Took a few hours out from a not so busy day to take in a film at the theatre, the new version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Having missed out on its London engagement a few months back due to my having left town a day or two early, I have been eagerly anticipating its release, and this morning found me in a room almost jam packed with moviegoers (the majority of whom were older, not senior citizens, but likely many who saw the original television version when it premiered in the late 70s). There were two bits that stood out in general- one of which were the previews (loud, brash, nonsensical hollywood fare) had absolutely nothing to do with what we were about to see and during the film, old woman yelled to an old fellow to "get the hell out of there" (for using his phone, most probably texting or some such, and which emitted a bright light)
Anyway, I will not give away anything except to say that the wait was worth it, and there was hardly a dull moment (except for the addition of a very minor subplot featuring romance, which is often an afterthought if not entirely unnecessary). This Smiley was similar to the old Smiley (that played by Sir Alec Guinness years ago and which will probably be regarded as the definitive version), except this new one seemed to have an even more sinister layer. In the original one, it was perfectly clear which side he stood on. In this one, as with most of the characters, there was really no knowing.
Surely a welcome way to usher in the weekend, and I may dive back into the old novels of Le Carre once again.
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