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Spotlight Films screening Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on Tuesday

Spotlight Films will be showing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy at the Gem Theatre on Tuesday, March 27, featuring Gary Oldman.

On Tuesday, March 27, Spotlight Films will be showing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Based on the 1974 novel by John le Carre, this spy thriller is set in 1973, the Cold War era, and features Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, The Fifth Element) as George Smiley.

An operation in Budapest goes horribly wrong, forcing the head of British Intelligence, Control (1981 Academy Award nominee John Hurt, The Elephant Man), to resign and Smiley to retire.

It is soon revealed that the failed operation was set up to identify which of four senior figures in the intelligence service was a Russian mole, as control had suspected.

The now semi-retired Smiley is approached by a senior government official to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent that there was indeed a mole.

Smiley considers the failure of the Hungarian operation and the success of the Soviet “Operation Witchcraft” to be confirmation of this and sets out to uncover the rodent. With the help of compatriot Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch, Atonement and War Horse) Smiley is led to Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong, Body of Lies), the agent at the centre of the Hungarian fiasco.

Also starring in this stimulating flick is Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King's Speech), as Bill Haydon.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, directed by Thomas Alredson (several Swedish films and television series), was nominated for three 2012 Academy Awards: Best Actor, Oldman; Best Adapted Screenplay, Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, Best Original Score.

Anachronisms are evident in any movie if you look for them. For instance, speed bumps weren't around in 1973. Despite the fact this movie contains a few, for me it’s still well capable of retaining that sweet state of suspended disbelief.

Strange quote by John le Carre: “Having your book turned into a movie is like having your oxen turned into bouillon.”

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will shown at the Gem Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on March 27.

– Spotlight Films (synopsis provided in part by David Brain).