Smiley's People - The turning of Grigoriev
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- čas přidán 9. 05. 2014
- Key scene in the Smiley vs Karla struggle. The russian diplomat Grigoriev (a great act by Michael Lonsdale) is turned around by a textbook operation and interrogation from George Smiley. We also get more insight into Karla's mind, and information that will ultimately undo him. Brilliant scene from the superb BBC series.
How many people wandered into this scene and then suddenly it’s just 26 minutes later?
Except for the ;Honourable Schoolboy" I had this happen throughout the entire series.
A show like this pops into my mind whenever I hear complaints that something is too slow. This is very 'slow' according to some tastes and for me it goes by in a flash.
Whereas something like the battle in Attack of the Clones, there's a million explosions, edits per second, lasers flying everywhere. And I was never more bored in my like. Don't get me wrong, I loved the old Star Wars, particularly seeing a retired George Smiley living a nice quiet life on some desert planet.
For all the budgets and technology, this kind of scene cannot be re-created these days. Three guys carry the entire thing.
I love how this whole series of shows seems to take place in these disused spaces, repurposed, but not too extravagantly, for our characters' temporary needs. They're always a touch shabby, a little forgotten, but little hidden gems of scenery in themselves..
I love these two series. The most dangerous man in England is not some guy with muscles and an intimidating persona and lots of guns. It's a mild mannered little gentleman with a conscience who's damned good at his job. Great book, great series, great actors.
Not sure about "of conscience."
@lindaleh6371 that was the message I took from the book. Maybe it was "for the greater good", but certainly not for conscience.
“You’re spies…..” and his look around as it dawns on him. Incredible moment of acting. Absolute bravura performance by Michael Lonsdale.
His acting - and of course the others’- is so stellar. It’s so natural & great it can almost be overlooked (paradoxically). The way he pragmatically adjusts is simply incredible.
I don't think I've ever seem him beardless before..?
All good actors but Bernard Hepton’s playing has got a childishly solemn , punctilious and mischievous quality which renders his character wonderfully attractive.
I know its not possible, but this feels like it was done in one take. Perfection on film.
I like the touch that all the toughs used to manhandle Grigoriev initially, break out in smiles when he explains that the first thing Karla did was list all the women he'd had affairs with.
Some sins are universal and easily understood.
It is, of course, also a theme in LeCarre that personal lives that are the spots of greatest vulnerability ..the best way to manipulate or break people..
Karla had done this to Smiley. When they'd met in India, Karla understood the import of Smiley's speaking so much about Mrs Karla, trying to appeal to Karla by reference to Karla's presumed concerns about his wife.
Karla used this against Smiley, just as he did with Grigoriev.
In the decades following the India meeting, Smiley had concluded Karla had no such points of weakness, he was as ruthless with his wife as could be, because, as Smiley said "he is a fanatic".
Indeed he says to Peter Guillam that what will ultimately defeat Karla is his fanaticism.
But...in the end, it is the personal that traps & breaks Karla too.
Fanaticism is a very personal thing.
Zealots tend to take betrayal very personally indeed; they can never quite comprehend that whatever system, philosophy or 'ism' they pledge themselves toward, can never quite return the concern.
Alec Guinness' swallowing and throat muscles clenching as Gregoriev begins to obliquely describe meeting Karla....holy hell the absolute depth and subtlety to these performances is sublime...
Splendid observation. Sends chills down my spine...
Why insist on "one only" glass of water ?
Vodka
@@lindaleh6371he asked for Vodka. Just enough to loosen his lips.
How apt they nab Grigoriev as he watches a chess game being played.. Smiley has been playing a long, drawn out game with Karla for decades!
As wonderful as this scene is, my favorite bit of the entire series is when George and Guillam are hiding while keeping an eye on the bridge for Karla. George can't even look and he mutters 'oh my dear god'..my goodness, the meaning Guinness gives to those words is epic! What a series. I only watched it last week and I miss it already!
I’ve only read it twice and watched it 10 times. This and tinker tailor were hours of grim genius.
