Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Based on the novel by John Le Carre, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the story of a former spy who is asked to find a Soviet double-agent that is rumored to be a top official in the British secret service. Directed by Tomas Alfredson and screenplay by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughn, the film explores the world of espionage and intrigue as it revolves a retired spy who is forced to uncover dark secrets that involves the people he used to work for. Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Ciaran Hinds. Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy is an engrossing yet intriguing film from Tomas Alfredson.

After British intelligence sends agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) to Hungary where he was shot and captured, the ailing intelligence head Control (John Hurt) is forced to retire as he asks his right-hand man George Smiley (Gary Oldman) to investigate a claim by agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) about a mole in British Intelligence. With Tarr in hiding, Smiley takes charge of the investigation as he brings in officer Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) to aid him where they suspect about the Witchcraft project that is led by new head Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) that also includes deputy Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), and senior officials Roy Bland (Ciaran Hinds) and Toby Esterhase (David Dencik).

With Alleine taking control of the MI6 and getting rid of various personnel, Smiley meets Connie Sachs (Kathy Burke) who reveals that she was sacked for finding out about a mole-handler named Polyakov (Konstantin Khabensky). Another former employee in Jerry Westerby (Stephen Graham) reveals to Smiley some more information about what happened to Prideaux as Smiley believes that a top official could be the mole. Coming home from work, Smiley finds Tarr at his house hiding as Tarr reveals his story about what happened to him in Istanbul. Tarr met an operative named Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova) whom he fell for as they traded information as she was the one who revealed about the mole in the MI6 before being captured. Tarr was forced to flee after finding a British agent dead as he’s been accused of murder as he remains in hiding.

After Guillam is asked to fetch Tarr’s reports to confirm what Tarr had said, Guillam and Smiley make a discovery that someone knows about Tarr’s time in Istanbul. After learning about more about what happened to Prideaux and what he was trying to find for Control, Smiley goes further to find out what Alleine, Haydon, Bland, and Esterhase have been giving to Polyakov as one of them has been giving away something more than just information. There, Smiley makes a move to have the mole to be revealed.

What happens when a retired spy has to uncover dark secrets that involves espionage that would threaten the livelihood of the British Intelligence Agency? That's what the film is simply about as it explores the world of corruption and men's desire to create a new world order in the 1970s during the Cold War. Yet, it would take a man like George Smiley to realize that what they're doing isn't just wrong but immoral about the way spy games work. Seeing people he knew for many years being dismissed like that because they know something is wrong forces him to make some moves with old friends including a spy who is on the run for uncovering the truth.

The screenplay does play to the schematics of a suspense story yet a lot of the narrative does shift back and forth as it revolves around Smiley’s memories and the events that transpire throughout the course of the film. The story opens with Prideaux’s capture as it would be among the moments that keeps coming back along with Smiley’s memories of more simpler times when Control was in charge. During these flashbacks, Smiley would force to look back at things that would raise his suspicions as he later realizes that something was up. Even as it would involve meeting people like those who were dismissed or someone like Ricki Tarr as they would reveal to Smiley things that would eventually confirm his own suspicions.

Tomas Alfredson’s direction is very entrancing in the way he frames his actors and set-up the moments of suspense that occurs throughout. His attention to detail in the film’s opening scene that involves Prideaux that would led to his capture is among one of these key moments of suspense. The rest of the film takes a much more low-key approach in order to uncover everything that is happening as Alfredson creates a world that is set in the early 1970s where the Cold War is already happening and Smiley feels out of step with the times. It’s to establish that a new world order is happening where men like Smiley are just obsolete while these new lions take over and keep the Cold War happening yet it’s the mole that is creating all of these complications that is going on.

Set mostly in London with some parts of the film set in Paris, Istanbul, and Hungary, it’s definitely a film about international intrigue as Alfredson is trying to figure out who is the mole. Notably the sequence that involves Ricki Tarr in Istanbul where the compositions have an air of style as it reflects Tarr’s desire to lead a life out of the world of spy games. The film’s third act where Smiley gets closer to finding out who the mole is has him doing things where he will confront someone in a very unique way in order to get answers. There’s no violence involve but rather just play it cool and create a situation where that person eventually breaks down. Overall, Alfredson crafts a very solid and engaging suspense film that works to play out its sense of mystery.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does brilliant work with the film‘s stylish photography to play out the drab look of London in its exteriors along with lush lighting schemes for the interior. Editor Dino Jonsater does excellent work with the editing to create stylish cuts to help shift the narrative around along with some methodical cuts to play out the suspense. Production designer Maria Djurkovic, along with set decorator Tatiana MacDonald and art directors Tom Brown and Mark Raggett, does superb work with the set pieces such as the meeting room where the British intelligence supervisors meet along with the offices and homes that the characters live and work at.

Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does terrific work with the costumes from the suits the men wear to the more casual 70s clothing the younger characters wear. Hair and makeup designer Felicity Bowring does nice work in creating looks for the characters to create the feel of the 1970s. Sound editors Stephen Griffiths and Andy Shelley do some fine work with the sound to capture the intimacy of the meetings as well as the chaos in some of the film‘s thrilling moments. The film’s music by Alberto Iglesias is amazing for its orchestral-driven score filled with slow, heavy themes to play out the drama and suspense. Music supervisor Nick Angel creates a very good soundtrack that features a few music pieces from the 70s including a rhythmic cover of La Mer by Julio Iglesias.

The casting by Jina Jay is marvelous for the ensemble that is assembled for this film. Among those making small appearances include Christian Makay as an agent in Paris, Roger Lloyd-Pack as a friend of Smiley, Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke as two dismissed staff members of the agency, Simon McBurney as official Oliver Lacon, Konstantin Khabensky as the mysterious Polyakov, Svetlana Khodchenkova as the Soviet operative Irina that Tarr falls for, and John Hurt in a small but crucial role as former MI6 head Control. Toby Jones is excellent as the very aggressive Intelligence head Percy Alleline while Ciaran Hinds is very good as the more low-key official Roy Bland. David Dencik is terrific as the very snaky and secretive Toby Esterhase who tries to be low-key only to have Smiley target him.

Benedict Cumberbatch is wonderful as Smiley’s aide Peter Guillam who gets a hands-on experience into the world of corruption and espionage. Colin Firth is superb as the very low-key yet calm official who is part of the cover-up. Tom Hardy is amazing as the agent Ricky Tarr who was the one to discover the idea of the mole as he deals with the conflict of being an agent. Mark Strong is brilliant in a small yet crucial role as the agent Jim Prideaux who is sent to find the identity of the mole early in the film as he is unaware of the dangers he’s facing. Finally, there’s Gary Oldman in an incredible performance as George Smiley. Oldman creates a performance that is very entrancing as a man who feels lost in these new times as he has to uncover a mystery and reveal the mole that is destroying the British Intelligence.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a rich yet captivating film from Tomas Alfredson that features a remarkable performance from Gary Oldman. Along with a cast that includes Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, and Tom Hardy. It’s a film that weaves it way to uncover the mystery as it is presented with great care for the audience to be engaged by and figure out what is going on. In the end, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a brilliant film from Tomas Alfredson.

Tomas Alfredson Films: (Bert: The Last Virgin) - (Screwed in Tallinn) - (Office Hours) - (Four Shades of Brown) - Let the Right One In

© thevoid99 2012

Let the Right One In

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/1/10.

2008 was the year vampires became popular in the world of pop culture. In the world of TV, True Blood based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels was a hit show on HBO that would later spawn another hit vampire TV show on the CW. In the world of movies, vampires came back in a big way thanks to the Twilight film series based on Stephanie Meyers' best-selling novels. Yet, not everyone was happy about new surge of popularity of vampires as another film from Sweden came out that really put a new spin on the creatures based on a hit novel from Europe. It would also be considered to be one of the most sympathetic portrayals of a vampire entitled Lat den ratte komma in (Let the Right One In).

Directed by Tomas Alfredson and written by John Ajvide Lindqvist based on his novel, Lat den ratte komma in tells the story of a bullied 12-year old boy who befriends a vampire child at a suburb of Stockholm in the early 1980s. The friendship becomes an escape for the 12 year old boy from his troubled home life as the boy also decides to fight back against his tormentors with the help of his new vampire friend. Starring Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, and Peter Carlberg. La den ratte komma in is a haunting yet engrossing masterpiece from Tomas Alfredson.

It's the early 1980s at a small Swedish town of Blackeberg during a cold winter as a young 12-year old boy named Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is looking at his window where an old man and a young girl are moving into the apartment Oskar lives with his mother (Karin Bergquist) while his father (Henrik Dahl) lives in a nearby place in the forest. Oskar's life in school is full of torment as he is often bullied by a group of boys led by Conny (Patrik Rydmark). Oskar wants to fight back but is too weak until he meets his new neighbor in the 12-year old Eli (Lina Leandersson with the voice of Elif Ceylan). The pale young girl is seen wearing a shirt without sleeves during the snow as Oskar is intrigued by her.

