John Le Carre's A Perfect Spy

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Starring: Peter Egan
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Peter Smith
Studio: Acorn Media
Release Date: 2006-03-14
Running Time: 390 minutes
Number of Items: 3
What traits of nature and nurture go into the making of a master of deception? British agent Magnus Pym’s training begins in a chaotic childhood. His charismatic con man father trades secrets for love, bouncing in and out of jail and his son’s life. Schooled at Oxford and mentored by two masters of espionage, Magnus is poised for greatness—except that his mentors are on opposite sides of the battle.

With characters drawn from his own life, le Carré weaves a gripping tale of international intrigue brilliantly adapted for the BBC by Arthur Hopcraft, who also adapted le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for television. A Perfect Spy stars Peter Egan (Reilly: Ace of Spies) and Ray McAnally (A Very British Coup) with an exceptional supporting cast featuring Alan Howard, Peggy Ashcroft, and Sarah Badel.

It's Not Must-See TV
"A Perfect Spy" was the third of Britisher John LeCarre's cold war spy novels to be filmed for television by the British Broadcasting Company. As they generally did at that time, they threw money at the screen: script by the talented Arthur Hopcraft, who'd previously done the honors for the same author's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," and "Smiley's People;" location filming in glamorous places, extras and cars galore. Yet it's just not the same "must-see tv" as its stablemates.

Magnus Pym, played by Peter Egan, is here the perfect spy, double-dealing with zest. We are apparently supposed to think he's like this because his father Rik(Ray McAnally, who died soon after filming was completed) was an outside-the-law confidence trickster who enjoyed his work, and maybe that is enough to explain the son's behavior, who knows. It's certainly noticeable that most viewers will not find either main character particularly likeable;whereas Rik and his troops seem at least always to be having a good time, Magnus is portrayed as being a nasty little boy from the beginning. Interestingly enough, we must assume this material is intensely personal to its author. He's described his own father as a conman, and both author and his character Magnus have studied and worked in the German-speaking world. In fact, he's repeated these elements in several books, as he's repeated the seaside hideout, even the nickname "Tiger," here, used by father to son; in "Single and Single," the conman father is called "Tiger" himself.

So why doesn't it work? To begin with, it's seven episodes, the riveting "Tinker" and "Smiley" are only six. And the other two series have many sharply-drawn, memorable characters, plus attention-grabbing plots. There are many fewer characters here, they're not nearly as flavorful, and the plot, especially as it's a downer, doesn't really seem to need so many episodes. Furthermore, aside from McAnally, and Dame Peggy Ashcroft in an important supporting role, the Beeb seems to have stinted on the leading and supporting roles. Many of these actors are just not as expressive as they could be. A lot of viewers might find they are tempted to forget that third disk.

An outstanding adaptation of a novel which must have been very tough to film
This mini-series is based on one of the most complex books I have read - dealing extensively with the inner demons of a man on an inexorable path to self-annihilation. I am happy to note that this mini-series does a superb job of translating the story from the book to film.

Yes, allowances have been taken - I don't think one could have made a film of this book without taking such allowances. Purists will object, and I'm sure each of us can find fault in some of the choices made, but these choices, by definition, are very subjective. As a whole, on its own the mini-series stand as a brilliant achievement - a great character study of a man's loss of his own character as he descends into dark abysses of continuous duplicity.

Peter Egan, a surprising choice for the role, does an outstanding job in the title role. A number of users have commented on how inappropriate he is for the role. I disagree, and again, I think the problem is the subjectivity of the subject. So much of the movie is based on his inner feelings and it is hard to convey that to the viewer. Some might prefer a more robust expression of his inner turmoil, but that does not really fit well with the character. I think, his more subtle approach is much more engaging and truer to what I imagined in the book - of course, others may have imagined differently and for them this may become a problem with his portrayal.

Overall an outstanding adaptation of the Le Carre book. Be forewarned that, just like the book, it is long and deliberately slow moving and may not be for everyone. Very little 'action' as such, but an exceptional character study of what makes a 'Perfect' Spy. There is a certain sadness which permeates the film, and becomes quite powerful at the end. Highly, highly recommended for those who prefer thoughtful, deliberately paced movies.

IMDB users have given this film an extremely high 8.8 (out of 10) rating as of January 2007.

if this one could be a perfect spy, then
every con artist could be a better spy than this perfect spy.
a guy came from a con artist parent, at first looked smart when he was young, then after he completely became a grown man, he seemed to lose all the wits and merits and turned out to be a stupid and naive so-called spy. well, le carre's novels were all like this, all the english intelligence organizations were nothing but wimpy, dim-wit in the game of the cold war. the worst of this mini series was that only the guy who played the perfect spy aging from volumne one to volume 2, but all the years his father, his father's peers, his superior, his controller, none of them ever looked older. nothing changed actually. this was very bad adaptation from a very bad novel. i just don't and can't understand what in the world that any sane reader would have found le carre's spy novels intriguing, nor could i understand how and why in the world his novels would inspire the movie producers to adapt his novels into lame, bore-to-death, dreary and long movies one after another, again and again. espionage like this, in this way? by god, indeed was nothing just child play, don't you think?

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
The Good: Ray McAnally's brilliant performance as Rick Pym, the main character's conman father.

The Bad: the miniseries oversimplifies the narrative by giving us Magnus Pym's story along a single time line, from boyhood to adulthood. The novel works on two time lines; the first one follows the search for Magnus Pym who has disappeared and the second one follows his reminiscences of his life as he hides in a seaside hotel. The book jumps back and forth, and while the US, UK, and Czech secret services are all looking for him, we are wondering why Pym went into hiding and why he seems scared and relaxed all at once. In the miniseries, we don't much care about Magnus at all. The only thing I cared about was when would Pym senior reappear.

The Ugly: Peter Egan as Magnus Pym. Completely wrong. In the book Magnus Pym was very much like his father, seductive and charming, which is why he was such a successful spy. In the mini series, Pym is unimposing and weak. It's difficult to believe he can convince anyone to trust him.

Very disappointing. Apart from McAnally, Rudiger Weigang as Pym's college friend and Czech contact gives a hammy but good performance. For diehard LeCarré fan only.

Trivia: McAnally played the Pope's envoy in "The Mission".

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

Central Role Badly Miscast
A Perfect Spy is a complex novel, very difficult to film because it is essentially a psychological exploration rather than any sort of conventional narrative, much less a spy story. What one makes of the film will depend largely on how one reacts to Peter Egan as Magnus Pym. For my taste, he was absolutely awful, and he was hardly helped by the plodding direction. The only way Egan seemed capable of displaying the character's inner life (what the film is really about)was to grin throughout like a demented hyena, which was then forced upon the viewer in suffocating close-ups, a sure sign of a hack director. The script is intelligent, and the rest of the cast is first-rate, but hardly helped by a director who insists upon the sort of pretentious "pregnant pauses" that destroy all sense of natural pacing. The middle episodes are the best. The last two are interminable. There is no suspense really about the ultimate outcome, but what should be an intense and riveting experience leading up to the inevitable denoument instead becomes a boring caricature of psychological disintegration. I was seriously disappointed in this work.