Smiley's People

It's impossible for me to assess this six-part series (1982) apart from its seven-part prequel, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" (1979). The latter, I think, is superior, but that may be a matter of taste. "Tinker, Tailor" is a thinking man's thriller, in which a top M16 operative, recently discharged from his post, is quietly brought back into arms to discover the identity of a mole, or double agent, within British intelligence. That operative, George Smiley, reprises his performance as an outside investigator of internal troubles in "Smiley's People," which begins as a thinking man's murder mystery but evolves into something else: a character study of Smiley himself, revealed through his interactions with other characters. That makes for this viewer a less gripping experience, but one with, perhaps, greater depth. Common to both series are extremely convoluted plots and scores of characters, many of whom trade under different names and identities. Both series, produced by Jonathan Powell for the BBC, unfold at a languorous pace to which an American audience, conditioned by short scenes and fast cuts, must reorient itself. "Tinker, Tailor" is punctuated by more violent peril; "Smiley's People" depends on lengthy conversations and psychological excavations unusual for television. The latter series tells its story on a broader canvas: location filming in London, Pars, Hamburg, Bern. The production values are excellent; the acting, superb; the direction (by Simon Langton) slack where "TInker"'s staging and pacing (by John Irvin) are more taut.As good as John Le Carré's source novels are, both series would fail without Alec Guinness as Smiley at their centers. As Le Carré comments in an insightful interview included among this set's special features, Guinness "did nothing" onscreen better than any other actor he knew. He speaks with measured softness, only when and as much as necessary. There's no wasted movement. With the benefit of camera close-ups, Guinness is a master of acting with the eyes, a small gesture, a milimeter's tilt of head, an expressionless, lived-in face that speaks volumes. It's very hard to describe, but it's a stunning performance: the anti-Bond, just as Le Carre's novels are anti-Flemings. It's worth watching "Smiley's People" for no reason other than to admire Guinness "do nothing" so mesmerizingly.Two cautions: 1. You may do well to play this series with its caption feature. I abhor having to read lines when my eye wants to focus on the visuals, but I am hard of hearing. Even with doubled speakers turned up very high, I had great difficulty understanding many of the actors' lines. They tend to speak softly, with dialects difficult for better American ears than mine to catch. Guinness's diction, however, is perfect. 2. The image quality of these discs is the poorest of any Blu-ray I can remember. The manufacturer, Acorn, usually does a much better job than this, leading me to wonder if their source elements were inferior. Still, I won't return the set because (a) it's currently priced at less than 50% of its original ($25.00 vs $60.00) and (b) of Alec Guinness.

Like the other famous best-seller turned BBC series coming from the unchallenged master of the intelligent spy thriller John LeCarre, this original teleplay is an absorbing treatise on the hidden and conflicted corners of the human heart, the many ways in which our own natures feed into and extend the darker impulse of a society bent on pursuing the secrets and treachery that ever lurks for the unsuspecting victim. Here, in the finale of LeCarre's three best-selling novels tracing the pilgrim's progress of George Smiley, the intrepid and unlikely hero of the post-industrial Western world, Alec Guiness wonderfully reprises his role as George Smiley, concluding LeCarre's marvelously convoluted narrative. Thus do we trace the continuing history of human perfidy, moral compromises, and treachery native to the world of British intelligence.In "Smiley's People", the object of Smiley's ministrations is once again thrust toward achieving final revenge against the legendary Karla, the Chief of the Soviet Covert Espionage Bureau, played masterfully in an understated fashion by Patrick Stewart. Having stuck a devastating blow against Karla previously through the ingenious employment of Jerry Westerby in the Far East, Smiley now turns to using an assassination in London of an obscure Eastern European émigré and would-be counter-revolutionary into an entry-point into Karla's domain, and as the Circus (British Intelligence) begins to unravel the many points of light this careful sifting of signs through tradecraft, they discover the one irresistible lure they need to tempt Karla out of the darkness and into their waiting clutches. Given all the murder and mayhem that Karla has visited both on the Circus in general and on George Smiley in particular, there is a number of levels of revenge operating here, and these the production faithfully mines in exploring the impulses, rational and otherwise, that propel such human urges.The cast of characters and the supporting cast are marvelous in revealing the onion skin as it continually peels away in this intelligent, taut tale. The plot, as usual, is ingenious, intricate, and horrific in its human toll, played out against a landscape of the far-flung persons and places across the European landscape, from London to Berne to Deep inside the former Soviet Union. Once again we are whisked away on a cautious yet beautifully choreographed adventure into the heart of darkness of ourselves, and we shouldn't be surprised to find some scar tissue and broken bones as we descend deeper into the tortuous caverns we keep hidden in our subconscious realms.LeCarre is nothing if not a superb chronicler of the ways in which our own natures become a battle ground for the struggle between good and evil, the good we can be for others, and the evil we do to them and ourselves by subscribing to ideologies, almost any ideology, that finally forces us to choose between our values and our duty. This is a marvelous video production, eminently faithful to the text from which it springs, a stunning example of the sophistication, complexity, and sheer intelligence of sensitive film-making and astonishing in its depiction of the subterranean world of international espionage. Enjoy!

