The final scene, underlaid by La Mer, is one of the best-edited, best-timed, best-acted denouements I've ever seen. It's the neatest bow on a superb, neat film. Everybody on-screen and off, at the absolute top of their game. It's perfection.
The movie is missing so much and doesn't explain much, Prideaux was close to Haydon and felt betrayed as he was tortured by the Russians and that's why he killed him.
I totally agree! I bought the streaming version and watch it periodically! That said I didn’t read the book so don’t know how the movie veers. And yes, I think Prideaux felt betrayed because of their closeness but also, to me, for Hayden’s betrayal of “all of the boys” and country. Hayden would be sent to USSR with no accountability. Just a great,complex movie that some of us will continue to watch.
@@moryan6447 Love the movie overall, there's a TV series starring Alex Guiness made that's worth watching as well, more faithful to the book and far more detail.
The whole movie is a master class in storytelling, directing and acting. It's brilliant really including the painful ending with Ricky standing in the rain hoping against hope to see her again and Connie in the window with a cigarette wondering where it all went wrong for her when she was so right.
This is a most wonderful film, stella cast, no swearing, no outlandish car chases, no over the top sex scenes, just top quality acting, and Mark Strong such a superb actor, as was all the cast
With that final scene of Smiley sitting at the head of the table, all I can think is: It's not too late for Alfredson to adapt more John le Carre novels! I would LOVE to see more of Oldman as Smiley.
When Guillam walked passed Smiley he just couldn't help but give a cheeky smirk, and who could blame him with a boss as cool as that? Seeing him in Control's chair was awesome. George Smiley is the man.
Jim didn't do that to the boy, in the book. He mentored him: became his role model. I did not care for this change, at all. Jim was betrayed but he NEVER betrayed in turn. I don't know why I'm standing up for a fictional character... But here I am.
I get it…but I also kind of get the change. It’s a moment of tough love. He doesn’t want to see young Bill walk the same path he did. Broken, alone and betrayed. And given young Bill’s nature…I guess he was doing what he thought was right. I didn’t mind the change. I didn’t see it as a betrayal. I saw it as tough love. If you truly love someone then let them go.
because you like the principle of it. and those principles reflect the thinking of the author who created the story in the first place. and stories in general are the most powerful way of passing along our models of reality. the tampering of the character is tampering with important concepts that were both written by a great genius who knew what he was talking about, and also fit correctly with your own observations of human behavior. Also, it was cruel and stupid.
I was sure that noone could top the Alec Guiness portrayal...until I saw how Gary Oldman took the part and wove it into something so much more nuanced. A Perfect Living Actors' representation of how Less is always More. Amazing.
And Connie left alone, knowing that her beloved Circus was violated. The best is Percy, walking past George - I'm guessing that he's been so painfully sacked that he's genuinely oblivious to Smiley being there.
What a wonderfully edited sequence. Tells a complete fucking story in the span of one song. I know we can talk about the performances and direction but the editing in this sequence is brilliantly paced and crafted. Great work from top to bottom
I've watched it many times . The intricacies are many and it's textures only reveal themselves as you get to know each of the characters better. As good as it gets. A true classic!
This is one of those rare movies that as soon as I have watched it to the end, I start watching it from the beginning one more time. I loved this movie from the beginning, and I don¨t understand why it's not higher in peoples appreciation.
One reason for this in my opinion is that it’s not an easy movie to follow for a casual viewer, there are a lot of things which aren’t given a vivid explanation but are nonetheless there for the viewer to see and hear as long as they are fully invested in it and paying attention. In that way it reminds me of certain elements of Tarantino movies, which rely on the viewer’s perception of events and dialogue. A friend of mine complained about tinker tailor to me saying it was very boring as it mainly consisted of men sitting at tables talking and arguing, which could be considered true because he didn’t get the gist of it at all. The really clever thing about the film is the subtleness of the dialogue and the little details contained in the scenes which can be easily missed if not paying proper attention. In that sense it’s in a bit of a niche as the majority of movies are aimed at people with short attention spans and low patience so they don’t get bored and switch off, while tinker tailor is more of a slow burner building up to a very intense finale, giving us hints all the way through. That’s why I think it’s a masterpiece
@@historex54tamiyaIts a perfect song for the period version of it and it’s something spies would probably listen to. A French love song sung by a Spanish singer. Very international and cosmopolitan
@jamo3976 watch the BBC series and you find out how it should have been done. The ending and the movie misunderstands le carré's book. It is miscast and the sets are ridiculous.
