I'm on a bit of a spy kick at the moment, and thanks to the magic of Chromecast, have just finished watching the BBC adaptation of John le Carré's Smiley's People. I am absolutely enthralled for all the obvious reasons and find that, whereas film versions of le Carré's books almost always disappoint, this is not at all the case with the television serials. Why should this be so? Is it because the serial format gives more scope to developing the characters and background, and to respecting the leisurely pace of the books? I think so. Dickens is another writer who, again in my opinion, has not been well served at the cinema, but some of the BBC dramatisations of his books, for example Our Mutual Friend and Little Dorrit are little short of masterpieces.
It is nevertheless true that the modern viewer, used to the frantic pace of contemporary drama, has to make a conscious effort at the outset to adapt to the slower rhythm of le Carré's world, and even when one has done so, there are times when particularly static scenes are saved only by superb acting. But the rewards are well worth the effort.
Smiley's People takes place and was shot in the early 1980s, and not the least of its many delights is the glimpse it gives us into the England and Europe of the time. Smiley after all spends quite a lot of time simply walking and driving about, and so we have ample opportunity to take in the London, Paris, Hamburg and Switzerland of thirty years. A film cannot afford to spread itself in this way.
I wonder if there have been any television treatments of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels? Here is another writer who has received short shift at the cinema, with the possible exception of Strangers on the Train. This was a fine Hitchcock film but did not capture, or perhaps even attempt to capture, the peculiar anguish and dread of Highsmith's world.
It is nevertheless true that the modern viewer, used to the frantic pace of contemporary drama, has to make a conscious effort at the outset to adapt to the slower rhythm of le Carré's world, and even when one has done so, there are times when particularly static scenes are saved only by superb acting. But the rewards are well worth the effort.
Smiley's People takes place and was shot in the early 1980s, and not the least of its many delights is the glimpse it gives us into the England and Europe of the time. Smiley after all spends quite a lot of time simply walking and driving about, and so we have ample opportunity to take in the London, Paris, Hamburg and Switzerland of thirty years. A film cannot afford to spread itself in this way.
I wonder if there have been any television treatments of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels? Here is another writer who has received short shift at the cinema, with the possible exception of Strangers on the Train. This was a fine Hitchcock film but did not capture, or perhaps even attempt to capture, the peculiar anguish and dread of Highsmith's world.
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