Originally shot on 16mm film and arguably the best drama miniseries the BBC have yet made, Smiley's People has long been overdue a blu-ray release to upgrade the rather bogstandard DVD that's been available for many years. Unfortunately the job of restoring this leading drama was not given to the leading experts in film restoration, but to an outfit who were rather too fond of digital noise reduction. So, whilst they have gone back to the surviving film elements (which, mercifully, still existed in the BBC vaults), in many scenes they've applied such overzealous noise reduction that the picture takes on a wierd waxy, crayon-like appearance. Having said that, the quality is still an order of magnitude better than the old DVD (the latter simply using the show's transmission videotape as its source) and the quality of the actual programme is so superb that I'm still going to give this release 5 stars.If you've never seen Smiley's People before then you're in for a treat—it's a very faithful adaption of John Le Carré's novel, a sequel to the superb Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Nearly all the cast reprise their roles (including of course Alec Guinness—Le Carré had said that by now he was writing the books with Guinness in mind) with the notable exception of Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam, but you can't have everything. And it's made up for by appearences by from everyone to Mauren Lipman to Vladek Sheybal, with the actors playing Madame Ostrakava, Karla's daughter Tatiana and the hapless Grigoriev turning in particularly excellent performances. The soundtrack music is also particularly effective (and I see has also been given a digital and vinyl re-release to accompany this Blu-ray).

Updating my review based on the UK version of this - the US version is dreadful by the way and this product page reviews do not distinguish between the two versions, so watch out!This UK release stands up nicely alongside the UK bluray of Tinker Tailor. It's fantastic to finally have both in amazing bluray quality, absolutely stunning transfer from the original film stock. If you've enjoyed Smiley's People before, buy this and love it all the more, again.

Just when I thought Tinker was brilliant enough, it was great to see Smiley's People equalling the quality of the original.Sir Alec's acting superb as ever and I thought the re-appearance of the late Beryl Reid was a stroke of genius too, I loved her scene in the story, which she seemed to have a little more time on screen in this one or was it about the same? Either way, stunning!I'm so glad I added this to the collection, I encourage you to do the same.

Good all round production from the BBC although not all the actors could continue over from Tinker Taylor, etc. Doesn't spoil it. Gets right underneath Le Carre's novel and has no wasted scenes. This Blu-ray version is lots better than earlier DVD and sharper even though obtained from original BBC recording. They appear to have increased the contrast, which works, although this does extenuate warm colours depending on reds. Shows up in shade on necks only a few times, but is apparent on Alec Guinness' hands. Without makeup, his arthritis shows as red blush. Don't let that put you off. Worth the price especially if following Tinker Taylor.

Often the blu-ray version of a television program is nothing but the original in new packaging. But I can honestly say this is a true restoration. Wonderfully clear images and sound quality especially compared to the dvd version. The program itself is one of the best spy shows ever produced simple as that