On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 5:08 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 7:54 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 10:57 AM, Michael <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Loved this one, and thought it was well-done and true to the source >> > material. Tremendous cast, by the way, with nuanced performances. But >> > I did see it at 10 AM in the morning, alert and stoked for a dark tale >> > of crosses and double-crosses in the bleak world of non-Bond >> > espionage, thus had no tendency to drift off when things got murky. >> >> Again, I can't speak to the source material, but I saw no nuance at >> all in the performances. I concur the cast was stellar, but their >> skills were underutilized on this film. I didn't find it murky, I just >> didn't find any aspect of any character to ever flush itself out. >> >> It sort of reminded me of NBC's short-lived series "The E Ring" about >> the paper-pushers working inside the Pentagon -- they would talk about >> interesting things happening elsewhere, and on very rare instances >> there would be a flashback to something, but it was mostly just the >> talking and the staring. I don't need slam-bang action sequences, but >> I need more than what this movie offered. In tonality, I liken it to >> "Spy Game" with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, but with A LOT more >> exposition. >> > > It does begin to look like we just have a difference in tastes here. > Michael seems to know the novels, and seems to like the film, and the early > returns on rotten tomatoes are positive. Spy Game was something of a poor > man's American le Carre, but was much more an action story than any of the > Karla stories. One of the hallmarks of these stories is introduction and > demonstration of various forms of "spycraft" - much of which has now passed > into thriller and film cliche, but which were fairly new when first written > (though some of this goes back to WWII, WWI and even the Great Game). I am > not sure if they kept this, or how it would play today since it is much > better known in popular culture. > > I wonder if you ever saw the old Richard Burton film made from one of the > early le Carre novels - "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold"? That does not > have a lot of out and out action, but it does have a lot of tension and > suspense. > > This came out a couple of months ago in Britain, and will clear up at the BAFTAs for sure.
I came at this as someone who loves the books - and pretty much anything Le Carré has written over the years. And in particular, I absolutely adored the Alec Guinness adaptation from the late 70s and early 80s for the BBC and PBS (Smiley's People followed Tinker Tailor - they missed out making The Honourable Schoolboy which was the second in the "Karla" trilogy). And I was a bit uncertain what to expect despite the talent lined up for this film. Indeed before going to see the new film, I rewatched the 7 hour mini-series. Now obviously a story which is told over 7 hours is going to be a somewhat different beast when it's cut down to 2 hours. And the TV series was essentially a "contemporary" one compared to what's now a period piece. But I absolutely loved the film. I thought it was a very nuanced affair. No, it's not filled with big set pieces, aside from the shooting near the start and the denouement, but that's the beauty of the film. It's about the characters and the relationships of the different spies. It's about trust. Yes, there are lots of bits of spycraft, but I would hazzard a guess, that's the drudgery of 21st century spying as well. It's not all memory sticks and Bourne-style car chases. Spooks (aka MI:5) is probably as accurate as James Bond in depiction of the security services (I'm enjoying Homeland though!). I thought Oldman's Smiley was wonderful - he's probably one of our most under-appreciated actors. So much was conveyed with so little. Where perhaps it did lack was in the development of the characters of some of the other suspects. In the TV series, understandably, these characters were fleshed out more. And the nature of Smiley's relationship with his wife is made clearer, although she appears nearly as little as she does in this film. As a child of the seventies in Britain, it brought it back to life in a visceral manner - the colour palette and design were absolutely spot on; smoke-filled rooms and orange wallpaper. I hear that they want to make more, although disappointingly it sounds like they're going to tackle Smiley's People next as the TV series did before them. I thought that the reason the TV versions skipped The Honourable Schoolboy (the second in the trilogy about Karla) was because it was largely set in Asia and therefore much more expensive to shoot. I'm not sure that would prevent a film being shot there. The sixties Hong Kong as recreated in In The Mood For Love was amazing, so a seventies version should be possible. Anyway, I suggest anyone interested check out the Alec Guinness versions and settle down for a weekend or two with them. And perhaps less well known, but as good, is A Perfect Spy made in 1987 and supposedly the most autobiographical work that Le Carré has published. A wonderful mini-series. They all seem to be available on Region 1 DVD, although not cheaply, so perhaps via Netflix or iTunes? Finally, if you're a fan of audio, a year or so ago, BBC Radio adapted all the Smiley novels as full-cast radio dramas. They're well worth checking out too. Adam -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
