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Comment by angry_octet | Hacker News Reader

If you've only seen the 2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie, do yourself a favour and watch the 1979 miniseries with Alec Guinness and the sequel Smiley's People.

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I came to speak highly of the 2011 film. I remember rushing to read the book before the film. The cast was just perfectly chosen, Oldman makes a perfect Smiley. The pacing and the intrigue are just palpably juicy. It's been an annual watch for me, luckily Netflix still stocks it.

Yes it's a fabulous cast. Colin Firth is fantastic, especially as a lothario, but Ian Richardson is marvelous too, so toffy. But there is so much material cut to make it fit into a feature film, so if you can tolerate the slow burn pace, check out the series.

Absolutely. I found myself completely bewildered on my first watch of the film. For whatever reason I watched it a second time a little while later and found it absolutely enthralling.

FWIW, the 1979 miniseries can be found in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjB5DuunpEyZQt2u70ziI...

I think my biggest issue with the film is there's the scene where he finds the mole, then the next scene is after the mole has been arrested and plans are underway for what happens to do next but Smiley and the mole are just having a quiet conversation about tidying up matters in the mole's personal life. If you're not paying attention, it's easy to miss the climax and reveal has happened.

That's my favorite part of the film, in turn. A climax that's really an anti-climax (I too didn't realize the big finale had just happened on first watch) is a perfect fit for a film that pretty much makes a fetish out of being understated and difficult to follow.

Well, having watched both the film and BBC series, I would rate the BBC series better if for nothing else then for the length of time/ space it provides to a complex novel, characters to develop. Highly recommended.

I found the original series so much better than the film. The film was good. I like Gary Oldman but I remember being so disappointed that he shouted at the end. Couldn't imagine Alec Guiness doing that. Very un Smiley.

People who saw The Professional might get the wrong idea here. He raised his voice for a moment, he didn't really shout. :)

True!! but even that... even that was too loud.

I love both. I really do.

Warning: Do not bother with this movie if you haven't already read the book. Incredibly confusing because every character is an identically dressed identical looking old British man, all having identical hushed conversations in identical looking rooms.

Can subscribe, that was my experience. I didn't feel like it was a bad film, it just felt like I was constantly missing pieces.

Yes I can only really enjoy the film as an addendum to the book and original series. Much too edited

This comment strikes me as odd. Do you think Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch (!) look identical? And what does their being British have to do with it? Are Americans more easily distinguished from each other?

Sadly there are far more characters to keep track of than those three recognizable ones.

And you think it's odd to say that people of varying nationalities are easier to distinguish than those of the same?

Hilarious remix of the Pride and Prejudice review that went something like: "1 star: Just a bunch of people going to each other's houses."

Absolutely, a well made film with an amazing score. My annual christmas watch along with Michael Clayton. I hope someday they will make a sequel for this gem.

Agreed; the plot is all about who knows what about who else, and the subtlety of the ways that Smiley makes breakthroughs means that the film feels rushed and confusing by comparison. Also, while neither actor really looks the way that Smiley is described in the book, Guiness gets the behaviour right in ways that Oldman can't manage.

Thinking about it, this kind of plot – about who knows what and about who – is the kind of thing that David Fincher is really into (as described very well in Every Frame A Painting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPAloq5MCUA). I wonder if we'll ever see him do an adaptation of something by Le Carré?

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