Pay attention to the glasses. The most common complaint I’ve heard about this adaptation of the John le Carré is that viewers can’t figure out what’s going on. Early in the film, George Smiley (played by the wonderful Gary Oldman) gets an eye exam and new frames for his glasses.
Pay attention.
The glasses are the same basic shape, but the lighter colored frames designate scenes before his forced retirement while the darker frames indicate the timeline after retirement when he begins a sanctioned but secret investigation of his former peers. Keep the timelines straight, and you will love unraveling this yarn.
In fact, that’s how I described the film to a good friend of mine. I’m a knitter, and this film is like an expensive skein of tangled yarn. It’s tricky to unravel but worth working at the task. When the knots become looser, the promise is palpable. When the skein is unraveled and rewound, the result is exquisite.
This is an old-fashioned spy story featuring superb production design, fine writing and directing, and a terrific cast (Mark Strong, Colin Firth, John Hurt, and Toby Jones to name a few).
My advice to you is to take the time to untangle the yarn and enjoy a trip back into the intrigue of the Cold War.
We saw this last night – thanks for the tip on the glasses.
Loved it.