I love the detail of the papers Smiley keeps consulting and making notes on. There is nothing written there.
Third person all the way through, and even tell watch is physically removed from his wrist. None of this is personal and is nothing more than a process, one in which you do have the power to determine how it ends.
do you know about last scene?? 7th series
My favorite part of the whole series - books and TV. Lonsdale's portrayal of Grigoriev is absolutely wonderful. (Bernard Hepton does a great turn as Toby in the series - Love his character.) Sir Alec does an amazing job of portraying Smile's intentionally officious interrogation.
Love the ironic bit where Smiley praises Grigoriev for his perceptive appraisal of the psychopath Karla's humanity ;).
Eh, Karla isn't a psychopath. He's just very committed and professional, much like Smiley.
@@eddievhfan1984, Tony had guessed correctly that Ostrakova was Karla's child. Its a hell of a guess and speaks to the latent skill Gregoriev had but never critically used...
Its not a spy novel. Its literature.
Final touch. Clean paper. Superb.
Guinness, Hepton, and Lonsdale were all at the top of their games!
This was my favorite scent from the entire series. Simply the best. Michael Lonsdale steals the scene from the others. Sir Alec was superb as the understated but ruthless George Smiley. Did you notice the look and expression on Sir Alec's face when he says the line: "Yes, yes, what is it?" at the end when Grigoriev is being allowed to leave and asks George a question. I think Sir Alec used the same expression and line in the first Star Wars movie.
Michael Lonsdale was also awesome in DAY OF THE JACKAL. Combine his acting with Alec Guiness and... wow.
In "Tinker" Esterhase was like a wet dog, but in Smiley's people we get to see why he was in the top Circus crew. Hepton is pure class.
You dont claw your way up from a Hungarian persona non grata to the trop brass of the circus without having an amazing set of skills. I always love seeing him work with Smiley instead of against him, Bernard Hepton played him masterfully. Sad we dont have The Honourable Schoolboy adapted into a series, I want to see Smiley as the director of the Circus.
Or why Smiley kept him on, despite Toby’s intimacy with the Haydon-Alleline-Bland cabal.
The honourable schoolboy had some great bits...it was Jerry Westerby mainly wasn't it? Starting with the bit in Hong Kong when they gave each other clerical nicknames, right?@@BrahmaDBA
The great thing about this scene is that it portrays Le Carre's intent in the book perfectly. It's as if my recollection of that chapter had been taken from my mind, given more light, shade and colour, and put on the screen.
I'm entirely convinced that all the reaction shots of the team are really the actors genuinely reacting to Lonsdale's performance.
Filmmakers of the future, take a good look at this and learn everything you can from it! This is acting at it's finest! This is subtle camerawork that doesn't distract you from what's happening on stage! For the love of all that you hold dear in cinema, learn from this!!
I'm dying here with laughter after reading all the comments below and above mine which express my feelings exactly; I won't try to share mine. You all have. Thank you. That stated, I cannot stop myself from muttering, "Ooh, the arooooohhmahhh," as I walk throughout Manhattan here on my daily commute to and from work. All I do is mutter this scene's lines out loud to myself as I walk: "And did you believe him?" "No, Sir....," "...and why not...?" Epic! Absolutely epic art. We're blessed to have this in our lives. Pure beauty, all around.
14:20 - I thought the clapping/patting him on the back was just BRILLIANT!!!
See how his demeanor noticeably changes (and relaxes) afterwards.
A masterful, psychological technique that I probably never would have thought of.
☮
They played good cop bad cop, except they were all bad cops. And then they were all good cops.
I really cannot think of anything on television better than this and Tinker, Tailor...
Stop trying I suggest - there has never been anything better...
"DON'T SPEAK TO ME ABOUT FOOD, WOMAN, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN MUSHROOMS!!"
That’s a pick up line if there ever was one.
In a series filled with some amazing moments, this just might be the best
This scene is a master class in acting.
Looks
O
It's British at its very best, and, of course, it's Alec Guinness.
