Some thoughts (possible spoilers)

For discussion of Tomas Alfredson's Film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
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ofelia
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Some thoughts (possible spoilers)

Post by ofelia » Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:05 pm

(I don't know what qualifies as a spoiler so I'm going to be careful.)
I just saw the film. I had been wanting to more for the cast than the director, but was interested to see what TA would do that would be similar to LTROI (i.e., what is his style, because I thought LTROI was very distinctive but it was also very Swedish, and this is another film very grounded in its country and era). I don't intend to compare the stories, just the way the films were shot.

Visually, I thought the film was wonderful. The short, minute-or-less scenes are what really caught me about both this and LTROI, particularly the use of the window as a framing device for a scene. In LTROI one of my favorite shots was the two windows side by side, the bright and the dark; it said all there is to say about the contrast of the two characters, and yet the fact that they are similar. Likewise in TTSS the shot that possibly struck me the most was the scene with Irina and her husband through the windows. At first I thought it was going to be humorous, because of the couple bouncing on the bed, but then when the husband got out of bed and slammed her against the windowI was stunned. It's just an amazing way to stage a scene. And there was another 'window' scene with Guilliam in the... building where the circus met, don't know what to call it... that was also visually lovely, just kind of passing between scenes but really nice.

The violence was also treated kind of the way it was in LTROI. What little there was was jarring and unsettling, particularly when Irina was shot. That scene made me jump; I was expecting something worse to happen, actually, but the way the scene was handled was extremely effective. Especially the smile. In LTROI the violence was never frightening or gratuitous, it served a purpose to the story. It was also artistically attractive, the idea of 'something red in every scene', etc. which didn't appeal to me because of the novel being so much darker, but when you look at the film as its own thing it does fit in that the violence is cold, sad, but also pretty. The same with TTSS, at least this interpretation of the story. There might be more/worse in the book, I don't know.

I have to admit that there was a weird paradox about this film, in that I felt that what I was watching was actually a very simple story, but I didn't seem to be intelligent enough to follow. And that probably put off a lot of American viewers, based on my quick scanning of imdb, and my knowledge of the mainstream American audience (although I hate to box people off like that, but viewers really have come to expect certain things from American cinema, or English-language cinema in general. And this is really a niche film). I haven't read the book, which I almost always do before watching movies, so that was a reverse on my experience with LTROI. And I liked a lot of things about it. The story didn't seem enough for me, it felt a little bit padded by flashbacks and characters who weren't given enough screen time but popped up now and then to confuse us. I prefer character-driven cinema and literature, so it didn't bother me that not very much happened in the film, or that the pacing was slow. I just wish the incredible actors cast in this piece could have had a little more time to develop. I mean Ciaran Hinds hardly said a word, from what I recall. But I think they did as well as they could. I haven't seen the original film either, probably worth noting, so I didn't have any conception of who the characters were supposed to be. Which was why I found it really striking when the film took unexpected turns, like the scene where Guilliam cries after Smiley tells him to break off contact with anyone important. That kind of subtlety to me adds a depth that you don't get when a character sits down and tells his whole story, as Ricky does; I didn't find him as interesting, although I was moved at his concern for Irina.

So I think that for an English language debut (correct me if that's wrong) this is probably a pretty good film at telling the audience what TA is like. He's not afraid of making a film that is obviously not going to suit everyone, and I admire that. I didn't like (or understand) everything about it but it made me pay attention the entire time, and I had to think about it a lot afterwards to work things out. Which is what LTROI also calls for, because it doesn't deliver everything straight, it makes you pause and consider. It's interesting to see how fans of LTROI react to this film, and what similarities other people might find that I didn't. I definitely don't have LTROI memorized, so if anyone thinks of any other details I'd be interested.
That's all :D I felt the need to get my thoughts out, and I don't want to do that on imdb :x there's more chance of intelligent discussion here.

jetboy
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Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:22 pm

Re: Some thoughts (possible spoilers)

Post by jetboy » Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:59 pm

Glad you somewhat enjoyed it. I came away a satisfied customer even though I didnt understand it all. To be honest I wish it wouldve been pared down a bit more. Some things like the boy that Prideaux befriended seemed too much. Theres other things I thought that couldve been removed to streamline it a bit more but cant think of them on the top of my head. In comparison to LTROI, I didnt notice the technical things that you did, nor did I catch some of the things you mentioned in LTROI but I did feel their was a human heart beating beneath both. Alfredson IS good, TTSS reaffirmed that for me.

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