Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Jan. 11th, 2012 06:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
la_belle_laideTwo nights ago, I finally got to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I was looking forward to seeing it not only because my husband Tom Hardy was in it, but because it looked really intriguing. So after a long day of work, I got my ice cream and headed all the way down to the damn Island 16 (because that's the only movie theater that plays movies with British people in them.)
First I'll say this. At the end of the movie, the guy behind me stood up and said, "I have no idea what just happened."
Okay, I get that. There were times during the film that I was going, "Wait, what was that guy's other name again? And who was Project Witchcraft?" There was a lot to keep track of, and once in a while I found that certain scenes were confusing because I couldn't tell if they were flashbacks or not – and I think that's where it got a little muddled. You see a character die in the beginning, and then there's a flashback, and then there are more scenes with the character whom I had assumed to be dead, which weren't actually flashbacks because the character hadn't actually died. So, that threw me for a while.
Aside from that, there wasn't too much to get really confused about. It was a straightforward story told in a roundabout way. Which I can really enjoy, because I like movies that don't hand-hold me and explain every little thing. (Inception No, really, Inception. And it boggles me when people say that Inception was confusing. Seriously? We were handed an audience surrogate who had little purpose other than to tell us what was going on. There are movies I can totally love while acknowledging their flaws.)
ANYway. So yeah, it was confusing in some parts, but when I walked out of the theater I was like, "OH! Okay, I got it." It legitimately made more sense to me later on.
I totally almost sort of not really completely did fall for the XK-red27 technique / double bluff / smokescreen set up by the mole. He was sleeping with Smiley's wife so I was like, "Well naturally it isn't him; this is a total red herring. Oh, wait. Maybe it's an XK-Red27 technique. It totally has to be him. It is! No, it's not. It can't be." I wanted so badly to figure it out! And then at the end when it totally was him and he actually said, "Yeah, I slept with your wife as a double bluff" or something along those lines, I pretended like I had that figured out all along. ^_^
This might totally be my favorite performance from Gary Oldman, maybe apart from my old favorite, R&G Are Dead. (Although looking back, DANG, I forgot all the other movies that he was in. Completely forgot that he was Sid Vicious!) He was so subtle and understated in this, which I tend to like in movies. I like a really understated performance when it's done well, simply because it is so hard to do well. You risk doing too little and putting your audience to sleep, so it can be a really fine line. But he played it all very quiet and really deep and I totally loved every moment of it. (Except for a few times in the beginning where I was like, "Why do I care that he just bought new glasses? Come on, cut this film back like ten minutes, it won't kill you.")
So I had three favorite parts, and one was the very last scene (I wanted to cheer!) and the other was Ricky Tarr (my husband Tom Hardy) when he was telling his story to Smiley (that's Gary Oldman.) It seems so effortless with him. I say it over and over again and it never changes: this is when I really really love an actor. When they're so fearless that they just go ahead and tell the story, and it doesn't even feel like acting at all. You need honest to god tears? Easy enough, because their story is sad right now and they have nothing to be self conscious about. I don't think I could ever do that.
And on that same note, my third favorite part belonged to Benedict Cumberbatch because it was heartbreaking. (He did his scene so beautifully. I'm totally going to start watching Sherlock, I think. Plus, I loved him in Stuart, A Life Backwards. [OMG, that was him in Atonement, too! I forgot about that! Eww!]) The parts that stuck with me the most were those emotional ones, because the emotion was so—okay, not to belabor the point—understated in the rest of the film.
I definitely want to see it again and watch for all the little things I missed the first time around. There are some movies (usually ones that have you guessing at the end) that are better the second time around, because you can appreciate the things you're supposed to be looking for. Then you watch it with someone who's seeing it for the first time and you say, "Oh, that part right there! Pay special attention to that!" which is extremely annoying, but which I do anyway.
I also like it when films have a really quiet score, and there's not a ton of music blasting out at you to make a point. There are times during certain films where I'm so aware of the fact that there's no incidental music, and I really like that because it seems to make even more of a statement than the music would have done.
I guess my only complaint was that the film itself was dark, visually, I mean. Although that might have been just me, because there were a lot of people in the theater and I had to sit really close to the screen, and found myself trying to make certain things out that I couldn't quite see. So let's chalk that one up to me being way too close to the huge screen.
Also Mark Strong is awesome, let's not forget that. He's that actor that you see in tons of different films and you're always like, "Hey, it's that guy I saw in that other film!" He was in Rock N' Rolla, that's always the first one that comes to mind for me.
