# Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - a technical question (I think) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784 "2011-12-30T01:59:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/21 "2012-01-07T04:48:41Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I didn’t think it was muddled at all. Like **gaffa** , I’ve never read the book or seen the earlier movie and I followed it just fine. I am really looking forward to seeing this having read the book a long time ago and recently watching the miniseries with Alec Guinness when I heard about Oldman project. I have my doubts that such a complex story could really fit into a single feature film but so far the reviews are almost unaminous in saying that the adaptation was masterfully done. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/22 "2012-01-07T04:53:06Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > By the way in the book Peter was straight. The gay angle was added for the film, who knows why. Ugh! This sounds like Aragorn going over the cliff. Why, when you have more source material than could really fit into ten hours of film do filmmakers feel the need to invent stuff out of whole cloth? (Peter Jackson added Aragorn falling over the cliff to LOTR for whatever reason - it sure wasn’t in the book.) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/23 "2012-01-07T04:54:46Z")
> [@SkyBlueKayak](#): > > I wish I remember the name of the film that I just barely remember where John Hurt was the young spy/main character. Osterman Weekend? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/24 "2012-01-07T04:56:21Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Ugh! This sounds like Aragorn going over the cliff. Thankfully in this case it is just a little throwaway moment, so no big deal. For what it is worth I think it is a surprisingly strong adaptation. Stronger than I expected. The casting in particular is uniformly excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/25 "2012-01-07T07:12:55Z")
I have a very hard time stepping away from Sir Alec Guinness as George Smiley. As Wikipedia put it, “From the 1970s, Guinness made regular television appearances, including the part of George Smiley in the serialisations of two novels by John le Carré: _Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy_ and _Smiley’s People_. Le Carré was so impressed by Guinness’s performance as Smiley that he based his characterisation of Smiley in subsequent novels on Guinness.” Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/26 "2012-01-07T13:38:08Z")
I think it’s a strong adaptation with some excellent performances, which doesn’t rely on familiarity with the source materiel. I also found I admired it more than I enjoyed it. For me, it suffered from being a story of it’s era, it’s lost much of it’s relevence with the end of the cold war. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/27 "2012-01-07T14:32:48Z")
OK, morning has broken and a couple of two questions come up. 1. I presume all the suspects were selling secrets to the Soviets. The trick was only one was selling high-quality stuff. Yes? 2. Just BTW, does the title come from some sort of nursery rhyme or what? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/28 "2012-01-07T14:38:01Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > 1. Just BTW, does the title come from some sort of nursery rhyme or what? Yup, it’s a counting game. The one I used as a kid went “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief” More here: [Tinker, Tailor - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker,_Tailor) ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/29 "2012-01-07T15:42:35Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > 1. I presume all the suspects were selling secrets to the Soviets. The trick was only one was selling high-quality stuff. Yes? I don’t think so, nothing I can remember supports this, and there is nothing in the wiki summary. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/30 "2012-01-07T17:12:51Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > I don’t think so, nothing I can remember supports this, and there is nothing in the wiki summary. All four of the of the inner circle ( Alleline, Esterhase, Bland, Haydon ) were giving/selling secrets to Polyakov by common consent so he looked good to his handlers in Moscow. That’s the point of the scene at the airstrip where Smiley terrifies Toby Esterhase into breaking down. The idea was that Polyakov was their major asset feeding them real info, so they would feed him minor info so he stayed in his position. In fact Polyakov was feeding them crap and Haydon was actually feeding _him_ real info rather than the junk the other three were providing. All while Karla made Polyakov look like such a good asset that he could lure the American intelligence agencies into contact and possibly develop an asset there. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/31 "2012-01-07T17:37:01Z")
My SO and I went to see this yesterday. Neither of us had read the book, nor seen any prior filmed version. It was a bit of a challenge to follow. Yes, we got the main gist of the story and followed it to the end, but felt like we missed a lot of other things simply because of the huge cast of characters. It got a bit confusing who was working for whom, who was good and who was bad, who was selling and who was buying…in other words, I think a “cheat sheet” might have helped keep track of who’s who. It moved slowly at the beginning and I understand it was necessary for the set up, but I don’t think the scriptwriters did a very good job of really defining all of the characters other than having a picture on chess pieces. The film took place in the 70’s, but I don’t know if that added much to the story. It seems like they could have updated the story to today without ruining the story (although I did like the 70’s party scene). I guess I could say the script needed another re-write to tighten up the story and define the characters a bit more. This was one rare film that I wish might have been 20 minutes longer to flesh out the cast. So yes, we liked the film a lot, but didn’t love it. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/32 "2012-01-07T18:23:24Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > It was a bit of a challenge to follow. Yes, we got the main gist of the story and followed it to the end, but felt like we missed a lot of other things simply because of the huge cast of characters. It got a bit confusing who was working for whom, who was good and who was bad, who was selling and who was buying…in other words, I think a “cheat sheet” might have helped keep track of who’s who. I’ve read the book, and watched the mini-series a few times, so knew pretty much what was going on, but the film is very true to Le Carre’s subtle literary style. Like many of his novels, this film rewards a revisit - it’s all there. I wonder what awards season will bring? Best Actor nom for Oldman, and probably some tech awards? ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/33 "2012-01-07T19:11:45Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > My SO and I went to see this yesterday. > Neither of us had read the book, nor seen any prior filmed version. > > It was a bit of a challenge to follow. Yes, we got the main gist of the story and followed it to the end, but felt like we missed a lot of other things simply because of the huge cast of characters. It got a bit confusing who was working for whom, who was good and who was bad, who was selling and who was buying…in other words, I think a “cheat sheet” might have helped keep track of who’s who. Or at least a glossary of the fantastic Le Carré [jargon](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8765109/The-secret-codes-of-John-le-Carres-Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Spy.html) which I hope the film preserves as much as possible. Shades of Lynch’s Dune which provided a single page cheat sheet to audiences back in the day. I remember going over it with my girlfriend in the theater who must have thought I was quite mad/obsessed. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/34 "2012-01-07T19:22:43Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I saw it the other night, and I wasn’t quite as struck by the cafe scene as you were. But there is a technique where the film is shot with a huge amount of light that reduces the motion blur in the scene. I first saw it in Gladiator, during the fight scenes. It has become a bit of a cliche in fight scenes. The first I remember seeing the technique was in _Saving Private Ryan_ during the beach scenes, particularly when Captain Miller was stunned by a nearby explosion. It’s done by using a shorter shutter time and, hence, the need for lots of light. The shutter in a movie camera consists of a mirrored disk that rotates; that way you don’t have something mechanical that’s trying to open and close 24 times a second. The mirror has a black portion so no light reaches the film, giving the rest of the mechanism time to move the new frame into place. The standard shutter is 3/4 mirror, 1/4 black; the special shutter is the other way around, 1/4 mirror, 3/4 black. The effect it to distance a scene, though, not draw you into it. Not having seen this movie yet, I’ll have to look out for the cafe scene in particular. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/35 "2012-01-07T19:52:31Z")
Thanks for that post. Knowing nothing about the technical side I was thinking of the editing of that scene and, rightly or wrongly, that it had been shot and edited in a different style. I suppos ethat might also be. More generally, you can’t edit 400 tightly-packed pages to 5 hours of miniseries or 3 hours of radio play, never mind 100 minutes of screen time. All this version does is pick out the main theme and populated it with scenes. A perfectly reasonable entertaiment but Tinker Tailor it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/36 "2012-01-07T20:19:14Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > The film took place in the 70’s, but I don’t know if that added much to the story. It seems like they could have updated the story to today without ruining the story (although I did like the 70’s party scene). Would updating it to modern day improve the story for you? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/37 "2012-01-07T20:49:10Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Would updating it to modern day improve the story for you? Who would be the bad guys? The USSR was much scarier than the Russians are today. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/38 "2012-01-14T15:07:20Z")
Saw this last night. I had heard of the novel and the TV miniseries, but I had not read or seen either and I was totally unspoiled going in. I found it to be a fantastic, almost perfect production – the acting, the setting, the cinematography. It totally recreated the early 1970s. And, knowing absolutely nothing about the plot, I followed it without trouble, except in one respect — it took me a little while to realize that the scenes of Prideaux with the schoolboys was not a flashback. I had assumed that Prideaux was killed in Budapest. I was a bit surprised by the ending — I thought that all four of the Circle chiefs were going to be moles, like the Cambridge Five. > [@DMark](#): > > The film took place in the 70’s, but I don’t know if that added much to the story. It seems like they could have updated the story to today without ruining the story You have got to be kidding me. Every damn detail about that story was steeped in the Cold War of the early 1970s. Update it and you’d have to come up with an entirely fictional threat, like the current James Bond movies, and it would lose much of the tension that it takes from the fact that this situation was real. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/39 "2012-01-15T06:02:21Z")
[This is interesting](http://youtu.be/9TMGLA14He0), a breakdown of some of the CGI shots in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784/40 "2012-01-15T06:53:39Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > The film took place in the 70’s, but I don’t know if that added much to the story. It seems like they could have updated the story to today without ruining the story (although I did like the 70’s party scene). Yeah, I’m a Boomer, but what will replace “It was the 50s/60s/70s. You had to be there?” As I recall, subsequent decades have been pretty boring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-a-technical-question-i-think/607784.md?page=3)