Colin Firth Interview (The Vine)

BY SADMAN ON FEB 14 2012, 09:00AM

 Words and interview by Dee Jefferson.


 In Venice for the premiere of Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, based on the best-selling John le Carré spy thriller, Academy Award-winner Colin Firth talks about the film, the director, his relationship with Italy (where he lives sometimes, with his wife, Italian film producer/director Livia Giuggioli), and his relationship with his own acting work.

 In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Firth plays Bill Hayden (nicknamed ‘Tailor’ for his sartorial affectations), one of four suspected moles at the top of the British Secret Service (aka The Circus). The ensemble cast includes British acting royalty Gary Oldman and John Hurt, and rising stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy.


How did you feel you were a good fit for playing this particular role? 
I didn’t actually, I thought it was a stretch – but it was fascinating for all sorts of reasons (some of which we can’t talk about because of how the film ends). You know, you can pick any of these characters in this story – or any of Le Carré’s books, really – and they’re a gift for actors, because he specialises in the layers, and the hidden layers, of people; their mixed motives and hidden motivations, that sort of thing. It’s what he writes about.

What separates it from things like Bond – which I love – is that they are about intrigue and style and danger and conflict, but they’re not really there to investigate motive (unless it’s, you know, to take over the world).

How do you see your character?
Bill Hayden is very vain; he has affectations. We don’t have much time to see his life … and it’s true of any of these characters, you can follow any of [them] and find a fantastic life. … Hayden is an artist, so one of his affectations is of the ‘bohemian’; and so although according to protocol he would go to work in his tie and suit, I wanted him to be a little [eccentric]. Artistic people I think are often very compatible with spying and espionage [because] it is a creative process, and you have to think in a manner which is not just linear or conventional. Hayden is an idealist and he’s artistic, he’s literate, he has an intellect and he paints – and I think that he has the pretensions to go with that; which is why I wanted him to wear red socks and suede shoes and a big coat. And I think that is a cultivated eccentricity.

How present was the previous television adaptation [a 1979 series starring Alec Guinness), when you were preparing for the role? 
It was present to anybody of my generation who grew up in England, because that series had a huge presence. Even if you didn’t watch it, it had a presence, because it was endlessly talked and written about, and loved, and commented on – and if you weren’t watching it, your dad was or someone at school was. So it does cast a long shadow – but [on the other hand] it’s also 30 years ago – that’s a generation, and a lot of people who watched it are dead; we’re a long way from it now. … To think of a time when I was alive as a period movie is a bit strange!


Read more of the interview:  http://www.thevine.com.au/entertainment/interviews/colin-firth-_-interview20120214.aspx

Julian Lennon says criticism of Paul McCartney was a 'whimsical' joke

NME

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Photo: Press

Julian Lennon has backtracked over his recent spat with Paul McCartney by suggesting his recent criticisms of the former Beatles legend were just a joke.

Lennon - son of late Beatles singer John – had previously posted a message on his Facebook page accusing McCartney of snubbing him at several high-profile events.

The singer insisted that McCartney had "ignored" him on the red carpet at a screening of Martin Scorsese's new biopic George Harrison: Living In The Material World and had also not invited him to either of his wedding ceremonies to American heiress Nancy Shevell.

However, Lennon has now published a new post on his Facebook page in which insists people had taken his comments "a little too far" and that they had failed to understand his sense of humour.

He wrote:

Seems many have taken my comment from the other week a little too far… It was truly written, hand on heart, with a whimsical heart… The situation was laughable, more than anything.

Lennon went on to add: "Wasn't whining… just stating the facts… Obviously people misplace & mistake my sense of humour & character… C'est La Vie."

Julian Lennon released his sixth studio album 'Everything Changes', his first LP in 13 years, last month. Speaking about the album and his lengthy hiatus, he said: "I get twitchy if I don't pick up a guitar or sit at the piano every now and then… I have to do it; I don't have a choice."

Can ‘Tinker, Tailor’ Film Match Success of the 1979 Miniseries?

(I think Alec Guinness has the most beautiful voice in the world.  Listen to him on the second video.  Karen)

Anglophenia

By: Leah Rozen Posted: Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Alec Guinness in the 1979 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' miniseries

Remember when you were asked to compare and contrast two books for an English exam back in high school or college? Well, now you can do that in real life, if only for your own edification, with two versions of Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy.

The eagerly anticipated new movie based on the 1974 Cold War spy novel by John le Carré opens in U.S. theaters on December 9. Starring a Who’s Who of big name British actors (Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and more), the film opened last month in the UK to rapturous reviews and robust box office.

