I felt the film would be a challenge to make because the author is, at best ponderous. So, I read the book before seeing the film. It didn't really help much because the book is sooo detailed! However, I think the film captured the characters very well. Smiley seemed a little too taciturn in the film, however, that was his particular skill. The incident where he loses his cigarette lighter to Carla was, in the book, the only time he expressed empathy with another spy. He learned his lesson from that. The films depicts an era that even back then was becoming dated - with too many agents left over from the war and maintaining quite old-fashioned systems. It is worth re-reading the book and re-viewing the film if you are really keen.
