The physician at the movies Peter E. Dans, MD Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Starring Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy. Directed by Tomas Alfredson. Rated R. Running time 130 minutes. ostreadersareprobablyfamiliarwithJohnLe Carrewhowrotethebookonwhichthismovie isMbased.1LeCarre(akaDavidCornwell)wasamem- ber of the British foreign service from 1959 to 1964. Hehaswrittentwenty-onenovels,thebest-knownof which is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The latter was made into a movie, as were seven others includingThe Constant Gardener,The Russia House, andThe Little Drummer Girl.Hisbestbooksconcern the intrigues inside the British intelligence service MI-6duringtheColdWar,whenMI-6wassparring withtheintelligenceservicesoftheSovietUnion,East Germany,andeventheUnitedStates. The movie principally deals with the existence withinMI-6ofahighlyplacedmoleordoubleagent turned by the Russian spymaster Karla, and the at- tempt to discover his identity. Not having read the booknorwatchedtheacclaimedBBCminiseries,Ihad somedifficultygettingintothemovie.Therearemany threadstothestory,whichthedirectorintroducesin From left, Gary Oldman and John Hurt in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). fragmentsbeforehoppingtoanotheroneinflashbacks. Focus Features/Photofest. Inaddition,thecentralcharacter,GeorgeSmiley(Gary Oldman),saysverylittleforthefirsttwentyminutesof thefilm,and,whenhedoes,heisverylaconic.Ifinally didfigureoutwhatwasgoingonandcameawayacceptingthat countingcherrystones,waistcoatbuttons,daisypetalsorthe itwasathinkingperson’smovieandworthseeing,especially seedsoftimothygrass:1Tinker,PercyAlleline(TobyJones); giventhedearthoffilmsthattellstoriesandengagetheviewer. Tailor,BillHaydon(ColinFirth);Soldier,RoyBland(Ciaran Inaddition,itledme,asIwillnotelater,tosamplethevarious Hinds);Sailor;RichMan;PoorMan,TobyEsterhase(David otherformsinwhichthestoryhasbeentold. Denesic);Beggarman,GeorgeSmiley;Thief.HeskipsSailor The film opens in 1973 with the Cold War in full force. becauseitistooclosetoTailorandRichManbecauseagent Britain’s Secret Service MI-6, codenamed “The Circus” for Esterhase is always complaining of being underappreciated, itsfictionallocationinanondescriptbuildingonCambridge thusPoorMan. Circus, has been suffering reverses, with agents in foreign ThemissiongoesbadlyandPrideauxisshottwiceinthe countriesbeingexposed,andsecretsbeingleakedtoMoscow back. Although originally thought to be dead, he is later andotherenemies.ThespymasternicknamedControl(John torturedbyRussiansuperspyKarlainanattempttoreveal Hurt)suspectsamoleatMI-6’shighestlevel,inthepersonof the Hungarian spy network and to determine who else in oneofhistopfiveunderlings.ToldthatthereisaHungarian the Circus knows of his operation. Prideaux will reappear generalwhowishestodefectandwhoknowstheidentityof inEnglandteachinginaBoy’sPrepSchool(oneofthemany themole,hesendsforagentJimPrideaux(MarkStrong),who enigmasinthestory).Londonisnotifiedaboutthecapture isfamiliarwithHungaryandwhohasbeenawayfromthe ofaBritishspyandthemissionishastilycoveredup.Control Circus during the period when the mole is suspected isreplacedasbeingoverthehillandbecausehissuspicions of having operated. Prideaux is instructed to send areconsideredoutlandish,andhistrustedlieutenantGeorge backacableaftermeetingwiththegeneral,iden- Smileyissacked.TherestofthefilmdealswithSmileybeing tifyingthemoleusingoneoffivecodenames rehiredbytheundersecretarywhosupervisesMI-6whenit assignedtothem.Theassignmentisdrawn becomesclearthroughrogueagentRickiTarr(TomHardy) fromapopularEnglishchildren’sfortune- thatthemoledoesexist.Smileyisassignedthejobofferret- telling rhyme used when presumably ing out the mole with the help of Peter Guillam (Benedict 36 The Pharos/Spring2012 Mark Strong in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Focus Features/Photofest. Cumberbatch),aloyallieutenantwhomSmileyhadrecruited Smileyhadbeenassignedtoturnearlyinhiscareer,isallowed intotheservice. tokeepitbeforereturningtoMoscow.Themostincongruous MixinanotherthreadwiththeIstanbul-basedTarrfalling scene involved a drunken Christmas party that the director inlovewithaRussianspywhoknowsthemole’snamebutwill inserted using as background music “La Mer,” sung by Julio onlyrevealittoPercyAlleline,thenewheadoftheCircus.Tarr Iglesias. A particular favorite of mine written during World cablestheinformationtoLondon,settingintomotionanother WarIIbyCharlesTrenet,hisclassicversionofthesongwas betrayal(therealthemeofthefilm).Smileymethodicallyand usedtogreateffectandmuchmoreappropriatelyinthefilm surreptitiously works to discover the traitor. Another thread Mr. Bean’s Holiday.Thedirectorlikedittoo,anddecidedthat involvestheexistenceofanoperationkeptsecretoutsidethe thepartyconveyedallthatMI-6wasnot,funandcamaraderie. Circus called “Witchcraft” and controlled by the mole who Since I am addicted these days to audiobooks, I decided passes on to England a mixture of low level accurate infor- tolearnmoreaboutthestorybytryingtofindone,butcould mation and bogus disinformation while funneling secrets to onlylocateaBBCradioadaptationthatranaboutthreehours Merlin, the code name of a Russian Embassy operative who with repetitive credits, somewhat longer than the movie but allbutthemoleconsidertohavebeenturned,butisloyalto actuallyquitesimilartoitinpresentation.2ThenIwatchedthe Moscow. 