The more I watch Tinker Tailor, the more I've come to love Mark Strong s portrayal of a deeply hurt man who's been to hell and back, all because of the man he loved. Jimmy Prid, that is.
Strong's performance is sublime, especially in the above scenes at the party, when he slowly realises that the man he loves is a traitor. It's brilliantly acted and shot.
I like that everything got so messed up cos everyone was banging each other , only in the UK would it go on for so long , we don't like airing our laundry
@@sergejkarov9149 Actually I think he did know then, or at least was highly suspect of him. If you remember the scenes where Smiley interviews Bill Haydon in that holding cell at the end, Smiley mentions something about Jim Prideaux being aware, or suspecting Haydon. I can't remember the exact wording, but it is mentioned. Watch it again, as I will. :)
I had seen bits of this movie over the years and decided it was time for a full viewing. After seeing it four times I am still moved by the ending. What a wonderful way to finally acknowledge the love of Prideaux and Haydon. That said, I am a Smiley man through and through.
Well said. That was well done, and mostly untouched in the BBC series, I think. That was why I was disappointed they turned Sherlock gay as well (not that he doesn't give good gay, of course). In the novel it's a woman he dumps unceremoniously. Maybe one day we can live in a world where a movie director doesn't need to twist a character's sexuality just to suit a narrow agenda, even when that agenda is light years ahead of the agenda it is dismantling.
it's easy to overlook in the movie, but, also taken from the books, the Circus had some truly amazingly adept people working in it: Jim Prideaux, who realised who the mole was before anyone else, so mentally trained that weeks of sleep deprivation and torture didnt break him, master marksman, Connie, who had an extraordinary memory and eye to detail, capable of noticing things anyone would miss, Bill, who managed to live as a double agent for decades under anybody's nose, Peter, the perfect right hand; silent, smart, fearless. and obviously George, whose greatest skill, the ability to follow and make sense of a moltitude of threads without losing sight of the objective. And, in the books, Jerry, De Salis, Tarr, even Lacon. They're all flawed but they all show to be extremely competent and skilled in the end
That was the point of the book. Le Carre was surrounded by mediocrity and incompetence in MI5 and MI6, leading a boring life, so he wrote about what he would have liked it to be like. It wasn't all the fault of the spies - I've recently read about Klaus Fuchs and how MI5 and 6, and the FBI, worked to bring him down, and you realise that a lot of the problems are caused by internal politics and the law itself. MI5 wanted not only to catch a spy but to prosecute him successfully. They made many mistakes, but in Britain (and the USA) they couldn't simply make one disappear.
I read Tinker, Tailor many years ago (a few times) I had the tv adaption with Alec Guinness on video tape and later on dvd and put off watching this movie because I thought the original couldn’t be matched. It was, a little more stylised but every bit as good. If only they’d make Smiley’s People now.
Pe li cu lon! Debe de ser de las mas subvaloradas. Tremenda. El trabajo de edicion encapsulando la esencia del msg de la peli en la cancion es un desbole de genialidad. No tiene desperdicio.🙌 ❤
I had to watch this film five times before i fully understood it - it's THAT good. In the context of the film, the ending is just stunning. Oh dear, i'm not usually an espionage kind of guy, but Prideaux was firing from below so yeah, the bullet would have gone up into Haydon's brain. RIP Bill Haydon.
thanks to this clip, watching it again now, #6. Oh my God, i never got it. Peter Guillam is homosexual. No wonder he has no interest in the lovely Belinda.
No, i did not get it all the fifth time, only 90 percent. George tried to save Karla, convince him to defect, when he was facing return to apparent certain death at the hands of the Soviets. Tragically, he was a diehard Communist, willing even to die for Communism. However, he survived.
