Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

How do you find an enemy who is hidden right before your eyes?
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Timing: 2:7 (127 min)
6.9/10
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6.6/10
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7/10
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Release date
Budget
$20 000 000
Box office
$81 244 605
Director
Scenario
Producer
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Ron Halpern, John le Carré, Peter Morgan, Douglas Urbanski, Debra Hayward, Olivier Courson
Camera operator
Composer
Alberto Iglesias
Artist
Maria Djurkovic
Audition
Editing
Dino Jonsäter
Whole Team (87)

Short description

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.

What's left behind the scenes

  • John le Carré’s novel “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” was previously adapted in 1979 as a television miniseries. George Smiley was played by Alec Guinness.
  • The film is based on John le Carré's novel "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (1974).
  • The original title of the film is "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." These are the words of a children's counting rhyme, and the professions from it are used as code names for the main characters in the film.
  • Part of the action in John le Carré’s novel takes place in the then-Czechoslovakia. In the film, these events are moved to Hungary, and filming also took place there in Budapest. This was due to the fact that the Hungarian cultural authorities offered more favorable conditions, namely a 20% reimbursement of all expenses.
  • Jared Harris was considered for one of the key roles in the film, but later dropped out of the project due to his commitment to filming the sequel to "Sherlock Holmes." Toby Jones was invited to replace him.
  • To choose George Smiley's glasses, Oldman visited Old Focals in Pasadena, where he tried on hundreds of frames before finding the right ones.
  • Tom Hardy was cast as Ricky Tarr quite by chance. The film's producer, Tim Bevan, stated that the actor reminded him of a young Robert Redford.
  • John le Carré, the author of the spy novel on which the film is based, appears in a cameo as one of the guests at a party.
  • In the early stages of preparation for filming, negotiations with the film company were led by David Thewlis.
  • Michael Fassbender was originally slated to star in the film, but was ultimately replaced by Tom Hardy.
  • The initial version of the script was written by renowned British screenwriter and playwright Peter Morgan. He later withdrew from the project due to his mother's illness, and Peter Strogan and his wife, Bridget O'Connor, were brought in to refine the script.
  • To prepare for the role of George Smiley, Gary Oldman ate a lot of molasses and custard to grow a "small belly, like older people", observed Alec Guinness's performance in the 1979 television series, and also communicated with the "creator" of Smiley – John le Carré.
  • The film is dedicated to the memory of British writer, screenwriter, and playwright Bridget O'Connor, who worked on its screenplay. She passed away from cancer on September 22, 2010, at the age of 49, less than three weeks before filming began.
  • John Hurt was one of the first candidates for the role of Smiley. He was later given the role of Control.

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