1979miniseriesthatranonthreediscsof108minuteseach.3 Thefilmisfulloflotsofwalkingtoandfro,whichIwould Thismuchmorerobustpresentationofthestoryisthemost havepreferredtohavebeenreplacedbymakingthestorymore satisfyingaudiovisualrenditionofthebook,notjustbecause transparent.Thereisonescenewithaplaneinthebackground itstarsAlecGuinnessasGeorgeSmiley,butbecausetheextra thatIfounddifficulttounderstand,asSmileyandGuillamgrill timeallowsthestorytobebetter-pacedandmorecomprehen- Esterhasewhoisnotbelievedtobethemole.Theminiseries sible.Ifyouhavethetime,Irecommendwatchingit.Still,Gary handledthatscenemuchbetter. Oldman,whohasbeennominatedforanAcademyAwardfor Inallthepresentationsofthestory,amostlyunseencharac- BestActor,doesagreatjobofchannelingAlecGuinnessand terisoftenmentioned,namelyGeorgeSmiley’sestrangedwife, thefilmiscertainlywortharental.Ifyouwanttoviewamore withwhomheisstillinlovedespitethefactthatshenotori- lighthearted and entertaining movie about spies, I strongly ouslysleepsaround.Itapparentlyfuelsfeelingsofinadequacy recommend Hopscotch, starring Walter Matthau and Glenda asahusbandinSmileyandexplainshiswithdrawnnature.A Jackson.It’sahoot. lightershegavehimalsofiguresinthestorywhenKarla,whom Addendum: In an excellent twenty-eight-minute 2002 The Pharos/Spring2012 37 The physician at the movies interviewthatispartoftheminiseriesonDVD,LeCarrehas realassistantwhoseideasBeanetookachanceonimplement- somefascinatinginsightsintoAlecGuinness’sapproachtoact- ingwasPaulDePodesta,actuallyaHarvardgraduatewhose ing(lookforhimdoingthesimpleactionofputtingonaglove personawaswonderfullyfictionalized.Thinkinghewasbeing orwalkinginameadow).Healsodiscusseshowhispersonal portrayedtoomuchasanerd,heaskedthathisnamenotbe life led to a career both in intelligence work and writing, as used,buthehelpedwiththefilm.3Hill,whoalsoreceivedan wellashowthestoryhashistoricresonance.Theexistenceof AcademyAwardnomination,playshimwithgreattiming,fa- highlyplaceddoubleagentswasknownevenbeforetheSoviet cialexpressions,andcomebacksthatmakethesceneswithhim UnionimplodedandKGBfilesweremadepublic.Agentsdidn’t andPittajoytowatch.Theirremarkablycollaborativeinterac- always report that they suspected that someone was a mole tiongenerateshumorwhilemovingthestoryalong. becausetheycouldmonitorthemandforfearthatthepress The story is set in 2002, a time when baseball fans and wouldgetwindofit;theywerelessworriedofitbeingdiscov- sportsmedia,especiallyESPN,wereobsessedwithhomeruns eredbyMoscowthanbythepress.4 andthedistancetheytraveled,aswellasthesigningoffree- LeCarrealsocommentsonthechangingnatureoftheclass agent players with big salaries. In charge of a small-market structureinEnglandthathadcontributedtoagreaterloyalty team, Beane began applying what has came to be called sa- toone’sclass.Theintelligenceservicewasmostlycomprisedof bermetrics, developed by William James, a more mundane peoplewhohadstudiedatEton,Oxford,andCambridgeand statisticalanalysisofplayers’contributionstowinningbaseball. wereintheuppertierofsociety.Theystartedoutveryidealis- Itputalotofemphasisonon-basepercentage,assumingthat ticbutoftenbecamecynical,especiallyastheBritishEmpire themoreyougotonbasethemorelikelyyouweretobebatted disintegratedafterWorldWarII,takingwithitthewholeidea in.Italsoencouragedplayerstotakemorepitches,notonlyto of Britannia ruling the waves, the sun never setting on the seethestarters’entirerepertoireandpossiblygetabetterpitch BritishEmpire,anddoingthingsforKingandCountry.Indeed, tohit,butalsotoincreasethepitchcountandthusgetinto in the film, the mole mentions this disillusionment after his thebullpensooner.Beanemadeenemiesofveteranscoutsand discoveryasbeingafactorinwhyheturnedtraitor. executivesbydowngradingtheroleinplayerevaluationofa scout’sintuitionandaplayer’sphysique.Ashesaid,“We’renot References sellingjeans.”Inadditiontorelyingonobjectivecriteria,not 1. Le Carre J. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. New York: Penguin just eyeballs, he emphasized dedication to the team concept Books:2011. ratherthanonindividualprimadonnaattitudes. 2. Le Carre J. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. BBC Audiobooks Onemightthinkthatafilmlaudinganefficiencyexpertand America. statisticswouldbeboring,butthisoneisn’t.Liketheoriginal 3. LeCarreJ.Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy.AcornMedia;1979.