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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...

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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.

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