@@Meandgenevieve - Yes, when Smiley told Guillam to 'clean up his loose ends', because it could get messy, so Guillams 'flat mate' had to leave... So sad, so many facets !
small gestures, small means of expression... but what a great story, what a great characters, what a great emotions... This movie is a masterpiece indeed.
Esta película está en el top 5 de mis favoritas. Grande, grande, grande... Sin fallos. No sobra ni falta nada. Un reparto espectacular para una historia perfectamente narrada. Genial.
The timing! The moment of gut wrenching regret for what hes about to do cut short by the shot that hits with the suddenness of reality crashing through your door is purely and simply grown up storytelling that no longer exists in popular culture
Just brilliant. I remember first seeing the film in a group which was vastly lost quite early on. I and another were completely entranced by it, watching it bloom into a true climax of pure thriller-laden espionage. I’ll never forget that and feel lucky that I/we ‘got it’ first time. Though, I did rewatch it when released to firm things up. Timelessly brilliant in my opinion.
There are so many subtleties to enjoy throughout this movie and in this clip. I just watched the 1979 series, and I don't think it compares. The casting for all the major roles in this film was outstanding.
The BBC series is much better for texture, detail and acting, but if you have to stuff it all into 2 hours and 12 minutes this was a fine way to do it.
I think my favorite part of the ending is when Smiley comes home. His wife is back and for the first time in the entire movie, you see him falter for a moment and hold himself steady on the staircase rail. Just an incredible ending to an incredible film.
An excellent movie...perfect in every way...and the end...fantastic...so well done with Le mer. I watched this movie many times and still it nevers disappoints.
I think this movie/story encapsulates a place far beyond the ordinary or mundane, yet the emotions and relationships are as old as time itself. We witness loyalty, betrayal, secrecy, revenge, itegrity and/or the lack of it and the price each character pays for their chosen path. All brought together in this fine adaption of Le Carre's masterpiece portraying a rather seedy world. The casting was supurb and the sheer Britishness of it all makes for a glorious piece of cinema.
A lot of great movies--even masterpieces--fail to land the plane at the very end. It's so hard to do. Drawing together story, character, themes, tone, past, and present like this is really something special. Hard pressed to think of a final sequence I like better.
Managed to record this movie onto a CD; great movie, keep re-watching it over and over; no cheap theatrics, just a great story with relatively unknowns but for John Hurt; and I think the best recording of La Mer ever by one of the greatest singers ever.
@@aaronkazi I was more worried he "managed to record this movie onto a CD". It sounds like he might have just discovered that electricity is now a thing.
As much as i like alec guiness as smiley, i have to say i prefer oldman as smiley and this version they capture the decade perfectly reminds me of childhood, bloody good film never gets old, or tired and an exellent first class performance by all actors but what a bloody good actor oldman is, perfection in that role
The problem with Guniness was believability and suspension of disbelief. The idea he could have made it from Tatooine back to 1970s Earth and been regenerated as an old English spy just defies all plausibility.
Have you ever wondered who had it in for you ? That feeling someone had an advantage over you but just could not pinpoint the rat .It could be anyone A brother Sister Friend or well anyone you were in close contact with .This film gave me the feeling I was in that very position of mistrust in my life where everyone was a potential enemy and the oh la la French rendition of the sad but comforting song "La Mer" seem to make the fear and hurt bearable ,
Unfortunately the movie performed quite bad at the box office therefore a sequel is unlikely. I'd love to see all the Karla's trilogy but I think that It'll never happen.
Well, maybe, but he was actually doing the kid the greatest favour of his life. He didn't want the boy modelling himself on him. That's REAL compassion and humanity.
@@texastea5686 Yeah it sucks for Bill, but even though he doesn't know it he's ultimately better off in the long run. Prideaux is a lonely and broken individual, just like the rest of them are, and he's trying to spare Bill that fate.
I actually thought I'd never watch this film as after reading the books and watching the BBC adaptation (several times each) I reckoned nothing could better them. Although the movie isn't better than the books or TV version, it's certainly worthwhile watching with great acting/casting
Watched an episode of Heroes with mem-sahib. Watched from start to finish. She turns round, doesn’t understand anything. I thought, dear god what if we were watching this?