France, UK, Germany

Synopsis

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY is based on the John Le Carré cold war spy novel. Set in the 1970s, George Smiley, a recently retired MI6 agent, is doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent re-appears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage.

Director's Statement

When I first met John le Carré he was very clear about his wishes regarding the film version of his novel “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”: “Please don’t shoot the book or re-make the TV mini-series. They already exist. I’m not going to interfere, but you can call me any time if there is anything you wonder about.” I think we have obeyed him to the letter. Of course, you cannot encompass every detail in a book of 349 pages at the movies. But you can take themes and strands and moments, and try to describe what you see. With TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY I think we’ve made a film about loyalty and ideals, values that are extremely relevant − perhaps mostly because they are so rare these days?
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson

Written by: Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

Produced by: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo

Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema

Editing: Dino Jonsater

Production Design: Maria Djurkovic

Original Score: Alberto Iglesias

Cast: John Hurt (Control), Ciaran Hinds (Roy Bland), Mark Strong (Jim Prideaux), Simon McBurney (Oliver Lacon), Tom Hardy (Ricki Tarr), Kathy Burke (Connie Sachs), Colin Firth (Bill Haydon), Svetlana Khodenchkova (Irina), Benedict Cumberbatch (Peter Guillam), Toby Jones (Percy Alleline), Stephen Graham (Jerry Westerby), David Dencik (Toby Esterhase), Gary Oldman (George Smiley)

Nominations and Awards

  • European Production Designer 2012
  • European Composer 2012
  • People's Choice Award 2012
  • European Actor 2012
  • European Cinematographer – Prix Carlo Di Palma 2012
  • Feature Film Selection 2012