Does anyone know LeCarre's opinion of this film?
He said Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy was his favorite adaptation of one of his books. While Ritt's film leaves out certain details of the book, I think it's a masterpiece in its own right.
You get an earful of his opinions if you watch the Criterion extra disk. In sum, he has a poor opinion of the film, particularly with regard to Burton as the lead. It's clear that he feels that Burton was an overacting prima donna whose better days were behind him. He also complained about the look of the film, noting that it lacked grittiness. It was too "Hollywood" and he felt the noir style was too easy.
shareWow, that's really sad. Burton was always fascinating, right up until the moment when his self destructive lifestyle caught up with him.
And the film is not gritty enough? Spare me.
I didn't enjoy Burton in this.
The movie is OK, the start is not very interesting, the ending becomes pretty obvious, it certainly lacks grittiness. Otherwise I enjoyed the plot twists.
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
In sum, he has a poor opinion of the film, particularly with regard to Burton as the lead. It's clear that he feels that Burton was an overacting prima donna whose better days were behind him.
He also complained about the look of the film, noting that it lacked grittiness. It was too "Hollywood" and he felt the noir style was too easy.
I was really surprised at the Le Carre interview and his opinion of the film. I thought Burton was brilliant in the role, and in the Criterion ed. of the film Burton was also interviewed and he explained how he worked very hard at toning down his acting techniques that came from so much stage performance. I think he did great work in that respect. His performance was controlled, intense, and only a few fimes did I recognize the "Hollywood Burton". Le Carre also stated that Burton and the director were at constant odds with each other, but must have overcome their differences because the film was top notch.
I liked the feel of the film, the grit, the bleakness, the noirish atmosphere, the soundtrack. It remains one of my favorite films of all time.
Burton's scene where he explains "Who do you think spies are, anyway?" to Claire Bloom (a former paramour) was fantastic.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
Le Carre went on to say that he thought the film was TOO close to his book, that he hoped they would have found a way to make it more exciting for film, unlike most writers. He said he thought it dragged and that Burton wasn't in character during the movie.
He also pointed out things that he liked about the movie including some of the casting (Fiedler, Control). It wasn't all negative. He's a very elegant speaker, and didn't come across as a curmudgeon at all. In fact he was quite humble and polite about the things he didn't like.
Agreed.
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