Also, Tom Hardy's thighs. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
Yup, so it was awesome, and I recommend seeing it, although don't feel bad if you get a little tangled up along the way; lots of smart people did. ^_^
First I'll say this. At the end of the movie, the guy behind me stood up and said, "I have no idea what just happened."
Okay, I get that. There were times during the film that I was going, "Wait, what was that guy's other name again? And who was Project Witchcraft?" There was a lot to keep track of, and once in a while I found that certain scenes were confusing because I couldn't tell if they were flashbacks or not – and I think that's where it got a little muddled. You see a character die in the beginning, and then there's a flashback, and then there are more scenes with the character whom I had assumed to be dead, which weren't actually flashbacks because the character hadn't actually died. So, that threw me for a while.
Aside from that, there wasn't too much to get really confused about. It was a straightforward story told in a roundabout way. Which I can really enjoy, because I like movies that don't hand-hold me and explain every little thing. (
ANYway. So yeah, it was confusing in some parts, but when I walked out of the theater I was like, "OH! Okay, I got it." It legitimately made more sense to me later on.
I totally almost sort of not really completely did fall for the XK-red27 technique / double bluff / smokescreen set up by the mole. He was sleeping with Smiley's wife so I was like, "Well naturally it isn't him; this is a total red herring. Oh, wait. Maybe it's an XK-Red27 technique. It totally has to be him. It is! No, it's not. It can't be." I wanted so badly to figure it out! And then at the end when it totally was him and he actually said, "Yeah, I slept with your wife as a double bluff" or something along those lines, I pretended like I had that figured out all along. ^_^
This might totally be my favorite performance from Gary Oldman, maybe apart from my old favorite, R&G Are Dead. (Although looking back, DANG, I forgot all the other movies that he was in. Completely forgot that he was Sid Vicious!) He was so subtle and understated in this, which I tend to like in movies. I like a really understated performance when it's done well, simply because it is so hard to do well. You risk doing too little and putting your audience to sleep, so it can be a really fine line. But he played it all very quiet and really deep and I totally loved every moment of it. (Except for a few times in the beginning where I was like, "Why do I care that he just bought new glasses? Come on, cut this film back like ten minutes, it won't kill you.")
So I had three favorite parts, and one was the very last scene (I wanted to cheer!) and the other was Ricky Tarr (my husband Tom Hardy) when he was telling his story to Smiley (that's Gary Oldman.) It seems so effortless with him. I say it over and over again and it never changes: this is when I really really love an actor. When they're so fearless that they just go ahead and tell the story, and it doesn't even feel like acting at all. You need honest to god tears? Easy enough, because their story is sad right now and they have nothing to be self conscious about. I don't think I could ever do that.
And on that same note, my third favorite part belonged to Benedict Cumberbatch because it was heartbreaking. (He did his scene so beautifully. I'm totally going to start watching Sherlock, I think. Plus, I loved him in Stuart, A Life Backwards. [OMG, that was him in Atonement, too! I forgot about that! Eww!]) The parts that stuck with me the most were those emotional ones, because the emotion was so—okay, not to belabor the point—understated in the rest of the film.
I definitely want to see it again and watch for all the little things I missed the first time around. There are some movies (usually ones that have you guessing at the end) that are better the second time around, because you can appreciate the things you're supposed to be looking for. Then you watch it with someone who's seeing it for the first time and you say, "Oh, that part right there! Pay special attention to that!" which is extremely annoying, but which I do anyway.
I also like it when films have a really quiet score, and there's not a ton of music blasting out at you to make a point. There are times during certain films where I'm so aware of the fact that there's no incidental music, and I really like that because it seems to make even more of a statement than the music would have done.
I guess my only complaint was that the film itself was dark, visually, I mean. Although that might have been just me, because there were a lot of people in the theater and I had to sit really close to the screen, and found myself trying to make certain things out that I couldn't quite see. So let's chalk that one up to me being way too close to the huge screen.
Also Mark Strong is awesome, let's not forget that. He's that actor that you see in tons of different films and you're always like, "Hey, it's that guy I saw in that other film!" He was in Rock N' Rolla, that's always the first one that comes to mind for me.
Also, Tom Hardy's thighs. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
Yup, so it was awesome, and I recommend seeing it, although don't feel bad if you get a little tangled up along the way; lots of smart people did. ^_^