“You’ll feel your own synapses working at full tilt as you watch this intelligent, bracing, consummately achieved entertainment,” wrote movie critic Jonathan Romney in The Independent.
Those who want to get a jump on the movie can check out the BBC’s fondly remembered, 1979 mini-series of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This seven-part version starred Alec Guinness in the lead role as bookish British Secret Service agent George Smiley (Oldman plays Smiley in the movie). It is being re-released on DVD next Tuesday (October 25) as a three-disc set.

In addition to Guinness, such stars as Ian Richardson, Patrick Stewart, and Michael Jayston (of Doctor Who, circa 1986) have major roles.

The miniseries, too, was greeted with critical hosannas when it first aired — PBS showed it stateside in 1980 — and has held up over time. “The BBC’s 1979 adaptation of John le Carré’s thriller is still unmatched in its evocation of the chilly, cynical cold war era,” Toby Manning wrote earlier this year in The Guardian.

BBC produced a follow-up, Smiley’s People, also based on a le Carré novel and again starring Guinness, in 1981.

There have been reports, but no official announcement, that a similar sequel to the latest film version of Tinker, Tailor may be in the works. When he was publicizing the movie for its British opening, Oldman said that he would jump at the chance to play George Smiley again, but only if Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), the Swedish director of Tinker, Tailor, signed on again for the follow-up.
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Have you already seen the miniseries? What do you think… can the film version compare?
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Trailer for new movie version:

Alec Guinness and Patrick Stewart in 1979 Tinker, Tailor miniseries:

Interview with Gary Oldman on the BBC’s The One Show, in which he calls Benedict Cumberbatch “a good lad”:

Interview with Colin Firth on SkyNews:

Benedict Cumberbatch in red carpet interview on whether he has ever spied in real life:

Follow Anglophenia on Twitter or Follow BBC America on Facebook

Tagged: Alec Guinness, Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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INTERVIEW: John le Carre at 80: Finding out whether I can still write

M&C

By Andrej Sokolow Oct 17, 2011, 16:06 GMTLondon - After 50 years in the spying game, British novelist John le Carre is still a master of his trade. A movie adaptation of his classic spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - starring Colin Firth - has just been launched to great acclaim.

Le Carre, who lives on a cliff-top estate in Cornwall, south-west England, celebrates his 80th birthday on Wednesday. Notoriously media-shy, he has promised an autobiography next. The author, whose real name is David Cornwell, says he is trying to find out whether he can still write.

Q: John le Carre, are you writing a new book for your 80th birthday?

A: The new book had a bad time with the film, the new version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I certainly will have to finish it within the next six months. But if it does not turn out to please me as much as I expect, I shall not publish it. And I would begin to recognize that my days of writing fiction are finished. Now I have to find out whether I can still write. I don't want to publish stuff that is simply not good enough. I think I must be very careful.

Q: So, have you thought about writing an autobiography instead?

A: A well known biographer named Adam Sisman came to me and said he wanted to write my biography. I said, the 'authorised biography' is not an art form I respect. So here is a list of people I know. And some of them dislike me deeply, they will be useful to you. So go out into the world and do your worst. Unfortunately, that's what he's doing ... It's a very strange feeling, if you imagine being 80, and you've given someone the license to go and see everyone you've known in your life. It's a lot of people. Women and everything ...

Q: Will Your time at the Secret Service be part of the book?

A: There was a very funny moment. Sisman went to a former colleague of mine at the Secret Service and asked: 'What did David do in the Service?' The chap thinks and says: 'I have no idea. But I'll ring the chief.' So he leaves Sisman in the room, makes a call, comes back and says: 'Extraordinary thing: He doesn't know either.' Sisman was very puzzled by that.

Q: Well, do you know what you were doing there?

A: No, absolutely not! And even if I wanted to, I can't tell it.

Q: Still there are some stories from your life only you can write...

A: What I thought I might do is write down some episodes. Being my father's son at times was extraordinary. He had race horses. But because he hadn't paid the bookmakers he did not dare go to the race course. So he would give me a bunch of money and I - a boy! - would arrive at the race course and go from one bookmaker to another, betting on his horse. And then people would come up: 'Are you Ronnie Cornwell's boy? You look out, son, you look out ...'

Q: How do you feel about being 80?

