How do you find an enemy who is hidden right before your eyes?|Sep. 16, 2011|United Kingdom | France | Germany|127 Min.|R
Genre: Drama;Mystery;Thriller
Description: “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is a 2011 film set in 1973, featuring a gripping tale of espionage within British intelligence, known as “The Circus.” The story begins when “Control,” the head of the agency, dispatches Jim Prideaux to Budapest to meet a Hungarian general who supposedly knows the identity of a mole at the highest level of British Intelligence. However, the meeting turns out to be a trap, and Prideaux is shot while attempting to escape. Following this, Control and his trusted aide, George Smiley, are forced into retirement, and Control passes away shortly after. Percy Alleline assumes leadership, with Bill Haydon as his deputy and Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase as key lieutenants. They begin receiving Soviet intelligence through a covert operation called “Witchcraft.”
The plot thickens when field agent Ricki Tarr alerts civil servant Oliver Lacon about a mole within the agency. Aware that Control had similar suspicions, Lacon recruits Smiley to investigate, aided by Tarr’s superior, Peter Guillam, and retired Special Branch officer George Mendel. Smiley interviews Connie Sachs, a former analyst dismissed for uncovering that Soviet cultural attaché Alexei Polyakov was actually a military officer and suspecting his involvement in running a mole.
Tarr reveals to Smiley that in Istanbul, a Soviet agent named Irina offered to disclose the mole’s identity in exchange for asylum. After Tarr informed London, the local station chief was killed, and Irina was abducted. Fearing for his life, Tarr went into hiding. Smiley sends Guillam to retrieve the logbook from the night Tarr contacted London. Guillam is unexpectedly interrogated by Circus leadership, who label Tarr a traitor. Smiley discovers that the logbook pages for that night are missing, supporting Tarr’s claims.
In a revealing conversation, Smiley shares with Guillam a personal story from 1955, when he tried to persuade Moscow’s spymaster Karla to defect. Smiley’s emotional plea to “think of his wife” inadvertently exposed his own vulnerability: his love for his spouse. Former duty officer Jerry Westerby recounts how Prideaux’s shooting shocked Control. Westerby left a message with Smiley’s wife, Ann, and Haydon then took charge. Guillam questions how Haydon knew of the emergency, but Smiley reveals that Haydon was having an affair with Ann.
The film explores themes of betrayal, loyalty, and the complex web of espionage, culminating in a tense and intricate narrative.
Cast director: Tomas Alfredson
Cast actor: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciarán Hinds, Kathy Burke, David Dencik
Original name: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy