Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

I am not a fan of spy stories. Obviously the packed audience (12:30 on a Saturday before Christmas) were fans of the novel by John Le Carre. The time is in the 1970’s.
George Smiley had been an agent now retired. He is called back to action when a disgraced agent brings him important information about a mole at the heart of the agency.
There is a lot of suspense. I confess I found the film confusing. I imagine you are supposed to be somewhat confused. The idea is to discover the mole at the end of the film. The film also jumped around in time.
I looked at each character and tried to decide if they were the guilty one. It is a dark film. It is almost as if you are looking through a haze. The muted black and white tones added to the mystery. The search is narrowed to four suspects. Who was clever enough to be the insider in this dangerous work?
All the actors behaved the same as far as I was concerned. Nobody smiled. They all seemed to talk in a muted tone between their teeth. The music was effective.
I kept thinking I would have to come back and see it gain to clarify all the action. On leaving the film I was satisfied I had seen it once and that was quite enough.
It was an excellent cast. Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and John Hurt all have leading roles. There is a lot of buzz around Gary Oldman getting a nod for an Oscar for his role as George Smiley.
This would make a good Xmas present for someone who loves spy novels. I personally was happy to face reality once again.