VARIOUS: Gary Oldman stars alongside Colin Firth in 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' based on the classic 1974 spy thriller novel by John le Carre

Record ID: 220704

  • Title: VARIOUS: Gary Oldman stars alongside Colin Firth in 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' based on the classic 1974 spy thriller novel by John le Carre
  • Date: 7th December 2011
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 06, 2011) (REUTERS) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS OF PREMIERE RED CARPET AND POSTER FOR "TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY" VARIOUS OF ACTORS GARY OLDMAN AND COLIN FIRTH POSING FOR PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR GARY OLDMAN, SAYING: "It's less about the gadgets and the gizmos, the Aston Martins, and I guess it's a little more realistic, like another le Carre book, 'The Spy Who Came In From the Cold,' or the 'Harry Palmer' series, you know, it makes you, I think the movie demands something of you." WIDE OF CARPET COLIN FIRTH AND ACTOR MARK STRONG POSING FOR PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR COLIN FIRTH, SAYING: "It's like peering through the keyhole, you know, you've had the glamourous version, and if you want to know what these men really talk about, and what high-stakes situations are like in reality, this is your glimpse at it." ACTOR MARK STRONG GARY OLDMAN SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR GARY OLDMAN, SAYING: "I don't know how much has changed, to be really honest. I mean, we were always sort of, we always felt that there was this covert world going on, and we were any minute on the brink of annihilation with an atom bomb, from Russia. I don't know what's really changed very much, you know, the faces change, and the enemy changes, and we go through these periods of stability, and then you know, someone goes and shoots a missile off the coast of California." COLIN FIRTH SPEAKING WITH REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR COLIN FIRTH, SAYING: "It's highly secretive, people are fascinated by secrets, they're fascinated by secret worlds, secret societies, the stakes are incredibly high because, you know, supposedly, if you buy into the idea, the fate of nations rests on the shoulders of these one or two guys with their secret missions, so all that stuff is rich cinema and literature." MARK STRONG SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR MARK STRONG, SAYING: "That's always a great bonus, when set decoration and art decoration is as well done as this was, this was perfect. It automatically transports you back to that world, and you can have great fun sorting out what costumes you're wearing, what jacket you're going to wear, for example, when you're going to be the spy in Budapest who is bringing back the Soviet general, you can really think about that stuff, and you know, it's not that long ago for me, but it's a period drama, and when the details are correct it makes the job so much easier." GARY OLDMAN COLIN FIRTH WIDE OF CARPET
  • Embargoed: 22nd December 2011 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA1OV5I2S1BD1E0YTYJ3RMX08CP
  • Story Text: Gary Oldman and Colin Firth star in new Cold War-era espionage thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," which premiered in the United States Tuesday (December 06). Both stars were on hand at the red carpet gala for the film, held in Hollywood at the Arclight Cineramadome.
    The new film is the second screen incarnation of the classic 1974 novel by John Le Carre; it was first seen as a wildly popular British television miniseries starring Alec Guiness. Now starring Oldman as newly -retired George Smiley, charged with rooting out a mole in British intelligence, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is a "thinking man's" spy thriller, far from the action-packed James Bond film series that made the genre famous.
    "It's less about the gadgets and the gizmos, the Aston Martins, and I guess it's a little more realistic," says Gary Oldman, adding "I think the movie demands something of you."
    "It's like peering through the keyhole, you know, you've had the glamourous version, and if you want to know what these men really talk about, and what high-stakes situations are like in reality, this is your glimpse at it," adds actor Colin Firth, describing the sense of realism deployed in the film, directed by Tomas Alfredson.
    Oldman shines as the taciturn Smiley, who is sacked from British intelligence after his boss orders an operation to recruit a Hungarian general which goes badly wrong.
    But he quickly returns to the cloak-and-dagger world of agents, double agents, deceit and danger when it emerges that the Soviets have infiltrated Britain's spy agencies.
    Oldman says he didn't think much of the Cold War when he was growing up, but says that he doesn't think much has changed since the period.
    "I don't know how much has changed, to be really honest. I mean, we were always sort of, we always felt that there was this covert world going on, and we were any minute on the brink of annihilation with an atom bomb, from Russia," says Oldman. "The faces change, and the enemy changes, and we go through these periods of stability, and then you know, someone goes and shoots a missile off the coast of California."
    Spy fiction has always captivated audiences, and the Cold War era is chock full of material for a meaty plot with twists and turns in "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."
    "It's highly secretive, people are fascinated by secrets, they're fascinated by secret worlds, secret societies, the stakes are incredibly high because, you know, supposedly, if you buy into the idea, the fate of nations rests on the shoulders of these one or two guys with their secret missions, so all that stuff is rich cinema and literature," says Colin Firth.
    The film seeks to recreate the sights and sounds of 1970s London and Eastern Europe, and explores deception between nations as well as betrayals on a personal, more painful level. Actor Mark Strong, who plays a covert agent in "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," says that the art direction and costuming work in the film helped to make him feel he was a part of 1970s Europe.
    "That's always a great bonus, when set decoration and art decoration is as well done as this was, this was perfect. It automatically transports you back to that world," says Strong. "And when the details are correct it makes the job so much easier."
    "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" opens in select cities December 9th.
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