 |
| Love the poster for this. |
I caught
"Tinker Tailor..." after work. Not being a fan of LeCarré, but enjoying Gary Oldman's performances. I thought the movie did a good job, although it's kind of weird to see an early 70s-era Cold War spy thriller done long in the wake of the Cold War's passing. The movie was well-done, with assiduous attention paid to the 70s feel of the era, and with the rhythm and texture of English life at that time. That period detail, and things like the director's clear attention to sound, gave the movie a strong kinesthetic vibe that served to heighten the tension. I remembered snoozing through the original as a kid, but thought this one was well-done, with good montage and intercut sequences, and conveying the sense of paranoia surely endemic to anybody involved in espionage. I thought everybody did a good job in their performances, and there was a lot of subtext running through the story that was both dated (ooh, gay spy lovers) and yet worked in the context of the story. For a remake, it stands very well on its own, I felt -- they did justice to the original and probably surpassed it, in truth. Oldman's reptilian protagonist managed to be both urbane and oh-so-English and a cipher of a man, which felt very authentic -- much the way Max Von Sydow's gentleman assassin character was in "Three Days of the Condor," long ago -- genteel, but with that sense of chill deadliness to him.
Also, was tickled to see Mark Strong get some attention in a movie -- he always does a credible job in the roles he gets, and has that great voice of his, so, well-done, Mark Strong!
