Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

"How do you find an enemy who is hidden right before your eyes?"

Jan 6 2012 R 2h 2m
Drama, Mystery, Thriller

In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet mole within his former colleagues at the heart of MI6.

Plot

In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control (Sir John Hurt), resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian Agent, a mole, and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by rogue Agent Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet Intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him.

Written by

John le Carré, Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Directed by

Tomas Alfredson

Production Countries

France, United Kingdom, Germany

Production Companies

StudioCanal, Canal+, Karla Films, Working Title Films, CinéCinéma, Kinowelt Filmproduktion

Languages

Magyar, English, Français

Awards

Nominated for 3 Oscars. 35 wins & 100 nominations total

Scores
# of Votes
218,705
Average Rating
7 out of 10
Metascore
85
Popularity
NA