In interrogations, too.
do you know about last scene?? 7th series
One of the best set-pieces in this masterful series!!! :)
'The burning of tricky tony'. Possibly the most important scene in the entire series. pitch-perfect performances all round. brilliant stuff....
Bernard Hepton is magnificent - I love his joyous shallow guiltlessness as counterpoint to Guinness .
hepton is just terrific in both this and tinker tailor
See Secret Army, where Hepton plays Albert Foiret, the character from whence Rene Artois from Allo Allo was based. What a great actor, always doing the secondary roles with amazing quality, stealing the spotlight of the main parts.
I think Bernard Hepton's laugh at 17:23 was genuine. The way that Michael Lonsdale said 'ah... the women!' made him giggle. Brilliant acting by everyone, especially Michael Lonsdale.
Haha, that's brilliant. Yes, I think Lonsdale actually catches Hepton's eye as he says it, twice, which coupled with the fantastically lascivious way he murmurs "women" (like Grigoriev has in that moment completely forgotten about where he is, transported by the memory) means it looks like Hepton genuinely starts to lose it. The surprised little 'man to man' nod Toby gives in response looks like an ad-lib on his part, too.
There's a bloke by the door in the next shot who looks like he enjoyed it as well, and if you watch carefully I swear that the chap in the background about 20 seconds later is still struggling to suppress a smile.
@@Somnogenesis But it works in the scene too, because they all think Grigoriev is a bit of a joke. He's a bit of a buffoon in their eyes as they are used to dealing with real pros, spies with real 'tradecraft'. However, there is no saying that was Hepton's reaction as Lonsdale was delivering his lines. I don't know how they filmed the scene, but judging by other scenes, I bet they did a few takes with one or two cameras for a master shot and then moved cameras in to get close ups, reaction shots and so on. That may have been Hepton reacting to a different take and then the scene was cut together late in the edit. It is a lovely reaction though, but I don't think he was cracking and breaking character.
@@davidlean1060 That's certainly a valid point: it may well have been a reaction divorced from the immediately preceding shot that _appears_ to provoke it, because, yes, there's no way of knowing if the different perspectives we see belong to completely different takes and/or inserted 'reaction shots' filmed separately. I'd love to think though that we're seeing at least part of a genuine ad lib and real on-the-hoof reaction :)
@@Somnogenesis But I agree, it would be hard not to enjoy yourself with such great players around you.
He even has to put his hand across his mouth to conceal the smile
Smileys People was created after the BBC Broadcast of Tinker Tailor. it was written with Guinness in mind. But they had not counted on Michel Lonsdale being so epic. This scene is one of the best of all the episodes. I count the interrogation of Toby Esterhause the best scene of Tinker Tailor. The best of LeCarre shown through the prism of Alec Guinness directing other actors. Fantastic.
A human being, quite literally, CANNOT be "epic."
@@mja91352 Nonsense. So many great epics are about human beings: Achilles, Odysseus, Beowulf. Even Gilgamesh was fully human in his own epic before being deified in later history.
Candidate for greatest ever TV drama series - here we can see why. Great actors at the top of their game. I could listen/watch Guinness and Hepton for eternity. Lonsdale gave the performance of a lifetime. No trashy modern remake required, thank you.
No argument there. I had been re watching Breaking Bad and thought I would watch Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People again (3rd time in 3 years) and as good as Breaking Bad is, this BBC production is streets ahead. Possibly the best drama series ever made for TV.
I make a point of enjoying the two Smiley series every 6 months. They are what TV should be.
@@davidlean1060 This falls short of the Wire and Mad Men.
@@martyslazenger7105 Mad men I never got to be honest. It just seemed no more than a smarter than average soap opera. I did give it a chance, but it didn't grab me. The Wire I rewatched recently again. It's a fantastic show. There is something about the atmosphere in the two Smiley series though that I love and no modern tv show can boast at having someone as good as Alec Guinness in the lead, so it will always hold a place in my heart even though I only discovered it a few years ago.
