Groomlakearea51 Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Been a fan of LeCarre's (David Cornwell) writings since I was a teenager. Tightly written, and a command of the language that evokes powerful images as your read. Now.... the BBC series with Sir Alex Guiness (RIP) is a hard act to follow. Regardless of the critic's fawnings over the latest tribute to what many call the "ultimate" spy novel, I would strongly suggest that before watching the flic, READ the book. Or at the least find the DVD set from BBC's series as it is quite accurate, if but detailed. Here's the rub, however. It took almost 9 hours of BBC recording in the series to basically capture what LeCarre wrote. Now we have a "modern" movie that, at least in theory, is supposed to be a "definitive" interpretation. That folks, will be difficult. Notwithstanding the actors' abilities to do justice to the characters, etc. There's going to be a shallowness, almost 2-dimensional panorama (to the film's detriment, of course) of the tale to be told. Unfortunately, reading a book is fast becoming a lost art in todays world which demands "thumbnails", and nothing longer than 180 minutes of celluloid distraction from our busy, multi-tasked and drone like lives. Read the book, watch the BBC version, then see the movie..... It's worth the extra effort to see what a good story should be; hopefully the directors will get it right. [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Yeah the movie was confusing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Does the book have a lot of pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 and hopefully not a lot of words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 and hopefully not a lot of wordsWe must have gone to the same school.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sputnik Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 .... the BBC series with Sir Alex Guiness (RIP) is a hard act to follow..... [Y]100%. A condensed version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" would very disappointing unless LeCarre had anything to do with the scripting. On the other hand, I think the film versions of "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" and "The Russia House" were both quite well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I liked it but you almost need to take notes to keep up with it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovedrummin Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I thought it was a confusing movie also. I checked the BBC dvd version out of my local library, hoping that will make more sense. I will probably also read the book. Yes I do like to read, but usually non-fiction historical type stuff. I'll make an exception with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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