Smiley's People [Blu-ray]

Top rate LeCarre from the BBC . . . but beware
`Smiley's People' wrapped up the three John LeCarre Cold War novels concerning George Smiley, the lumpy, unprepossessing but brilliant British spymaster who plays a deadly game with his Russian nemesis, Karla, in the dark world of East/West espionage. As played marvelously by Alec Guinness in this filmed version co-produced by the BBC and Paramount Pictures, no matter how bland his character attempts to be he is always the center of attraction, though surrounded by great, mostly British character actors, among others Bernard Hepton as the shady, pseudo-sophisticated Toby Esterhase; Anthony Bates offering a somewhat more vulnerable version of his trademark supercilious performance as Smiley's former superior; Eileen Atkins as the doughty émigré mother of a long lost daughter who Karla has picked for his own daughter's new persona; Michael Lonsdale as one of Karla's bumbling Russian agents-in-place; and Barry Foster, in a delightful comic turn as the new head of the...

Alec Guinness reprises George Smiley in a marvelous sequel
SMILEY'S PEOPLE is a slight come down after the glories of TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY, but this needs some explanation. The latter is in my opinion one of the three or four finest things ever produced for television, while the former is merely one of the fifty or so finest things. He is easily one of the best things ever to appear on TV; it simply fails to be as glorious as the preceding series.

Both series contain virtues that are rare in television: enormous patience in developing a complex and challenging narrative, a refusal to insult the intelligence of the viewer (instead of making every point achingly obvious, they assume we'll figure it out eventually), a willingness to be content with small moments of drama instead of epic action sequences, and acting that can compete with that of the most outstanding Shakespearean production. In every way, this is the anti-Jame Bond spy drama. Though George Smiley's nemesis Karla (played in both series by Patrick Stewart, a...

Typical excellent story and acting, terrible DVD transfer
I'm torn as to how to review this set. The acting and story itself are superb, a glorious tour de force by Guinness and those around him, and Le Carre at top form -- though if I had to rate it I'd put it slightly behind "Tinker Tailor" in terms of gripping storytelling, this set is close behind. Rather than be duplicative, I'll let the other reviews speak for themselves on this element of the set.

But the transfer, the transfer is simply terrible. Someone cheaped out on the restoration of the sound in particular, and there are more than a few moments when the dialogue is essentially inaudible, a problem in a production as complex and deft as a BBC workup of a Le Carre drama. This is why I give this set three stars instead of the five the story and acting so richly deserve. Expect to have the sound cranked up uncomfortably loud while viewing, and still miss some dialogue.

You may be thinking that this is a thick American who doesn't understand English...

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