Posts tagged 2011

My job was to fact check his articles. Since he had a photographic memory and an encyclopaedic mind it was the easiest job I’ve ever done.
Nick Clegg on working as an intern for Christopher Hitchens

(Source: BBC)

Mr. Oldman…is an actor of great experience and accomplishment who has finally found a film that fully deserves him.
The Wall Street Journal on Gary Oldman’s performance in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

I imagine a majority of us have had sex and have seen the opposite sex or same sex naked. I’ve never held a machine gun in my hand or ever shot anyone in the head, but that seems to be the norm to some people within cinema.
Shame director Steve McQueen on the film’s NC-17 rating.

John le Carre: "I don't watch Spooks. It's Crap"

John le Carre, author of recently adapted bestseller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has described TV dramatisations of life in the secret service (namely BBC’s Spooks) as ‘crap’. Speaking at the premiere of Tinker, Tailor, le Carre said that “If you have lived in that world, you know that it is stupid. I don’t watch Spooks. It’s crap. I’m sorry.”

Le Carre worked as an MI5 officer in the 1950’s and an MI6 intelligence officer in the 1960’s.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is out nationwide in the UK, and will be released in the USA on December 9th.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Screenplay: Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

Cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong

Trust no one.

A cliche, maybe, but Tomas Alfredson’s atmospheric adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy definitely evokes this age-old, paranoid epigram.

Gary Oldman, a true master of his trade, plays George Smiley, an intelligence officer for the British secret-service brought out of forced retirement to find a mole at the top of the “circus” (le Carre’s affectionate name for MI6). 

At this point, I can’t help sensing a certain parallell between Mr. Oldman and George Smiley in their relative contexts: both are respected as being the best at what they do, so much so that they are (somewhat unusually) given a leading role in their profession. If this parallell has any ground to it, then the final shot of Tinker, Tailor certainly bodes well for Mr. Oldman’s prospects in the coming awards season.

Mr. Oldman and his extremely accomplished ensemble cast are given a world that lives and breathes in which to perform, a world created by an outstanding production design team, led by director, Tomas Alfredson.

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