Contrary to being bored, I was ready for a second installment directly after seeing this new TTSS - which is indeed a '70s period piece about the grimy, decidely unglamourous world of real espionage, not a Jason Bourne movie. Relished the subtle, but intricate relationships and the quiet tension. And yes, Adam -- Gary Oldman was spot-on. From Sid Vicious to Count Dracula to Jim Gordon, he has always delivered da goods across a wide spectrum of characters, and he thoroughly embodied George Smiley. If your mileage varies, I assume we're driving very different vehicles.
On Dec 6, 1:28 am, Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: > 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. 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