In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control, resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian agent - a mole - and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. Smiley had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent, Ricky Tarr, that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him. Through the efforts of Peter Guillam, Smiley obtains information that eventually leads him to Jim Prideaux, the agent at the heart of the Hungary fiasco...

Based on the novel by John le Carre (considered one of the best spy novels ever). This is a remake of a BBC mini series from the 1970's and it is a powerful though complex tale. Gary Oldman has been nominated for Best Actor and the British Acadamy film Awards nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Directer, Screenplay etc... one of the better British films of the year.

Mary Pols, Time: OUTSTANDING
"...so elegant, deliberate and smart that it's a shocker it got made.... [It's the] kind of film that asks you to sit with it a while and to pay attention.... Oldman has been waiting for a part such as this for years. He makes every second on screen count."