are immediately recognisable because Smiley is wearing his old pair of glasses.

* [[Beware the Quiet Ones]]: Smiley.

* [[Blackmail]]: Smiley threatens to {{spoiler|deport Toby Esterhase to Vienna, likely ensuring his assassination}} unless he reveals the address of the London safe house.

* [[Blood Is Squicker in Water]]: {{spoiler|Boris}} winds up eviscerated in a bathtub.

* [[Bow Ties Are Cool]]: Toby Esterhase is never seen without one.

* [[Broken Bird]]: Irina

* [[Being Good Sucks]]: {{spoiler|Irina puts her life on the line to reveal there is a mole at the Circus, her reward is to be tortured and shot in front of Prideaux. On the other hand, she was actually trying to sell the identity of her allies for her own benefit, so while what happens to her definitely sucks, it's not the consequence of "being good."}}

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* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: Prideaux is subjected to it. {{spoiler|Irina clearly was too by the looks of her when she was brought in.}}

* [[Death by Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Tufty Thesinger}}. Played with for {{spoiler|Jim Prideaux, who we find out is alive halfway through the film.}}

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Fawn, who does not even merit an introduction in this version.

* [[Dyeing for Your Art]]: Oldman's hair (lighter) and waistline (heavier).

** [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] as well - Guillam's hair is blonde, while Mr. Cumberbatch is naturally a ginger.

* [[Establishing Character Moment]]: Early in the film Smiley is riding in a car with the others, who all try ineffectively to swat a bee, while Smiley simply watches its movement and winds down the window at exactly the right time to allow it to escape. This foreshadows his technique of finding the mole not through brute force but by clever entrapment.

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* [[Montage Out]]

* [[Moscow Centre]]

* [[No Name Given]]: Control, Karla.

* [[Nostalgia Filter]]: Connie reminisces lovingly about what good times she had with "the boys" at Sarratt in the 1940s, until Smiley finally points out that they were there because of [[World War Two]].

** Which doesn't stop her regarding it as a golden time when 'men could be proud to be English'.

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* [[Role Association]]: [[Sherlock]] and [[Inception|Eames]] must help [[Harry Potter|Sirius Black]], on [[Harry Potter|Ollivander]]'s posthumous orders, find a spy among the likes of [[Pride and Prejudice|Mr. Darcy]], [[Harry Potter|Dumbledore's brother]], and the voice of [[Harry Potter|Dobby the Elf]].

* [[The Seventies]]: The film revels in the time period.

* [[Slashed Throat]]: How {{spoiler|Tufty Thesinger}} meets {{spoiler|his}} [[Death by Adaptation]].

* [[Spy Couple]]: Irina and Boris posing as married trade delegates.

* [[Spy Fiction]]

* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: {{spoiler|At the end, Julio Iglesias perky cover of 'La Mer' plays as a montage of the Christmas party, Bill Haydon being shot by Jim Prideaux, a distraught Ricki Tarr looking in a shop window and Smiley ascending the stairs of the Circus to take his place as head of [[MI 6]].}}

* [[~~Straight~~ ~~Gay~~]]: Unlike the book, {{spoiler|Peter Guillam}} is portrayed as homosexual in the film. It's not even revealed until {{spoiler|partway into the movie, when we see Guillam asking his lover to leave.}}

* [[Invisible to Gaydar]]: Unlike the book, {{spoiler|Peter Guillam}} is portrayed as homosexual in the film. It's not even revealed until {{spoiler|partway into the movie, when we see Guillam asking his lover to leave.}}

* [[Title Drop]]: In the trailer only, which alters Control's dialogue when he's explaining the code names to Prideaux.

* [[The Stoic]]: [[Ironic Name|Smiley]], obviously.

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* [[The Watson]]: Peter Guillam.

** [[Benedict Cumberbatch|Which is kind of funny]] [[Sherlock|when you think about it.]]

* [[What Could Have Been]]: ''[[Oldboy]]'' director [[Park Chan-wook]] was offered the film at one point.

* [[Your Cheating Heart]]: Ann Smiley. Averted in the case of Ricki Tarr, whose daughter and common-law wife don't exist in this adaptation.