@@davidlean1060 Defensible positions. I think Mad Men has a lot of interesting things to say about the cultural changes of the past 60 years. It is approximately as well crafted as Tinker/Smiley. Mad Men could drift into glibness; Smiley into turgidness. The Wire is the whole package: dense, well acted, meaningful, and dramatic. Otoh...I am an American and am new to the world of le Carre.
Really wonderful. As with many other people, this is a favourite part of a favourite series. The humour, of course, makes it so.
When everyone applauds for Grigoriev after he yells at his wife on the phone was genuinely funny. It's impossible to pick a favorite scene from the two Guiness series when there were so many, but this interrogation would have to be a contender.
How Grigoriev pronounces the word spies ("ce-payis") is quaint.
I noticed that they start applauding before Gregoriev had put the phone back down. Now that would be hard to explain if his wife had heard that...
Toby disconnects the call, then the applause follows
@@wahyuindrasto8307 And Al Kapon...
It's a brilliant way to show they have him. By lying to his wife, and obeying Smiley's instructions, they all cheer him as a good turncoat that he has become.
I'm delighted to agree with the tone of compliments here for Michael Lonsdale's performance. For me it brought back memories of his thorough police inspector in "Day of the Jackal" and of his chilling priest in "Murmur of the Heart." This interrogation with Smiley, more than by Smiley, is the climax of the three novels. It's where the author's ironic equation of Karla and Smiley is given its most sympathetic and irresistible proof. That said, I completely agree with praise offered before, for Hepton's Toby Esterhase in this scene, and yes, I agree that his responses - although structured by the director and camera operator -- are magically on point for his part, and portray our delight with Lonsdale's rendering of a meticulously unraveling script. There went the toothpaste.
Michael Lonsdale In the name of the Rose was amazing
Watching this scene again - 40 years after the original had us spellbound - has made my lonely Xmas Day (due to Covid, not my social ineptitude!). The two le Carré series from that era are top of my heap for tv drama in my lifetime.
RIP Michael Lonsdale.
Lonsdale has been greatness in everything I've ever seen but this was his best. My only two regrets for Smileys People was no Michael Jayston and Hepton's change of accent. Still the best two miniseries I ever saw on television.
in the Book Toby is a Hungarian recruited by the Circus after the End of the War. I believe he changed it to fit with the character backstory from the book. Remember at the beginning of the series he called himself a cheap Austro-Hungarian
@@Lupinthe3rd. Yep, Toby's change of accent is keeping with the course of events. In TTSS, he is faking a RP accent in order to maintain his status with Establishment colleagues in the Circus. Once he has left that environment, he no longer has to maintain a fake English accent, so reverts to his natural central European accent - and some central European idioms come through in his English too.
@@ericdunn555 Thanks for the explanation. Initially when I heard the change in accent, it was jarring.
@@buggyboogle9 You're welcome, kind sir.
@@buggyboogle9 Yes, he even mentions it early on when George goes to his art dealership. He mentions that he spent 15 years in the Circus pretending to be 'an English gentleman', so it is conscious on behalf of the character. The other point you make, I enjoy Michael Byrne as Guillam, but I miss Jayson.
It's all so ridiculously brilliant. I've read the books, seen the two series. Just brilliant.
Rest In Peace Michael Landon 1931-2020
Michael Lonsdale. Landon was Joe Cartwright.
Haha whoops!
I love the applause from the nameless thugs and Toby. Such a askew addition to an intimidating scene you cant help but feel its authentic.
I was just thinking how to describe it - "askew" is perfect. Everything is arranged to keep Gregoriev off-balance and confused, but not terrified.
The reactions of the Brit henchmen as Grigoriev describes the first topic of his conversation with Karla ("the women") are beyond hilarious. They all have these smiles on their faces when he starts to describe what was said. The smiles betray thoughts like, "Yeah man, we get it. We like girls, too". Then, as he lists the different women that Karla told Grigoriev Moscow Center knew he'd been involved with ("a ballerina in Leningrad..."), you can see the smiles take on a quality something like, "Damn!! This guy is a real player and I'm actually impressed."
I love Smiley interview what power and influence
truly one of the greatest tv series ever made, superb all around, cannot be duplicated today.
