Patrick Stewart and Alec Guinness in Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy
Stewart says nothing. But, he doesn’t need to. Great scene between two legendary actors.
Whoa, wait, what? How did I not know that Patrick Stewart played Karla in the Tinker Tailor Solider Spy TV series? And if I did know at some point, how did I forget?
That being said? I think I like this whole scene better as it’s relayed in the book and in the new movie, where the audience only gets it through the filter of George Smiley’s narration of his own memories. When all you see of the story is Smiley telling it to Guillam, you get more layers to work with—not just in what Smiley reveals about himself when he’s talking to Karla, but also in what Smiley reveals about himself to Guillam when telling him the story about what he inadvertently revealed to Karla. I feel like something is lost when the viewer is actually permitted to watch this scene “as it happened”. I can see why the TV producers thought it would be a good idea to do this, but I’m not sure it was the best decision.
(Then again, maybe I just need to watch the TV series to see it in context.)
