This movie was completely confusing. It is nothing but a bunch of scenes strung together but there is no logical order to them. You could take the film, cut it at every scene junction and then toss the pieces on the floor and let a bunch of goats loose to prance about on them for an hour or two to scramble them up real good. Then pick them up at random and splice the pieces together. You couldn't tell the difference before and after. As long as the opening and closing credits were at the front and back it would be the same movie as what the producers released. This review applies equally to the Alec Guiness and Gary Oldman films. Both aren't worth watching, unless you feel compelled to watch them several times to try to figure them out. Not worth the bother.

I revisit John Le Carre's books every few years, and just finished the Smiley trilogy...Had seen the movie version of Tinker, Tailer when it came out, and I must say, it left me very confused....Hungary, Smiley swimming, Prideaux in a shopping mall, and on and on....Hadn't seen the TV series version in quite some time, so I decided to watch it again....It felt like returning to the heart of a great spy story....Brilliant.... Of all the fine acting performances I greatly appreciated Joss Ackland in a cameo role as Westerby and Anthony Bate as Lacon....But what makes this version work is the honesty of the script, the fine directorial balancing...Well done...

It was only after I watched the recent film version that I decided that I should probably watch the BBC miniseries of the same material; I had always seen it included in various "best TV shows ever" lists but had never actually gotten around to watching it. With the film reasonably fresh in my mind I figured that I would have a better shot of following it if I watched it sooner rather than later. This was the case to a certain extent, because I did find the story easier to follow than in the film. Partly this is because I was already familiar with the overall flow but that is not to take anything away from the TV series, because I did think that having almost 7 hours instead of 2 made the story much clearer in terms of development.Characters have more room to be painted and the story is laid out slower so that even the less intelligent viewer such as myself has plenty of time to pick up on who is who and where this is all going. It also helps that it does move slow and that we are moving along at the same sort of pace as Smiley in regards weighing up the characters as the mole. While this is the thrust of the plot, I also liked the added detail around the edges as it not only filled out the characters but also added to the feeling of Britain as a rather faded superpower and of this backend of the Cold War being public schoolboys engaged in their own private game which comes with pre-packaged rules and etiquette. It has this downbeat tone throughout and the slow burn of the delivery only adds to the slightly awkward stiffness of men in rooms smoking and drinking coffee. The delivery of this feeling is across the show while at the same time drawing the viewer into this internal piece of espionage. Of course this slow pace and lack of traditional action may frustrate some – not helped perhaps by the fact that, although easier to follow than the film, it is still a mystery so there is a fair bit of not totally understanding what is going on, simply because you're not being told everything all at once.The cast are mostly very good but of course the standout is Guinness who tells a long story of hurt with just his plain expression. I liked Oldman's performance but it is secondary to this one; the difference between that one felt Oldman was giving a good performance, whereas here it simply feels like Guinness is this character; he understands him because he has lived the life. Support is good from Richardson, Bennett, Jayston, Hepton, Bannen and others but the show belongs to the lead. Irvin's direction is very good, perhaps it has dated a little but the whole thing has such a sense of place that it feels like it fits the period (as indeed the recent film did). I also liked that the camera had the patience and trust in the material to often be quite static while the dialogue did the work.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not the easiest story to follow but the miniseries is more engaging and accessible because it gives you the space and time to keep up and for everything to make that bit more sense as it unfolds. The tone of drabness may be partially the dating effect but it is certainly effective in the world of the spy, sitting in drab rooms, smoking, playing it as a game even though the heydays are long gone. Guinness is excellent in the lead role, adding to this feeling and wearing the character to the point where it doesn't even feel like acting. For those that enjoyed the film (and I did) then miniseries will be additionally enjoyable because it does everything the film did but does it better and has more time to breathe and develop while doing it.

As in the case of other reviewers, I had seen the original on PBC over thirty years ago and had despaired of seeing the series issued in DVD format in the US. After seeing the film version which was nice but one that pales in light of the original BBC series, I learned the series was available now and my copy arrived last week (along with Smiley's People) and I immediately watched them again to even, if possible, greater delight. As a rare bookseller, I have let valuable books remain uncataloged but this was nourishment that I needed and though I still read several books a week in my old age, this along with the Russian version of War and Peace remind me that one does not have to have lobotomy while viewing nonbook media.Richard Murian