The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I had not heard about this series until the film with the same name was screened in 2011 - and that I liked a lot. Now, years later, I took the time and opportunity to watch this that was a kind of basis. Although the series seems slow at times and around 10% of each episode are dedicated to credit titles, the thrill is there, with several distinct performances (particularly Alec Guinness as George Smiley/"Beggarman"), but overall quality and outdated aspect ratio do not enable to enjoy the series in full, and the 2011 film excelled at the cast and screenplay. Luckily, I did not remember well the Russian spy´s name who was hunted, so I could follow the series in full (I am not a man who is eager to compare books and productions, focusing on determining the similarities and mismatches).

This series has to be one of the most well written TV series in my opinion, the dialogue is so well placed. I never felt a single character say something just for the sake of it or as a filler, everything to the looks that Smiley would give or smirks the actors would occasionally give each other is a part of the character role. It is a slow build up but you never feel it drag. This show is about character development done to its best, and the actors especially the sublime yet superb Alec Guinness and Beryl Reid give a beautiful and profound performance.The story line is well done too, you feel a part of the Cold War era and the spy machinations and the intrigue grip you. This is story writing and telling at its finest. I wish more shows could be made that placed emphasis on good story telling and actors who would invest in bringing characters to life.

This movie was completely confusing. It is nothing but a bunch of scenes strung together but there is no logical order to them. You could take the film, cut it at every scene junction and then toss the pieces on the floor and let a bunch of goats loose to prance about on them for an hour or two to scramble them up real good. Then pick them up at random and splice the pieces together. You couldn't tell the difference before and after. As long as the opening and closing credits were at the front and back it would be the same movie as what the producers released. This review applies equally to the Alec Guiness and Gary Oldman films. Both aren't worth watching, unless you feel compelled to watch them several times to try to figure them out. Not worth the bother.

I re-watched this after two decades. I have never read the novel so I am not in a position to appraise the adaptation from book to screen.This was a prestige BBC adaptation and a lot of money was spent on getting Alec Guinness star as Smiley and some location set pieces. However once you get over such trappings the production values are still very much interior settings. Briefings in rooms and what not.Guinness is all stillness, lettings others to do the talking and revealing themselves a little too much. Just as Karla did the same to him some years ago. Only Nigel Stock manages to ruffle his feathers.This gives other actors such as Hywel Bennett, Ian Richardson, Joss Ackland, Beryl Reid a chance to shine whilst Guinness looks on.The drama demands concentration from the viewer, it is dense, a lot of chatter regarding the world of spooks. The Circus does look a lot like the old public school network. Whereas even in those days the secret service had enough of the shifters and drifters as shown in other spy novels.Hywel Bennett as Ricki Tarr, Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam and Ian Bannen as Jim Prideaux shows how dangerous, mean and ruthless such spies can be. Tarr has told so many lies that the truth is so hard to tell without adding some shade.At the Circus Ian Richardson punctures the pompous atmosphere as he displays undercurrents of rebellion. Patrick Stewart makes a silent cameo and right at the end Mrs Smiley makes an appearance, a person we hear so much about throughout the series.