Living with Eli is a man named Hakan (Per Ragnar) who has been trying to kill some locals to get some blood but often would encounter trouble. The news of mysterious murders have been circulating throughout with Oskar reading as he starts to befriend Eli by giving her his Rubik's Cube. Even as they begin to communicate through Morse Code as they live next door to each other. With Hakan trying to do his duties to kill people, things went wrong as he gave up in his duties. Forced to go to the hospital following a self-inflicted accident, Hakan sees Eli, who is revealed to be a vampire, as she lets Hakan go. With Oskar taking on swimming fitness training, his friendship Eli grows as he tries to make it official through a blood bond. Instead, Oskar has a huge discovery about Eli.

The reaction has Eli attacking a woman named Virginia (Ika Nord) almost to her death as Virginia's boyfriend Lacke (Peter Carlberg) wants to find Eli after realizing who had killed his friend Jocke (Mikael Rahm) earlier. Eli goes into hiding though she still communicates to Oskar through Morse Code. With Virginia becoming troubled by her new infection following a visit to Lacke and friend Gosta (Karl Robert Lindgren) where she is attacked by Gosta's cats. With Eli now in trouble, Oskar helps her only to realize how much trouble it would be to help Eli.

The story about a 12-year old boy befriending a vampire in the body of a 12-year old girl is definitely an interesting story. Yet, the film is mixture of horror, light-humor, drama, and romance. It's really about this building friendship between a boy and a vampire who is helped to fend off bullies while making a horrific discovery about this girl he had just met. At the same time, we see the girl known as Eli try to survive in what she's meant to do as a vampire. Still, it's not easy for her as the man who was supposed to help her is often encountering lots of trouble that makes his job harder and eventually, he couldn't do it anymore.

The screenplay written by the book's novelist John Ajvide Lindqvist is definitely filled with lot of comical and moments of horror. Yet, the heart of the story is the relationship between Eli and Oskar. Particularly for Eli, who is a vampire that despite her actions, is a very innocent character who is trying to find some form of companionship while trying to survive through blood. For Oskar, Eli becomes the one true friend he probably has while he is dealing with bullies who torment him. Eli helps Oskar get a chance to deal with them where at one scene, he does stand up for himself during a field trip where it would later set up a climatic moment between Oskar and his bullies. Lindqvist also writes realistic adult characters where the teachers are really there for the kids as is Oskar's parents despite their separation as well as other individuals shown throughout the film. The script is truly inventive and is filled with lots of romantic and sometimes, tragic elements in relation to the relationship between Oskar and Eli.

The direction of Tomas Alfredson is truly spectacular in its sense of atmosphere of how the film is told. The film starts off with very little close-ups as Alfredson shoots everything from the back of Oskar's head in order to reveal Oskar's sense of detachment from the world where he's dealing with the fact that his mother works a lot. His dad isn't around living in another place and drinks a lot while his school life is even worse. By the time Eli appears to Oskar, the camera becomes closer while would often leave a wide depth of field to show where Oskar is at along with the town itself. Even at night where something is about to happen with a level of suspense.

The special effects created for the film are spectacular as Alfredson uses the effects for Eli's own special powers as a vampire but without anything that is very CGI-created or anything. Instead, whenever Eli attacks, it's often by a moment of surprise or when it is least expected. That level of suspense works where it's not too creepy but also not underplayed. Alfredson's direction in the horror elements are brilliant but he's best in the more dramatic elements of the film by engaging the camera into the interactions between Eli and Oskar which is very innocent throughout the film. The overall work of Alfredson's direction is phenomenal in its stylish yet atmospheric tone.

Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema does brilliant work with the film's colorful yet ethereal photography with great shots of the snow in the day and nighttime exterior settings including the sunny locations with shots of snow falling. The interior scenes are also well-lit, notably the apartment of Eli to convey a creepy atmosphere while some of the nighttime exteriors have a chilling feel with its shadows and bright lights as Van Hoytema's work is superb. The editing by Tomas Alfredson and Daniel Jonsater is great in its fast-paced cuts for some of the film's suspenseful moments while being mostly straightforward and leisurely-paced in its transitions and such. Even with rhythmic cuts to convey Oskar's life and all of its troubles despite some warm moments in his home life and notably with Eli.

