448. GREAT CINEMA ADAPTATIONS: TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

Peter Josyph via Zoom

In Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 adaptation of John Le Carré’s classic 1974 thriller, Gary Oldman puts his own brilliant stamp on George Smiley, a top agent in British Intelligence tasked with finding a mole in his own system, a part first created memorably by Alec Guinness. Surrounding

Oldman are Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Toby

Jones, Kathy Burke, and Le Carré himself briefly as a party guest. Filmed in London, Budapest,

and Istanbul, the film received rave reviews for its acting, its stunning cinematography, and for

its artful condensation of one of Le Carré’s most famous novels. Le Carré drew on his own

experience as an agent for MI5 and MI6, as well as on recent well-known defections in the world

of spycraft. Our discussions will include the various motivations for betrayal, and how stalwart

personal integrity is valued in the fight against corruption.

1:00-2:00 p.m. / 1:00-2:30 p.m.                                                                                  2 Sessions Thursdays, Apr. 3 and Apr. 10                                                                             Fee:  $50

 [A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to each session, typically on the day before your class and the morning of your class.  If you have any questions or need help getting online, feel free to call us at 516-480-5733 and we’ll get right back to you with assistance.]

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Peter Josyph is an author, actor, director, and filmmaker whose films include: Liberty Street: Alive at Ground Zero; Acting Cormac McCarthy: The Making of Billy Bob Thorton’s All the Pretty Horses; Shakespeare In New York: The Sonnets; and A Few Things Basquiat Did in School. His books include: Adventures in Reading Cormac McCarthy; What One Man Said to Another, Talks with Richard Seltzer; and, The Wounded River, which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book. He also excels in literary and film criticism.