Smiley's People
List Price: $59.99
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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781569385951
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 1569385955
Label: Acorn Media
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: Acorn Media
Release Date: August 10, 2004
Running Time: 324 minutes
Sales Rank: 8271
Studio: Acorn Media
Theatrical Release Date: October 25, 1982
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Editorial Review:
Description:
The thrilling sequel to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Both had supposedly outlived their usefulness to the Circus, the British Secret Intelligence Service: George Smiley, the retired head of espionage, and General Vladimir, an aging informant who reported to him. When the general walks into a bullet after sending an urgent message to his old handler, the Circus asks Smiley to 'tidy things up.' But Smiley hears Vladimir’s message as a call to arms against his nemesis, the Soviet super spy Karla, once again tantalizingly within his grasp.
Alec Guiness reprises the role of British spymaster George Smiley in this gripping sequel to the television masterpiece Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Filmed on location in London, Paris, Hamburg and Berne, Smiley’s People also stars Eileen Atkins, Anthony Bate, Bernard Hepton, Michael Lonsdale, Beryl Reid, Patrick Stewart and Bill Patterson.
DVD Special Features Include: digitally remastered presentation, exclusive interview with John le Carré, production notes, cast filmographies, le Carré biography and booklist, full-color insert with glossary of characters and terms.
Amazon.com:
The second of the BBC's well-regarded serializations of John Le Carré's espionage bestsellers, Smiley's People is slightly less compulsively watchable than Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy if only because Tinker, Tailor had a much stronger plot premise (who is the mole in British Intelligence?) than Smiley's People, which takes a very long time to come into focus. Retired spymaster George Smiley (Alec Guinness) wanders around Europe and visits a succession of desperate or eccentric characters as he plays a game which finally leads to another confrontation with and a possible victory over his Moriarty-like Soviet arch-nemesis Karla (an expressive but silent Patrick Stewart).
Directed by Simon Langton and coscripted by John Hopkins and Le Carré himself, this is a leisurely mystery. It offers a cannily generous central performance from Guinness, who never takes off his scarf and does his best to fade into the background while a succession of striking character players hold center screen; but slowly and by sheer presence he begins to dominate the panoramic view of European treachery, deception, and disappointment. Among the terrific supporting cast are Michel Lonsdale, Mario Adorf, Vladek Sheybal, Michael Gough, Alan Rickman (a tiny, early role as a hotel clerk), Beryl Reid, Ingrid Pitt, Bernard Hepton, Michael Elphick, Rosalie Crutchley, Michael Byrne, Bill Paterson, and Maureen Lipman. Smiley's People is more interested in character than thrills, with each cameo contributing another view of the human cost of the cold war: most of the old friends Smiley seeks out react to his reappearance by saying they never wanted to see him again, and victory is only possible because Smiley discovers that his opposite number has a weakness that makes him almost sympathetic. It was originally broadcast in six hourlong episodes, and its intelligent approach works better if you watch episode-length chunks, letting one sink in before going on. --Kim Newman
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Very entertaining 6 hours!I rented the 3-disc set from my library after I had just finished watching "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, ... Read More
Rating:
- Unforgettable, even better than TTSSI will buck the trend of amazon's reviewer and some of the other reviews here - I actually think Smiley's ... Read More
Rating:
- Smiley's PeopleI remember watching this series when it first aired and never thought I'd see it again. Great acting, wonderful ... Read More
Rating:
- ClassicLove the BBC and Alec Guiness. Almost as compelling as Tinker Tinker Soldier Spy
Rating:
- A Gift Well ReceivedPurchased as a b'day present for me sainted mum (aged 91), I myself haven't viewed it. But she was ecstatic, particularly ... Read More
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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.