Production designer Eva Noren does fantastic work with the look of Eli's decayed apartment with shades all around the windows. The look of the school and places are great including a horrifying sequence involving a body inside a block of ice. Costume/makeup designer Maria Strid does amazing work with the film's clothing which is mostly straightforward with Eli having a more decayed look of just a shirt and pants with few times she's wearing a dress. The makeup work is a real technical highlight including a horrifying scene of Eli bleeding all over face with all of this fake blood that looks so real. The sound editing of Per Sundstrom is great for its level of suspense as well as conveying the atmosphere of the location of where the story is taking place while there's a great, light-hearted scene between Oskar and his mother where they're brushing their teeth where the sound work is great in that scene.

The music of Johan Soderqvist is really one of the best film scores ever created. Mostly an orchestral score, the pieces that Soderqvist creates play with the mood of the film from serene, enchanting moments of drama and romanticism to some intense arrangements for the film's horror and suspense moments. The score of Soderqvist is the film's best technical highlight as it without a doubt, an amazing score piece. The film's soundtrack includes various pop music tracks including an old 1968 pop song from then-future ABBA member Agnetha Faltskog and an 80s pop song from Swedish band Secret Service in one of the film's climatic moments.

The casting by Anna Zackrisson is phenomenal with some memorable small roles from Kasja Linderholm as Oskar's teacher, Cayetano Ruiz as Oskar's gym teacher, Soren Kallstigen as a friend of Oskar's dad, Karl Robert Lindgren as Lacke's cat-loving friend Goste, and Anders T. Peedu as a victim of Hakan who is about to be tortured for blood. Other notable small roles from Karin Bergquist as Oskar's workaholic mother and Henrik Dahl as Oskar's loving but alcoholic father are very good as is Mikael Rahm as one of the first unfortunate victims of Eli. In the roles of the bullies, there's Johan Somnes as a reluctant bully while Mikael Erhardsson as a vicious one named Martin. Patrik Rydmark is very brutal as the bully Conny while Rasmus Luthander is even more vicious Jimmy, Conny's older brother, in the film's climatic confrontation. Per Ragnar is very good as Eli's helper Hakan who has trouble doing his job with all of these obstacles. Ika Nord is great in a small but memorable role as an unfortunate victim of Eli who ends up dealing with the effects of a vampire bite while Peter Carlberg is excellent as the boyfriend who wants revenge.

The film's best performances easily goes to the two young actors in the film in Lina Leandersson and Kare Hedebrant. Leandersson's role as Eli, the child-like vampire is definitely one of the most chilling yet sympathetic portrayals of a vampire. Childlike but also wise, it is definitely a character that looks innocent but something is definitely off about her as it is truly a mesmerizing performance for the young actress. Hedebrant is superb in capturing the troubles of what a kid goes through in dealing with a troubled school life as well as divorced parents. Hedebrant's sense of innocence as well as wanting to play out violent fantasies is done in a very straight manner. The chemistry between the two young actors is stunning in its portrayal of two young people while there's an element of a young romance that isn't melodramatic or playing up for laughs. Both Lina Leandersson and Kare Hedebrant are the heart and souls of the film.

The Region 1 DVD from Magnolia and Magnet Releasing presents the film the 2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio along with 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in both Swedish and English dub. One of the most controversial additions of the DVD that has infuriated fans of the film that had seen the film in its theatrical release is the English subtitles. While an eight-minute behind the scenes special shows part of what was translated in the theatrical version. The DVD subtitles do have an affect on the dialogue and language of the film which is something that is confusing for audiences who didn't see the film in its theatrical run.

The eight-minute behind the scenes featurette is mostly an interview with director Tomas Alfredson who talks about the film and making it which includes footage of the actors performing on certain key scenes. Notably shots of the film with its original English subtitles which is less stylized than the American subtitles. Another big special feature on the DVD is six minutes worth of four deleted scenes. Two of them feature interactions with Eli and Oskar inside the apartment and outside of the apartment. A scene of Oskar tormented by his bullies and one where the character of Virginia deals with the aftereffects of being bitten by Eli. Two photo galleries appear in the DVD including a gallery of posters from various countries and still shots from the film.

La den ratte komma in is a remarkable film from Tomas Alfredson. Fans of vampire films will see this as definitely of the best films about the creatures with top-notch performances from Lina Leandersson and Kare Hedebrant as the young characters in the film. Filled with great special effects, chilling suspense, haunting dramatic elements, top production values, and an amazing film score. This is definitely a mesmerizing film that really brings the vampires back to a sense of realism and fantasy without all of the teenage melodrama in the Twilight film series. In the end, La den ratte komma in is a marvelous yet evocative masterpiece that captures the trouble innocence and nature of the vampire.

(C) thevoid99 2011