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Tinker, Tailor: the mystery of those great reviews
Film critics loved the film version of Le Carre’s novel – so why are so many people walking out?
WHAT'S going on? Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, made by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson and starring the cream of British acting, has received rave reviews from critics, and yet numerous reports have reached The First Post of audience members walking out of London cinemas.
The Cold War thriller based on John Le Carre's 1974 novel received almost unanimous praise from critics at the Venice Film Festival and when it premiered in Britain earlier this month.
The Guardian called it "skin-crawlingly atmospheric", Empire lauded it as "utterly absorbing and extremely smart" and the Hollywood Reporter dubbed it "a solid piece of thinking-man's entertainment for upmarket thriller audiences".
But despite the overwhelmingly glowing reviews, word-of-mouth since its opening has tended to the opposite. Many cinema-goers complain that the film is boring and confusing and the twittersphere is alive with accounts of people walking out.
One tweeter complained: "I lost 45mins of my life today watching tinker, tailor, blah blah whatever it's called! It's rubbish! Avoid!… I walked out!!" Another bemoaned the film was so slow she "could have read the book quicker".
Irish writer and film maker Kieran Majury tweeted from Odyssey Cinemas: "Kenneth Branagh just walked out of Tinker Tailor." And Jemima Khan tweeted: "Controversially I thought Tinker Tailor was meretricious, self-satisfied nonsense. Walked out after half hour as it was making my brain ache."
It seems the complainants cross all age groups – it's not just grumpy old men who remember Alec Guinness as Smiley in the BBC series - and include film fans who admired Alfredson's Let The Right One In and readers who love everything Le Carre writes. Those who have told The First Post they hated the film include a respected film producer and screenwriter.
Reasons offered include these two. First, it’s all right to 'lose' the viewer for a while in the twists and turns of a seven-part TV series, but you can't get away with that in a two-hour movie. Second, the character of Smiley was central to the TV series. Although Gary Oldman's interpretation of the spymaster has been generally praised, the character seemed more abstract, peripheral even, in Alfredson's film.
The veteran London film critic George Perry told The First Post he was not surprised at all to hear of the walkouts – he would have walked out himself if he hadn't been watching for professional reasons. "It was boring, largely incomprehensible, dismally shot, utterly unconvincing – should I go on?" he asked.
He could not explain why so many fellow critics liked it so much. But he felt it was one of the "pointless remakes" of which there have been many recently.
Last year's Brighton Rock was a miserable attempt at a remake of the Boulting Brothers' 1947 classic, said Perry, and be warned, there's another pointless remake coming down the pipeline – Terence Davies's version of The Deep Blue Sea.
The 1955 film version starring Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More wasn't a patch on Terence Rattigan's original play, but this remake is even worse.
Judge for yourselves - whatever the critics might say - when Davies's film premieres at the London Film Festival next month.
In the meantime, perhaps the actor Paul Bettany has the best explanation. Talking in today's Guardian, he says: "Films were just better in the past. Know what I mean?" ·
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Thank God - at last I don't feel like I'm slowly going insane over this much hyped, tedious, tedious film. And let's get one thing straight - I DO NOT need car chases, explosions, and action sequences to enjoy a movie. The barage of patronising comments to this effect I've endured over the past two weeks is starting to make my blood boil! For the record, my favourite film director is Maurice Pialat, and the last time I enjoyed myself in the cinema was at the brilliant Iranian chamber piece, A Seperation. OK? The reason many highly discerning movie goers don't like 'Tinker Tailor', is that it is utterly, utterly meaningless. It has no subtext (no - subterfuge and intrigue do not count as subtext), no themes, and no believable context (I remember the 1970's and some of the cars were dirty, people didn't wear fake sideburns, and the owls were definitely NOT CGI'd). All of the subject matter reviewers have projected onto this film comes from the book, the TV series, their previous knowledge of the cold war, or their memories of the 1970's. The film itslef esablishes absolutely nothing. Nothing that is except, through constant, clumsy, heavy-handed reference, a game of chess. But a game of chess, while interesting perhaps within itself, as a narrative is meaningless. People hate this film not because they're not clever enough to understand it, but because they're just too clever to be particularly interested in Chess.
Once again,this type of press is exaggerating old news - how many tweets? Three! You can make a story out of anything, and why believe a tweet that KB walked out? How do they know, did they recognise him in the dark? You aren't allowed to tweet during the film... etc. I think this is part of the 'rubbishing game' we saw last year with The Social Network rubbishing The King's Speech. Too bad if people can't concentrate anymore, poor things, not enough bangs and crashes for them? *sob* I have seen the film twice and heard the Q&A at the National Film Theatre - it is a marvellous film and gets the atmosphere of 70s London just right. It WAS grey, like that, with great areas still bombed out and very depressed. The actors and director have done a great job and it is unfortunate that English irony will be lost on those needing simpler fare.
It's a good film. It's not as good as the TV series, but good nonetheless.
The pace is a little slow and I confess if I had not been familiar with the plot already, I would probably have struggled to follow, but that's Le Carre for you. Like a good spymaster, he never tells you more than you need to know.
The acting is top class, on a par the the exceptionally high standard of the series. Oldman is a different but equally convincing Smiley. Firth compares well with Ian Richardson. Benedict Cumberpatch is outstanding. One or two others don't match up to their series' counterparts, but you wouldn't describe any as substandard.
The film is weakest is in its editing, which is sometimetimes clumsy. A couple of scenes appear superfluous, and a couple more are hammy. The music isn't as good as the original. But these are minor flaws and are counterbalanced by some improvements. The film has a broader sweep; it doesn't feel like it was shot mainly in a TV studio. The art work is great and it has a superb period feel. Judged on its own merits, it is a very enjoyable film.
People walking out? Well, they pays their money.... Perhaps they were hoping for James Bond, or something a little more Fast and Furious.
I am a grumpy old man but I felt the same about the TV version with Alec Guinness. What many considered then "a solid piece of thinking-man's entertainment for upmarket thriller audiences" I found "meretricious, self-satisfied nonsense".
Maybe I just have a good memory, but I clearly recall heading to my local pub after the show had been aired on the BBC, and discussing it with people who'd been totally confused by what they'd just watched. Perhaps people today just aren't any more intelligent than they were when TTSS was on TV?
I wonder if the "critics" were paid for good reviews?
"Numerous reports have reached The First Post of audience members walking out of London cinemas"? That's a bit wishy-washy as evidence and London-centric to boot, isn't it?
I saw it in Huddersfield, where nobody walked out. Not the greatest of films, but a thoroughly good watch. And as for the claim it is incomprehensible, I knew nothing about the story and yet managed to understand the film totally. It ain't complicated.
I am quite surprised at the reception of the movie. I was rather looking forward to viewing it here in the States, although now I must change my plans and look forward to another read of the book.
Reading as I do, I peruse many different genres of fiction, one of those is Le'Carre. His works are always exciting and definitely worth the read. Yet with the movie of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I looked forward to another blockbuster action movie. Sadly not any more.