Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Smiley's People Blu-ray Movie Review

More Smiley, Less Smiling

Reviewed by Michael Reuben July 23, 2013

After the success of the 1979 TV miniseries adaptation of John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, its producers were eager for a sequel. Le Carré had written two more novels featuring the cerebral Cold War master of espionage, George Smiley, but the middle volume of the series, The Honourable Schoolboy, was deemed too expensive to adapt because of its Far East setting. Instead, producer John Powell turned to the third book in the so-called "Karla Trilogy" (named after Smiley's chief adversary in Soviet intelligence), entitled Smiley's People. Smiley was once again played by Sir Alec Guinness, and several familiar faces from Tinker Tailor also returned. (A few roles had to be recast, when the original actors were not available.) As on Tinker Tailor, le Carré assisted in writing the script, although principal responsibility for the adaptation fell to writer John Hopkins (ironically, one of the screenwriters on the film adaptation of a very different kind of spy story, Thunderball). Smiley's People aired on the BBC in six parts from September 20 through October 22, 1982. It began airing on PBS in the U.S. three days later.

Smiley's People has mysteries, but it doesn't offer anything like the puzzle game of Tinker Tailor's mole hunt. What it offers is a sense of resolution, as Smiley and his life-long nemesis play out their last game across the European continent, even while the passage of time threatens to render them both irrelevant. Leadership of the Western forces in the Cold War now rests firmly with the American CIA, and Smiley's old outfit, informally known as "the Circus", is still licking its wounds from the damage inflicted by Karla in Tinker Tailor and a power struggle that ensued after Smiley took over, on a temporary basis, at the conclusion of that story. Meanwhile, Karla's position in "Moscow Centre", as the Circus refers to KGB headquarters, may not be as secure as it once was. In just a few years' time, the Gorbachev era will commence, with its calls for "glasnost" and "perestroika". For a fanatic like Karla, it will not be a good time. (One has to wonder what he would think of Vladimir Putin's post-Soviet Russia.)

Spoiler Alert: The following discussion assumes familiarity with Tinker Tailor in one form or another (novel, TV miniseries or the 2011 film starring Gary Oldman). If you do not already know the plot of Tinker Tailor, read further at your own risk.

The story begins in Paris with an émigré from the Soviet republic of Estonia, Madame Ostrakova (Eileen Atkins), who is contacted on different occasions by two different Russians about the illegitimate daughter, Alexandra, whom she abandoned in the Soviet Union when she defected to the West. One of the Russians, Oleg Kirov (Dudley Sutton), is plump, officious and intimidating. The other, Otto Leipzig (Vladek Sheybal), is sleek, charming and reassuring.

Madame Ostrakova maintains contact with a general in London named Vladimir (Curd Jürgens, in his final role), a former double agent for the Circus, who is the unofficial head of all Estonians who have fled or escaped from Soviet tyranny. The General, who has been retired from espionage for some years, takes great interest in these accounts from Paris; indeed, it is the General who dispatched Leipzig to see Madame Ostrakova after she wrote to him about her strange communications with Kirov.

One day, the General contacts the Circus on the so-called "lifeline", a telephone reserved for communications by inactive agents. The call is taken by Nigel Mostyn (Stephen Riddle), a young Circus agent on the staff of the communications center known informally as "Oddbins". The General demands to speak to his old handler, "Max". When Mostyn types the code name "Max" into the decrypter, it returns the real name: George Smiley. The General demands a meeting according to "Moscow rules". "Tell Max it concerns the Sandman", he says.

Mostyn is not at liberty to disclose that Smiley is retired (again), but he arranges the meeting. Before anyone can speak to the General, however, his body is found in a manner that Smiley recognizes, when he accompanies the police to the scene, as a traditional Soviet method of execution. What did the General want to tell him about "the Sandman" (a/k/a Karla)?

The consensus among the Wise Men—the new oversight committee formed to supervise the Circus—is that the General just wanted attention, and Oliver Lacon (Anthony Bate), the same minister who asked Smiley's help tracking down the mole in Tinker Tailor, turns to him once again. But Lacon's attitude is much changed under the regime of the Circus' new head, Saul Enderby (Barry Foster). Unlike Smiley, Lacon and Enderby don't care what the General had to say. They just want the whole mess to go away:

You know who his buddies are, who he hunted with. Speak to them. If there's any milk been spilt, I trust you to get it back into the bottle. You're his executor, George. Tidy him up. Keep us out of it. And don't wander.

For almost two thirds of Smiley's People, Smiley is on his own, retracing the General's steps, reconstructing whatever it was the secretive ex-pat wished to tell him. In the process, he consults his former head of research, Connie Sachs (Beryl Reid), now ailing and retired to a cottage near Oxford, whom Smiley plies with whisky to get what he wants, even though he knows it isn't good for her. He also consults his former colleague, Toby Esterhase (Bernard Hepton)—dubbed "Poorman" during Tinker Tailor's mole hunt—who, like Smiley, is also retired from the Circus and trying to pass as an art and antiques dealer in London. Smiley makes the rounds of the General's network and eventually finds himself in Hamburg, sitting in a sex club owned by one Claus Kretzschmar (Mario Adorf), a partner of Otto Leipzig, the man whom the General sent to meet with Madame Ostrakova in Paris. Eventually, he meets her too, though she is, by that point, much the worse for wear, after surviving an attempt on her life.

