A Murder of Quality (1991)

Excellent acting, especially from Elliott and Ackland. Too bad about the lame Mad Janie character. 3*

Translated from Dutch · View original

You can't judge me! I am one of you!

I never really became a fan of John le Carre—perhaps I started his books too early, somewhere between the ages of 12 and 14, and was therefore too far removed from his characters, and that never really recovered. Maybe it would now, but there is still so much to read that appeals to me more. I haven't even come close to seeing all the film adaptations—and certainly not all the Smiley movies.

The character of Smiley, on the other hand, is reason enough to make the effort after all. Not so much for the films, for they are almost by definition disappointing after this one, since a better Smiley than Denholm Elliott's is virtually unthinkable. Yet he doesn't really fit the character perfectly either, for as Le Carre describes him Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession, he is clearly a much too neat and much too nice gentleman for that—in this film just as in almost all his roles.

In this TV movie, Elliott faces opposition from one of those other English actors who are virtually above criticism, assuming any character that suits them seemingly effortlessly as if they have practiced it their whole lives: I mean, of course, Joss Ackland. And equally good, though perhaps not quite as well-known and famous, Ronald Pickup. And one of Christian Bale's first roles, and I believe also the first in which he no longer plays exactly a child.

For a TV movie, the production values are unprecedented; there are plenty of 'real' films that don't even come close. But, the elephant in the room—and this creeps up on me often with John le Carre—is the story, in my opinion, a bit on the thin side. Perhaps that comes across better in the book.

Translated from Dutch · View original