Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Chess Pieces
The first time I saw the 2011 adaptation of Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy, when it was playing in cinema, I felt a little disappointed. I knew the story already, I read the book multiple times, but still I had expected a more exciting whodunnit. I missed the tension of the chase and felt a bit disconnected. I have since completely changed my mind about this film, it has become one of my all-time favorite films and I have rewatched it countless times.
It is one of those rare films that I feel get better when you watch it after having seen it before. Because I don't think it was intended as a whodunnit. It is not about catching the traitor, it is about what happend to the people he betrayed. Upon a second screening you aren't as concerned with the chase and you focus more on the price these people pay. It hits me harder every time I see it.
TTSS tells the story of a double agent at the highest level of the British secret service. 'Control', the former head of the service had his suspicions but he was forced out when one of his attempts to unmask the traitor lead to an agent being shot. Not long after his forced retirement Control passes away, when the rumors of a mole resurface. George Smiley, Control's most trusted agent who was forced out with him, is brought back to unmask the mole once and for all. At the beginning of his mission Smiley visits Control's abandoned flat, where he finds chess-pieces baring the photos of the men Control suspected. They are the five men at the top of the service, and to Smiley's surprise the fifth chess-piece has his photo taped to it.
Recently I discovered that there is a Q&A that Gary Oldman (who plays Smiley) and director Tomas Alfredson did at Lucasfilm in 2011. The full talk is up on YouTube, if you've seen the film I strongly encourage you to watch the video.
In the video there is a question about the significance of the chess-pieces. I find Tomas Alfredson's answer very interesting. It really connects with how I think of the work we have to do as story artists: to come up with new, interesting ways to visually tell a story point.
Question: [Was there] significance in what chess pieces were chosen for which character?
Alfredson: -Maybe I’m disappointing you, no. Actually we were aware of that it might be interpreted. So we actually changed them: they are on certain pieces when George sees them for the first time and they are on other pieces when he’s playing around with them at the hotel. Just to avoid that. It felt a little cheesy to connect the faces with a pawn or those sort of things.
