Focus Features

When I first met John le Carré, he was very clear about his wishes regarding the film version of his novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; “Please don’t shoot the book or remake the TV miniseries. They already exist. I’m not going to interfere, but you can call me any time if there is anything you wonder about.”

I think we have obeyed him to the letter.

Of course, you cannot encompass every detail in a book of 349 pages at the movies. But you can take themes and strands and moments, and try to describe what you see.

With Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I think we’ve made a film about loyalty and ideals, values that are extremely relevant – perhaps mostly because they are so rare these days?

-- Tomas Alfredson
August 2011

When I first met John le Carré, he was very clear about his wishes regarding the film version of his novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; “Please don’t shoot the book or remake the TV miniseries. They already exist. I’m not going to interfere, but you can call me any time if there is anything you wonder about.”

I think we have obeyed him to the letter.

Of course, you cannot encompass every detail in a book of 349 pages at the movies. But you can take themes and strands and moments, and try to describe what you see.

With Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I think we’ve made a film about loyalty and ideals, values that are extremely relevant – perhaps mostly because they are so rare these days?

-- Tomas Alfredson
August 2011