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| via Wikipedia |
I am
gradually making my way through last year’s Oscar nominated films, and last
night we watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Adapted from John le Carre’s novel of the same name, the film depicts
the complex and secretive world of the British spy agency in the Cold War of
the 1970s as spy-wars-weary George Smiley tries to uncover the identity of a
Russian mole in the top levels of the agency.
The
film is a much more slower paced, sobering and realistic portrayal of spy agencies than the Bond
or Borne franchises. It reflects a time when these agencies seemed to operate more
or less unfettered, something not nearly as possible in the age of camera
phones, internet and social media. It made me think about how much these tools
have given the public access to and scrutiny of our government actions as much
as it has probably made the work of our spy agencies all that more difficult.
It is
also a very artful film, the grainy and muted colors of the film lending to the
heaviness of the story, time and place—of which the author of the novel apparently
had firsthand knowledge (le Carre worked for the British spy agency). And Gary
Oldman’s Smiley is a piece of art in and of himself. (It wasn’t until after the
movie that I realized Oldman also portrayed one of my favorite characters, Sirius
Black, in the Harry Potter films, which speaks to his ability to embody the
character he’s given.) Smiley has regrets—personal and professional. While
covert wars don’t employ armies and tanks, they are nonetheless wars and Smiley
carries a battle scared and experienced view of that world and his profession. He’s
the kind of guy you want running a spy agency—or maybe not. He lies as calmly and
smoothly as he rolls down a window to allow a trapped bee out of his car. His composed
and relentless search for the mole reminded me, with some cringing unease, of
the shoulder-shrugging ease of a surgeon calmly and methodically digging through
flesh for an almost microscopic bullet fragment.
This is
one of those films that sticks with you the next day. It raises
thought-provoking and timeless questions about methods used in war (overt and
covert) and the effects on the human soul of immersing oneself in a world like
that. As one character tells Smiley, “I want a family. I don’t want end up like
you lot.” In a grainy and weary world like the one we see in this story, that longing
was like a single green tree in the middle of the ash-laden remains of a burned
down forest.
Ultimately,
the film provokes me to ask, how do I, as a Kingdom dweller, respond to a story
like that—to a reality like that? I’m still mulling that one over. It does give
me more empathy and respect for brothers and sisters who work in the halls of
power, the situations they must encounter, the decisions they must make. These
are different times but the questions and situations in this story are still
all too real. In a life lived outside those halls, it causes me to think on my
choices and how those choices are ultimately small but crucial steps down a
path towards a life of growth and restoration or damage and debris.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
takes us into the gritty dark parts of the world and history. Today feels much
brighter by comparison, but perhaps that is just an illusion. In any case, it
gives me pause—and that brings it into these open spaces.