I can't agree enough with this assertion. I watched both series only last week and here I am again, watching clips. The show is so good it lingers with you. The performances so good they can be watched and admired time and again. I know many of the cast are now passed on, but what a legacy to leave behind eh?!
In my opinion not "one of,' but just the greatest.
They don't make em like this anymore ! !
Just read all the comments below. Its so refreshing to read of people's recognition of just how good this and TTSS, were as landmark drama's and not have destructive and bitchy comments from narrow minded half-wits. The cast is utterly superb and nuanced within a whisker of the books' narrative. Hard to single out the best performer as all were extraordinary. I too come back to both series probably once a year and the books always travel with me as they're engrossing and so precisely written- bravo all you critics below, its good company to be in for a change.
Skordeno speaks! Only time in the two series.
Brilliant .. now I have to rewatch the series again...!
Everyone that's been saying "THE OLD SERIES IS WAY BETTER THAN THE RECENT[ish] MOVIE", I have this to say:
The movie is ****ing excellent, and despite that, you were all correct. This series is amazing.
Any attempt to produce another version of this series/movie would be a mockery that I would never view.
Thanks for the upload. Though I know the book by heart, so to speak, I like the humane sides of both Smiley and Karla, and the chessgame they play more well than I could ever even just imagine. I feel sorry for both of them; neither wins nor loses, but it's not a stalemate. As a father of daughters I know the dangerous side of the game. That is why ultimately I sort of lost without losing, like Karla. I weep for both him and Alexandra, and a little for Smiley.
😐
Doubtless even Moscow Centre watched this
Brilliant scene by all. Thank you
"You are spiiiies? You are western spiiesss!"
Exactly. Noticed that too. Great stuff.
Toby the Magyar, what a gangster.
Do you know what I like the most about these old movies and series? That tasty crackle that patent leather shoes and wooden soles make on gravel and street pavement.
Bill Paterson (Lauder Strickland) was in a charming comedy from the 1980's called "Comfort and Joy"
Michel Lonsdale was just brilliant in this role. I love his initial bluster and then the way he relates the story of his first meeting with Karla to his eager listeners.
I have to admit the Brits do it with style and class , and little Panache.
The reason gregorava calls Toby Magyar is because he is Hungarian, Hungarians are decendents of the Magyars who were a nomadic people from the Ural mountains who settletd in modern day Hungary in the 9th century A.D.
do you know about last scene?? 7th series
This was a specially goading thing to say to Esterhase, whose freatest,most unobtainable wish was to be accepted as a true English Gentleman.
@@georgehollingsworth2428 that's the beauty of John le Carre's writing
It’s also a classic jab at the nature of the USSR, where the myth of equality was trumped by having the right (Russian) ethnicity.
@@georgehollingsworth2428 Which Toby tried to be at the Circus for 15 years, but he's now a 'cheap Austro-Hungarian in expensive clothes - I've come home'
and who are you please, Al Capone?
3:34 “no speeding, no laughing, it’s a Bernese Sunday”
Sir alex Guinness and the rest of the cast are top form here
Lonsdale was a great actor. I enjoyed him in "The Jackal" and "Ronin."
I love the look on Grigoriev 's face as he hands-over the Swiss passport: will they give it back to me?
Paul Skordeno finally speaks...
"Oh the aroma!" Still in my memory banks.
'Don't do it again'...
Magnificent scene.
Everyone likes and sympathizes with Gregoriev, but Smiley has cast himself as the dry-as-dust commissar, and he sticks to his role like glue. Lonsdale excels yet again in the role of a slightly vain and petty bureaucrat who is by no means a wicked man. Karla's false explanation of Ostrakova's identity is slightly simplified. In the book, she was the deranged and abandoned child of a great Soviet hero, undercover in Paris, who never hoped to see her alive again. She was not a hero herself. She was just to be taken out of Russia for her own safeguarding and treatment.
I know you're all giddy as schoolgirls over ML and his turn here. For his absolute Best, Day of The Jackal.