It is in Paris that Smiley reconnects with his old comrade-in-arms from their mole-hunting days, Peter Guillam (now played by Michael Byrne). Currently working under diplomatic cover at the British embassy, Guillam arranges protection for Madame Ostrakova and transport to London for the sensitive materials that Smiley has gathered on his search. Smiley has collected enough hard evidence to convince Enderby of what Smiley knew all along: namely, that General Vladimir had something substantial to offer—a solid lead on their old enemy, Karla (Patrick Stewart), solid enough that Karla had him killed for it. Backed now by some measure of Circus support, Smiley sets off to end Karla's reign for good, but in his own delicately precise manner (or, as he puts it, "with the minimum of force"). Once upon a time, as recounted in Tinker Tailor, Smiley tried to persuade Karla to defect to the West. Now he sees an opportunity to complete that task and, in the bargain, gain a treasure trove of information. But one misstep, and his quarry will vanish.

Smiley's People is every bit as intricate and elusive (and sometimes as frustrating to follow) as Tinker Tailor, but the real pleasure of the series is watching Alec Guinness inhabit this inscrutably severe character with whom he had become so closely identified that even Smiley's creator, John le Carré, found it difficult to separate them. The Smiley of Smiley's People is an even tougher nut than the relentless mole-hunter of Tinker Tailor. Having been duped so thoroughly by a trusted colleague who used his fondness for his wife, Ann (Siân Phillips), as a weapon, Smiley has shed every last trace of emotion or sentiment. Now, when people ask after his wife, Smiley responds with easy pleasantries, as if everything were normal. In fact, the marriage is over and Ann lives with relatives in the country, but Smiley no longer cares. He goes to visit Ann briefly before departing for his final reckoning with Karla, but it's a courtesy call, a warning to stay out of London until the business is concluded, just in case anyone is tempted to take hostages. His demeanor is so different from the meeting with Ann in Tinker Tailor that one can feel the chill in the air. (Ann certainly does.)

Whether manipulating Otto Leipzig's Hamburg business partner into disclosing information, or prying details out of the late General Vladimir's adjutant, Mikhel (Michael Gough), before threatening him with disaster if he doesn't keep silent, or intimidating a Russian diplomat named Grigoriev (Michael Lonsdale) into betraying his country, Smiley is even-toned, efficient and utterly ruthless. Grigoriev pays him the highest compliment, and also, without realizing it, issues the harshest judgment, when he tells Smiley that he reminds Grigoriev of Karla himself.

Smiley's People Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Smiley's People was made before British television had fully switched over to film, but like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it was shot on 16mm. The source materials used for Acorn Media's 1080i, AVC-encoded Blu-ray presentation are in considerably better shape than those from which the Blu-rays of Tinker Tailor were derived, but they do not appear to have been through the kind of restoration that was done for Brideshead Revisited. Scratches, knicks and speckles are still plentiful, although not to an extent that anyone's viewing experience should be significantly diminished. The image, while stronger than that on Tinker Tailor, is not sharp by anyone's definition, and detail weakens as soon the camera pulls back any distance from its subject. Still, colors are stronger, and the grainy mush that so often obscured the frame in Tinker Tailor is largely absent.

Could a better image be extracted from the existing elements? I have no idea. The image we are seeing today was considered such a vast improvement over the standard of the time that it may just be what was captured. I defer to the technical people who actually know what's on the elements. All I can attest is that, three years after Tinker Tailor, the camera work had considerably improved.

Smiley's People Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The miniseries' original mono soundtrack is presented as DTS-HD MA 2.0, and it sounds about as good as I imagine it ever will. The dialogue is perfectly clear, and the atmospheric score by Patrick Gowers is effectively reproduced despite a somewhat limited dynamic range.

Smiley's People Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• John le Carré Interview (480i; 1.78:1; 19:33): This is the same interview previously included on the Blu-ray set for Tinker Tailor. Interviewed on March 8, 2002, when he was 70, the author reflects on his work generally, on the novels that featured George Smiley and on his work with Alec Guinness in adapting Smiley's People for television. It's a thoughtful, insightful interview, free of vanity or illusion.



• Deleted Scenes (480i; 1.36:1): These are organized by episode, but the individual scenes are not separately listed. Many are longer versions of scenes included in the final cut, but several are true "deleted" scenes. Some of the omitted exposition would have been useful, e.g., the explanation of Toby Esterhase's role as "postman" to the Riga group and his code name of "Hector". Note that, although these scenes clearly have been photographed at the same aspect ratio as the main feature, for some reason they are presented here in a slightly stretched format.
• Episode 1 (18:59)
• Episode 2 (16:13)
• Episode 3 (9:55)
• Episode 4 (4:29)
• Episode 5 (6:28)
• Episode 6 (8:28)



• Production Notes: Several screens of text discussing the background of Smiley's People.



• John le Carré Biography and Booklist: Concise and useful, but somewhat redundant in the age of Wikipedia.



• Glossary of Main Characters and Terms: This is supplied as an insert, and it is invaluable.



• Additional Trailers: At startup, disc 1 plays trailers for Acorn Media and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.

Smiley's People Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anyone who found Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (the film or the miniseries) slow going won't feel any different about Smiley's People. It's a cerebral, character-driven tale with virtually no action (though a few deaths do occur off-screen). The le Carré style of storytelling requires patience, tolerance for confusion and faith that all will eventually be explained. (Use the glossary. It helps.) Acorn's Blu-ray version of Smiley's People may not be the best that is possible, but it's the best we are likely to see for a long time, and it is certainly a far more enjoyable viewing experience than their release of Tinker Tailor. Recommended.