I know the book very well indeed, so didn't have any trouble during Tinker, Tailor, aside from the occasional moment of mild distraction when they made a big change to plot or characterization - which appeared to be done either to save time and to add emotional depth (a funny thing to say about a film in which almost all expressions of emotion are brutally suppressed, but after all, the emotions are still there).
My control group was my husband, who doesn't know from George Smiley but who is very attuned to the language of film. He did fine, but even he didn't guess the mole until very late in the movie (whereas to me it seemed blindingly obvious). I can easily see that it would be tricky for a lot of viewers.
The thing about the book is, Le Carre isn't everyone's cup of tea. The writing is dense and sometimes just as confusing as the movie. I'm very fond of his Smiley novels, but you shouldn't drive yourself crazy trying to get into them!
Back to the film ... The story is told largely in flashbacks, but it's not always easy to tell when you're in the present and when you're in the past. A couple of things that help: any scene that John Hurt's in, after the first one, is a flashback, and Smiley's glasses are different in the past and present - you see him buying new ones right after Control's downfall.
You could also read a synopsis with spoilers (there's one here (http://cinesnatch.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-spoilers-tinker-tailor-soldier.html), for instance, which is pretty thorough although the prose is glutinous). After all, you've already watched the movie once, and it's not like you'll know more than someone who's read the book.
Bonus trivia - the sentence "I feel seriously under-fucked" was originally said to John Le Carre by W. H. Auden.
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My control group was my husband, who doesn't know from George Smiley but who is very attuned to the language of film. He did fine, but even he didn't guess the mole until very late in the movie (whereas to me it seemed blindingly obvious). I can easily see that it would be tricky for a lot of viewers.
The thing about the book is, Le Carre isn't everyone's cup of tea. The writing is dense and sometimes just as confusing as the movie. I'm very fond of his Smiley novels, but you shouldn't drive yourself crazy trying to get into them!
Back to the film ... The story is told largely in flashbacks, but it's not always easy to tell when you're in the present and when you're in the past. A couple of things that help: any scene that John Hurt's in, after the first one, is a flashback, and Smiley's glasses are different in the past and present - you see him buying new ones right after Control's downfall.
You could also read a synopsis with spoilers (there's one here (http://cinesnatch.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-spoilers-tinker-tailor-soldier.html), for instance, which is pretty thorough although the prose is glutinous). After all, you've already watched the movie once, and it's not like you'll know more than someone who's read the book.
Bonus trivia - the sentence "I feel seriously under-fucked" was originally said to John Le Carre by W. H. Auden.