Doesn't the book kinda suggest she was Stalin's daughter?
Is this series streamable anywhere? Love the YT vids.
Superb acting class here !
One of the best le carre films ever.
a great series. have it on VHS tape
“MAGYAR!” 🤣
"Please do not be alarmed." They always say this when you have no choice.
Michael Lonsdale is brilliantly & ironically cast. Contrast the conceited buffoon Grigoriev with how he plays shrewd, effective Claude Lebel in Day of the Jackal. Lebel is like a French Smiley.
They don't make actors like this anymore.
First threats then rewards. Blackmail is cheaper than bribes.
Amazing, quiet, poignant acting.
At the end, he'd written nothing, all for show, to impose.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hugo Drax have a chat.
Wollywood Crap
As I recall in the book this entire interrogation was in German.
I would highly recommend another movie in this vein, based on viewers notes about the acting quality and the subtly of their portrayals and a similar tension the writing and subject matter. That would be Ronin. Who incidentally has Bernard Hepton as well. You will watch it over and over like this
Paul Skordino was one of my favorite Smileys people along with Fawn
Hard to admire Fawn if you’ve read the honourable schoolboy. He’s a sadistic maniac.
If this is part of the TV adaptation of the novel, I need to get access to that
Yes it is! Brilliant TV series!
Not easy to find the original, un-edited version of Smiley's People
It is here on you tube..I watched it only last weekend! Don Turco is the name of channel. He did have the uncut Tinker Tailor on there too, but that seems to have gone. You will find that on one of the other video platforms on the web.
Awesome scene!
Interesting continuity/props detail: It appears that in Switzerland, Smiley is "writing" with a Caran d'Ache ballpoint #849, a favored brand in CH.
When "A I" controls the world, it will be Sir Alec telling us "whats, what"
Now i'm very curious to know what Gregoriev wanted to ask at the end.
I don't think he had a specific question. More like, wait, what?
The exchange at the very end was left out of the American version.
It just hit me that the same tactics that did not work on Karla in Delhi back in the 50s during the upheavals, I assume was the death of Stalin, did work on this fool. It’s interesting how power can be wielded and shifted so quickly and all depending on minor details. Strength of character and belief in “the cause” plays a large part in the matter
Anybody notice the harp in the corner behind Smiley's shoulder? Just like the one in the Guiness Stout logo.
It's like the 9 Stages of Grief, but for spies.
All these seedy middle aged blokes hanging around in the shrubbery ,-
- a normal day on Hampstead Heath.
Waiting for Roger the Shrubber! 😂
When they bundle Grigoriev into that white Audi, Toby says "go easy--no speeding". (I suppose not to draw attention to them). Yet the car roars off at about 60 mph!
that won't go down to well when he gets back home- and has to explain everything. No speeding or laughing is a Bernese sunday.
do you know about last scene?? 7th series
This is why I like Smileys People slightly better then Tinker Taylor. It's the spycraft scenes like this one that are a bit more prevalent
25:14 what did Grigoriev want to ask to Smiley?
I was always curious about that...
@@jrbleau maybe “are YOU her FATHER?”
Ahh,the bad old days,so relaxing. G.I.Davis sr
Where was this scene filmed in Bern?? Does anyone know please reply.
Swiss location people credited
bern theater
@@afyonafyon8689 No, I Googled that as it's a clue. I did identify the location of Tatiana's incarceration recently, Grand Hotel Giessbach but am I right in thinking that you can use Google Street view to identify streets? Of course a nice holiday in Bern is another option.
@@chrisst8922 found it its the .....bern music school and conservatory type this is google you will see it matches perfectly
address--
Kramgasse 36, 3011 Bern, Switzerland
the exterior shots match exactly .. i noticed on the door to the interrogation room it says something of music and put 2 and 2 tofether and thought could be a music school
we could have been one of smileys people hahahahah good intelligence work lol
@@afyonafyon8689 Good stuff. I can see where they drive past in the white VW Passat.
Absolutely brilliant all around. One positive thing about the Cold War it certainly gave rise to some thrilling TV