This Year in Brit-Centric Film, Part I

I'm an Anglophile. What's that, imaginary reader - you are too? Great! Join me as I write about this year in British culture, films first. Spoilers aplenty!

Perhaps the best sequence of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is at the very end of the film. The mole has been found, and the camera follows its principal characters in the aftermath of this discovery. Circus chief Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) walks away defeated, and George Smiley (a stunning Gary Oldman) moves into his new offices as his replacement; his aide-de-camp (Benedict Cumberbatch) gives him a knowing smile as Smiley takes his place at the head of the table. But it's the background score which makes the scene shine like a jewel: Julio Iglesias croons his way through the French hit "La Mer." The upbeat disco track, horn section and string arrangement ring through with such brightness that it's enough to contemplate on its own merit. That the song is a backdrop to Jim Prideaux's cold-blooded murder of the mole Bill Haydon is an ironic juxtaposition of the first order.

This is the victory of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." Despite being a relatively slow film, heavy on the (infinitesimal) gestures and light on explanation, the film achieves a kind of skillful intricacy that, at the end, is as beautiful as a spider's web in sunshine.

From L to R: Haydon, Esterhase, Alleline, Control

"TTSS" begins with a taut, suspenseful scene which follows MI6 agent Jim Prideaux, as he meets a potential defector, a Czech general. Things go awry, however, when Prideaux is shot, and MI6's boss, a man known only as Control (John Hurt), is disgraced and eventually dies from cancer. Shortly after the death, Control's right-hand man George Smiley (Oldman) emerges from retirement to seek out a mole in MI6. Meanwhile, Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), a power-hungry man who took Control's seat, and his cronies Roy Bland (Hinds), Toby Esterhase (David Dencik) and Bill Haydon (Colin Firth) are waist-deep in the intelligence currently being provided by Source Merlin, a USSR contact. Cumberbatch plays Peter Guillam, a head Scalphunter who took over Prideaux's job when the latter disappeared, and is Smiley's man on the inside.

Peter Guillam (Cumberbatch) and Smiley (Oldman)

The film's palette, comprised mostly of muted grays and browns, serves the density of the plot and terminology well. Director Tomas Alfredson (of "Let the Right One In" fame) takes a steady approach to camerawork: long, composed takes showcase Oldman's shockingly minute movements. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does a fantastic job of creating the drab, weary lighting needed for MI6 headquarters, but proves equally adept at highlighting the lush greenery of the British outdoors. Production design also deserves special mention for hitting just the right tone of the Cold War: everything is as the book dictates, from the olive green of files to the reds and blues of ties and suits.

The film is generally quite true to its source material, though it is natural for a viewer who is unfamiliar with le Carre to be utterly confused. Both book and film do not delve into unnecessary subplots, and are generally quite on par in terms of characterization.

I've seen this film twice now, and the major complaint I hear from viewers is that they only understood the gist: that Smiley was trying to catch a mole. Well, there's a very simple reason for that, reader(s) (?): this isn't your average Hollywood bing-bang-smash blockbuster. Pay attention to the language, the key terms and the dialogue, and the film's trajectory will become perfectly clear. It's complex but not undecipherable.

And say you get lost for a bit: just watch Benedict Cumberbatch's face. Ah...all better.

Tomorrow: My Year with Marilyn (admittedly not a British film, but filmed with primarily British actors, set in England, and so on)