Agent in eigener Sache

This is the sequel to the Tinker Tailor mini-series and last chapter in the Karla Trilogy (they skipped 'schoolboy'). Nothing has fundamentally changed: Smiley is brought out of retirement for one last round of spy games against Karla, his old nemesis. The 'old guard' which he visits (Connie, Esterhase) looks phased and weathered. The moral lines are blurry. The notion is that the world has changed, and doesn't really need these people any more. Smiley will be disowned by the Circus if discovered.

That's all fine. The series is from the great BBC tradition in narrative: the acting is uniformly excellent, it is a clean and riveting piece of fiction. Moreover, it is filmed in that BBC way I adore—transparent camera, natural light and textures.

Which brings me to a point I made in my Tinker Tailor post. I recommend this simply on its storytelling capacity to immerse you. And if you want a glimpse of how 1970's West Europe was like, it is indispensable viewing, absolutely so.

But, it's also a spy film, and a spy film is to my mind one of the best templates for cinematic meditation.

Here's what I mean. You enter a world of some complexity that has machinery and movement, but enter long after the machinery has been set in motion. In the films, you (in the detective's shoes) are looking for this or that narrative device, here it turns out to be a girl, doesn't matter.

In this film, the story really has started long before we enter, but you only learn this as you move through the first couple of episodes—in other words, midway through you suddenly have memories of this world. (one episode is capped by Smiley actually having a flashback)

So, because you have only a partial view of the story (reflected in the film in a crucial bit of evidence being a film strip), and the story shifts as you move through (indeed, you don't know there is a testimony that goes with the strip), this would be like a chess game where each new move shuffles the rules, trying to make sense is not enough. You will have to be still long enough for the thing to reveal itself. You have to spy.

Isn't this nice? You as a viewer will have to be able to see every corner while not being bogged down by detail. Indeed, whereas the bulk of intelligence operatives work as analysts, a good analyst is worth his weight in gold because he does just this: he can flow through a sea of information, salvaging only the crucial bits, the anchors that explain the story.

So, my notion of a good spy film is one that makes watching itself have agency in the world—any film would benefit from this, hence why a template. This is a step-up from Tinker Tailor, where after each episode we were summoned for a recap by the master sleuth, everything smoothed out for us.

Oh, later episodes are forwarded by explanatory monologues and the story, as it turns out, is a personal bet so doesn't threaten an empire, but you have this structure and double identity of the girl at the center, which are fresh and powerful devices. And the sense of place is powerful —Paris, the Hamburg strip club and lake camp, quiet picturesque Bern, Berlin and the simmering anxiety of the Wall.

But the best piece of news is this: there is talk of a sequel to the recent Tinker Tailor film, which is going to be this one (alas for 'Schoolboy').

The film has what both of these don't, though they are otherwise excellent. It has abstraction in the film. It has not just the 'magicians' tricks, but magic that alters how we see. So, I'm hoping they go ahead with it, they will be building—as the first time—from a great primary text.

The merits of Alec Guinness's Smiley are familiar to anyone who has seen this wonderful BBC adaptation of LeCarré's great 'Karla' trilogy of books..well, two of the books anyway. Sadly they skipped over 'The Honourable Schoolboy' arguably the most exciting of the three.

Both 'Tinker Tailor' and 'Smiley's People' have their casting mishaps but nothing that detracts in any important way. I found Eileen Atkins' Ostrakova to be wildly miscast, physically, but masterfully acted, so she gets a pass. Michael Byrne's Guillam is an improvement over his predecessor in 'Tinker Tailor' but his part is so small that it hardly registers. Beryl Reid's scene as Connie Sachs is longer than her scene in 'Tinker Tailor' but still woefully short of the involved and fascinating scene in the book. It is in regards to Sachs and Jerry Westerby that I deeply regret the BBC not making 'The Honourable Schoolboy.' Reid would have been fabulous in that role, though still not nearly fat or tall enough to wear the original Connie's shoes.

Generally the actors are superb. There is an especially moving and unforgettable performance from Tulle Silberg as Alexandra Ostrakova. Her scene with Smiley is deeply touching and it is easy to understand why Smiley does what he does in the end. I won't say any more to avoid a spoiler.

'Smiley's People' is not as riveting as 'Tinker Tailor' I think because I found the first mini- series, focusing on the inner workings of the Circus, to be far more interesting than the foreign "outside" locations in 'Smiley's People.' But that's just me. I still love this film and watch it often.

Don't miss the Smiley series! The BBC will never make anything like it again, on the evidence of the mediocre bilge they've been catting up in recent years.

Definitely the best film version of the books. More artful than Tinker Tailor and much more intense. The characters are more developed, especially Smiley's. The end of the movie had me on the edge of my seat, the suspense was incredible. If you enjoy spy films, this is absolutely essential viewing.

If only they made films this great all the time! (now available on DVD)

which is to paraphrase John Le Carre's own description of George Smiley played by Alec Guinness in this. I'm glad the Creator himself called the craft of spying absurd, there's a lot of people who apparently think it an essential art form and necessary for all our safety. And he also said he thought it was Guinness's performance which held people glued to the end, to which I can only agree too. There's a remarkably seamless continuity between this, the sequel TV series to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – seamless in all departments that is and not just in Alec Guinness's performance. And eleven brilliant hours all told. To me it's as good as the first, a splendid and engrossing pair of miniseries from the days when UK BBC often still broadcast for higher common denominators. Alas, since then they've settled firmly into the gutter, producing year after year of cheap unloved tripe and remembered by no one.

Complicated tale of "modern" and old systems of espionage clashing, of smoothing over the many consequences of various past causes, of West & East blurring in the middle, of a spy story expertly related, and basically of staunch Briton Smiley hoping to find his old adversary the master-crafty Russian Karla had an ancient Achilles Heel after all. It's all beautiful to behold, all walking and talking with plenty of thinking required for full enjoyment. The only (slight) downer to me was that the sex club scene went on for an unnecessarily long time. Probably for Smiley too!

As with Tinker I had to especially concentrate during the first episode but again found it more than worthwhile and completely memorable. Everyone who can appreciate this gem is another of Guinness's People.

"Smiley's People" is the sequel miniseries to "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and is also based on a novel by John le Carré. In this series, George Smiley investigates the murder of a Russian general formerly passing information to the Circus which puts him on the trail of his old rival, Soviet spy master "Karla".

As with "Tinker, Tailor", Alec Guinness is perfect in a subtle performance as George Smiley. The returning performers and new performances are solid as well.

"Smiley's People" is at least up to the high standard of "Tinker, Tailor" and perhaps better. Whereas in "Tinker, Tailor" Smiley investigated within a limited circle of people and limited area, in this series the locations and characters are more varied. In this way the plot of "Smiley's People" requires more focus to understand the connections between characters, which I enjoyed.

As with "Tinker, Tailor", the style consisted mostly of Smiley conversing with people for information, so this series is also not appropriate for those looking for a fast-paced James Bond type spy thriller, but enjoyable for those looking for a deliberately paced spy film. It is worth noting the final scene, which is impressively tense and provides an interesting and appropriate conclusion.