In the real world, where his real name is David Cornwall, he was one of the British spies who was betrayed by Kim Philby, the notorious MI6 operative who was a double agent for the Soviets.
In the fictional version, MI6 is headed by Control John Hurt , who studies a series of intelligence leaks and becomes convinced there's a mole in the agency; the nature of the intelligence suggests it must come from high up, and Control narrows his list of suspects to five men close to him.
The movie introduces them one by one, each played by a familiar face in a film cast with iconic British actors. If you're wondering what happened to "Spy," that would be whoever turns out to be the mole. The film, set mostly in London in the early s, is bathed in browns, shadows and pale lighting.
All of the men show a lot of wear, none more than Control; John Hurt's face is weary and deeply lined, his eyes set deep out of the way of cigarette smoke, but lest you think that is entirely because of aging, I interviewed him in while he was filming "," and he looked much the same then.
As the film opens, he has learned that a Hungarian general who would know the mole's identity may be a possible defector. In a muted, serious conversation that will set the film's tone, he assigns Jim Prideaux Mark Strong to go to Budapest and talk to this man.
That mission goes wrong and serves to alert the Soviets -- although the mole would already know Control was engaged in sniffing him out.
In the kerfuffle that follows, both Control and Smiley are dismissed from the service. Some time later, Control is dead from a heart attack, and Smiley is recalled from "retirement" to continue the search for the mole. Now follows a series of paranoid meetings in sealed rooms, snatched conversations in obscure corners of London and flashbacks that may cast light on Smiley's investigation, although we cannot yet know for sure.
All of this is superbly atmospheric in the hands of director Tomas Alfredson , who made the sober and effective vampire movie " Let the Right One In.
Alfredson's film is faithful to the tone set by the novel. George Smiley : I want to talk about loyalty, Toby. Control recruited you, didn't he? He found you starving in a museum in Vienna, a wanted man. He saved your life, I heard. And yet, when the time came It's understandable, perhaps, with your war experience. You survived this long, I suppose, because of your ability to change sides, to serve any master.
Easterhase : What's George Smiley : It's about which master you've been serving, Toby. Sign In. Play trailer Drama Mystery Thriller. Director Tomas Alfredson. Top credits Director Tomas Alfredson. See more at IMDbPro. Trailer Domestic Trailer. UK Trailer. Trailer 1. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Clip Featurette UK Premiere. Photos Top cast Edit. John Hurt Control as Control. Arthur Nightingale Bryant as Bryant.
Control does this because he knows Smiley is not the mole, he was in Germany when Jim was compromised. After some time, Control dies.
Connie Sachs, a research agent, notices that a footage in which Polyakov in plain clothes receives a salute. She takes his finding to Esterhase and Alleline who is now head of The Circus. Esterhase and Alleline obvious already know this. Polyakov is their mole or so they think. They get Connie Sachs fired and the matter is put to rest. A point to note here is that Esterhase, Alleline and Roy Bland are not moles. They are just very attached to Operation Witchcraft and want to make sure no one tampers with it.
They are simply, brainlessly, doing everything to protect Polyakov. Ricky makes his way back to England and eventually reaches out to Oliver Lacon for help. He too tells Oliver the possibility of the mole.
Oliver now realizes that this is no longer just a theory and reaches out to Smiley asking him to start his investigation. Smiley picks Peter Guillam and a trustworthy retiree by the name Mendel to join the investigation with him. Smiley then contacts Connie and learns about her doubt on Polyakov. Ricky meets with Smiley and tells him his story, about Irina. He wants to save her. Smiley notices the payment to Jim two months after his death. He locates and meets with Jim and hears his side of the story.
He gets to know that Irina was executed in front of Jim. Smiley does this to check if that communication was indeed the truth. Peter manages to steal the logs but before he leaves, Esterhase intercepts him and asks him to come to a meeting room.
They tell him that Ricky is a rogue agent and ask Peter to come to them soon as Ricky tries to make contact. Peter leaves. When he heads back to meet Smiley, he sees Ricky.
He punches Ricky in the face because he assumes that he has just stolen the logs for the sake of a rogue agent. Smiley asks for the communication date from Ricky and opens the logs to look for that date — November Smiley shows Peter that the pages corresponding to those dates have been torn out.
This confirms that Ricky is telling the truth and that the mole is covering up information. Smiley and Peter have an evening of drinks and Smiley tells him about his run-in with Karla in Delhi. After that, he tells Peter to wind up everything from a security perspective. It is revealed to the audience that Peter is homosexual and for the safety of his partner breaks up with him with a heavy heart. Smiley meets Oliver Lacon and the minister and talks with them about Operation Witchcraft.
They tell Smiley that the informant is Polyakov. They explain how they get Russian intel from him. Smiley corrects them saying the real job of Polyakov is to receive information from the mole to take back to Karla.
Oliver and the minister are in shock that they have been enabling this. They ask Smiley to fix the situation. Smiley sends Ricky to Paris. Smiley then proceeds to meet Toby Esterhase and threatens him with treason. He also brings up how Toby has been unfaithful to Control. In fear, Esterhase gives up the secret address where they meet Polyakov. In Paris, Ricky manages to hold a British intelligence agent at gunpoint to send out a message to The Circus.
The message that is sent out is the exact same one he sends on November 20th. As expected, Bill heads to talk with Polyakov and instructs him to kill Ricky because of the message. Smiley and Peter are at the address waiting for Bill and Polyakov, and Smiley holds them both at gunpoint.
They are arrested and at this point it is revealed to the audience that Bill is the mole. He asks Smiley to give some money to a girl and come up with a cover story. He also requests to get some money handed to a boy. We can assume them to be love interests.
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