Welcome to Re-make Mondays, a new weekly feature that will take a look at a remake/reboot currently being waved at audiences. I’ll feature the remake, and also what footage or content I can from the original, and then leave the helpless victim for you all to tear apart or cuddle up to in the comments. So, let’s get started:

This week’s re-make is not so much a strict film re-make, but more the graduation of a classic television interpretation to the big screen. Considering how well acclaimed the original story is, it’s quite surprising this hasn’t happened sooner.

TV to big screen spy capers are nothing new (Mission Impossible and Get Smart come to mind, among others) but John le Carré’s Cold War-set epic, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy stands head and shoulders above other entries in the genre. And that’s just the book, a towering spy classic set in the suspicious drudgery of the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union.

The protagonist, George Smiley, may not have the panache of Bond, or the grit of Bourne, but has emerged as one of the spy genre’s most memorable characters, and I purposely don’t use the word “hero” to describe this middle-aged, taciturn retiree who is dragged out of retirement to capture a mole in the British Secret Service.

The book was adapted into a television series in 1979, starring Alec Guinness (fresh off a role in the Tunisian desert as an elderly Jedi master…) as the eponymous George. Here’s a clip from the original series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILYP9YnCZUs

In 2008, reports began to surface that producers were looking to revive le Carre’s classic on the big screen – citing the cult success of the 1979 TV series, and Hollywood’s desire to recruit a new spy hero to match the success of Bourne, Bond et al. The trouble with this enterprise has always been selling the rather dour Smiley, and the distinctly dystopian world of Seventies espionage that he inhabits. The plot is an exercise of the mind, and the wits, more than the exploits of the hero’s sexual prowess and explosive tactics bookending the plot.

In 2010, Tomas Alfredson (who had impressed with his gloomy, ghoulish take on Swedish vampire chiller, Låt den rätte komma in) was announced as Director of an upcoming big screen outing for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, with Gary Oldman taking the role of George Smiley, and much of the British A-list in tow, including Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Here’s the trailer for the 2011 version:

My Verdict: This looks positively thrilling – a heavyweight cast pitted against one of the most cunning spy plots ever created, with some stunning visuals and what looks like a pitch perfect take on the moody, miserable pre-Thatcher years when the East and West’s thumbs never hovered far from the little red buttons.

The strength of the 1970s Tinker, Tailor was the tightly plotted script and edgy, on form cast- there was certainly no budget for screen shredding special effects, and thankfully now, even with a faithful recreation of the era, it looks like strong story and stellar acting talent are also at the top of the list. Definitely one to look forward to.