Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Mini Series

It is in many ways true that television is better than it has ever been, and it now where many of what will be seen as the classics of television may be created. I write this because that sort of "list" doesn't yet exist, in say the way we have a Sight and Sound poll for the greatest films of all time. Although there are series that still are treated with affection from the earlier period they are few and far between. There were earlier indications of change though with a rise in mini-series of note beginning around when this Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy premiered in the late 70's, and adaptation of John Le Carré's novel of the same name. Although it must be noted that some of technical and budgetary elements due date it as a television production of the time. Thankfully the same cannot be said for the storytelling which brilliantly captures the world found within the novel, a world of dark twists and turns, of a specifically glamorized spy world. This actually further reflected in that low key production in many ways, as the offices of the spies could be of any old office, they just are living in a normal world just like anyone else, on the surface anyway. That lack of veneer plays directly into the idea of this spy world though which is entirely without glamour or glitz found in a James Bond. These are just tired older men doing a job, although that job is one of duplicity and mercilessness. The series is brilliant in crafting this world and realizing through the various characters headlined of course by Alec Guinness's outstanding turn by George Smiley, that apparently influenced the way Le Carré wrote the character in future installments. The series is about low key yet powerful moments that capitalize on the incisive nature of the writing and the strength of the performances. It might not have the production value of a film, but it does have excellence in storytelling, perhaps even more so as the series is an early example of making use of what television has to offer that film does not.
5/5