Tag Archives: Gary Oldman
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Directed By: Tomas Alfredson
Written By: Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan (Based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré)
Starring:
Gary Oldman
Mark Strong
John Hurt
Colin Firth
Tom Hardy
Benedict Cumberbatch
Toby Jones
Ciarán Hinds
Stephen Graham
Amanda Fairbank-Hynes
There’s a mole, right at the top of the Circus. And he’s been there for years. – Oliver Lacon She told me she had a secret, the mother of all secrets… – Ricky Tarr Things aren’t always what they seem. – EasterhaseTinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the best MI5 film ever. It explores the actual intelligence and spy work done without clouding over the realism with pointless action and cheesy lines, like in Bond films. Although I love Bond movies, this film is so good it surpasses the limits of Bond and shows you how isolated and dangerous spy work is. Tinker Tailor is set during the Cold War and follows the story of espionage veteran George Smiley, who after being forced into retirement, is asked by a livelong friend to undercover and find a Soviet mole in MI5. In this compelling story we taken back in time and shown the relationships between Smiley and his former co-workers, the former operations of suspects and then taken to the present and shown his search and investigation to find the Soviet spy. Gary Oldman gives his best performance ever as George Smiley. He really should have won the Oscar for Best Actor instead of Jean Dujardin, who won for The Artist. At one stage he is having a conversation with a colleague and when he is asked about a previous meeting he sits forward and has a conversation with an empty chair, recalling the exact meeting for his colleague. It is here that Gary shows the best of his humility in his subtle performance, he makes you feel as if you are in the room and that the meeting is actually taking place. This film boasts one of the best British cast ever, even allowing Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy (as Peter Guillam and Ricky Tarr respectively) to showcase their profound ability. Apart from Gary Oldman, it is Mark Strong who stands out as the best actor in this film. He can change his expression with ease and shows you his suspicion, fear and loneliness extremely well. The film has distracted many movie fans and even some critics as it is a slow film but if you pay attention all the way through to absolutely everything it will all make perfect sense. At first I didn’t like this film nearly as much as I do now, it took a second and definitely more attentive viewing to fully appreciate this films scintillating quality. It’s cinematography is amazing and dark, the writing is very intricate and clever and the all round performances are well, just plain brilliant! 10/10 – Michael 10/10 – Cody 100%
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