Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy at ODEON Liverpool ONE

John le Carré's cold war spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson, has opened to rave reviews and surrounded by typical hype - billed a "masterpiece" - often making a film all the more off-putting to the potential viewer.

Never having read le Carre's espionage novel, although it has been on my ever-expanding 'to read' list for years, at last, in absorbing Alfredson's take on le Carre's classic, I could relish my ignorance as bliss. For suspense is everything in this beautifully-shot slow-boiler, so I'll refrain from giving anything away.

With no hint of a backstory, the film is undeniably hard to follow at first, unlike a modern attention grabbing all-action thriller. The silver screen is blasting-out so much tripe nowadays, I beg you to dare to see something altogether more testing and, ultimately, more satisfying than the forgettable Hollywood fluff.

Slow-paced but entirely captivating, we unravel the web of mystery alongside the enigmatic George Smiley, who returns from a humiliating enforced retirement to root out a Soviet mole in the upper echelons of the secret service.

An icy-cold portrayal of 'Smiley' is delivered by Gary Oldman with sterling performances from the cast of British heavyweights in Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch.

While many of us have imagined ourselves familiar with a James Bond-style M16, filled with glamour and promiscuity, Tinker Tailor is, in sharp contrast, a dreary, dimly lit world filled with secrecy and back-stabbing.

Paranoia is plaguing The Circus, with former leader Control (Hurt) haunted until his last breath by the belief a Judas figure walks amongst the top ranking agents. Smiley is tasked with pinpointing the culprit under Control's code names; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Poorman and Beggarman (Smiley himself a suspect).

With a sparse soundtrack and a stark, grim backdrop, every moment oozes a somewhat pained elegance, and is ever more enthralling for it. An honest, compelling love-letter to the 1970s and the complex world le Carré built. With very little violence on screen some may feel short-changed, but it left me with an overwhelming desire to delve further into Smiley's world. A trilogy based on Le Carre's novels is begging to be made.

9/10

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