A: It just seems like premature. It was always in the contract, I just didn't know they would deliver so soon. But it's okay. I feel ready to die. I've had an incredibly good life, an exciting one. I've got 13 grandchildren and fantastic wives for my sons. I was the bridge they had to cross to get from my father to life ... I find it very difficult to read my own stuff, but I look at it with satisfaction. So if it were over very soon, I would not feel anything except gratitude. To have had my life and be ungrateful for it would be a sin.

Q: In Germany you have been awarded the Goethe Medal for your contribution to European integration - but you appear to be sceptical about it?

A: I share the European dream. But I'm utterly confused by what in means in practice ... It seems to me, there is an extraordinary vacuum at the moment. The Greeks are embarassed by their poverty. The Germans are embarassed by their own generosity and frightened of it. Germany is unquestionably the most powerful force in Europe. And for partly human, partly political reasons, Chancellor (Angela) Merkel doesn't want to accept that role ... We can't be run from Brussels or Frankfurt. We need a new elite.

Q: And where might this new elite come from?

A: I think we need a revolution of the middle class, through the national parliaments. These anxieties of the people in the street need to be adressed at parliamentary level so they know that they are being heard. When parliament enacts disgraceful legislation, I would like to see us out in the street.

Q: You've been a harsh critic of the United States in the past years. Are you still?

A: America has become ungovernable. It's very frightening. The control of American public opinion by the right-wing media seems to be unstoppable ... I think that the arc of Obama's presidency will be the arc of incapacity. He couldn't close the black prisons, he couldn't close Guantanamo. He couldn't really sell a health system. He certainly hasn't cured Afghanistan. And the Middle East peace process looks like a dead duck from the start.

Q: What would your famous master spy George Smiley say today?

A: Well, first of all Smiley would be very dead by now. And if not he would say: We've dealt with communism, now we have to deal with capitalism.

TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sequel?

By Garth Franklin Monday September 26th 2011 02:18PM
Darkhorizons.com

The film adaptation of John Le Carre's classic Cold War spy novel "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is already a success story.

The reviews out of the festivals have been raves, more regular critics have been giving it 4 & 5 star reviews, and the box-office is promising after a strong No. 1 opening in the UK the other week. I myself saw a sneak preview of it tonight and am certain it'll be on my 'best of the year' list, it's a superbly executed and quite loyal adaptation.

Now, The Guardian reports that the film's producer and financier Studio Canal is keen on making this their first franchise and are expected to make an announcement next week in Paris about development of a sequel.

Le Carre wrote eight books with the George Smiley character, played by Gary Oldman in the new film, including the likes of "Call for the Dead," "A Murder of Quality", "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and "The Looking Glass War".

'Tinker' however made Smiley a household name in the UK, and is also the first of what's dubbed 'The Karla Trilogy'. Smiley plays only a small role in the next book, the mostly South East-Asian set "The Honourable Schoolboy", which focuses on the Jerry Westerby minor character from 'Tinker' (played by Stephen Graham).

A likely scenario is that the filmmakers will do what the BBC did thirty years ago after the success of the 'Tinker' mini-series with Alec Guinness - they'll jump directly to adapting the third novel "Smiley's People", but may incorporate a couple of the key scenes from 'Schoolboy' which deals with the fallout of events in 'Tinker'.

In 'People', Smiley is called out from retirement for the last time to investigate the death of one of his old agents, a former Soviet General and the titular head of an Estonian émigré organizations based in London.

Smiley learns the General had discovered information which leads to a final confrontation with Smiley's nemesis, the Soviet spy-master Karla. Patrick Stewart played Karla in cameos in both mini-series. In the new 'Tinker' film he's referenced numerous times and is briefly seen but only from a distance with his face obscured.

Oldman says "I loved playing George, and there are of course films to be made of Le Carré's other books featuring George, with Smiley's People and The Honourable Schoolboy being the obvious ones. But I would insist on quite a few factors, such as I would really want Tomas Alfredson to direct it again."

Oldman also admitted last week to Empire that a film sequel would likely be an amalgamation of 'Schoolboy' and 'People' using the latter title.

Firth has the Midas touch again - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy!

 

Colin Firth: tipped for Oscar success again

By Susan Griffin

Monday September 19 2011

Colin Firth seems to have the Midas touch, as his latest film is being tipped for awards glory.

Who didn't cheer when everyone's favourite Mr Darcy received an Oscar for his role as stuttering monarch George VI in The King's Speech?

Finally the industry was ready to acknowledge that Colin Firth has evolved from middle-class totty, best known for his brooding and breeches in Pride And Prejudice, to become one of the finest actors of his generation.

For almost 30 years, he's been quietly beavering away, slowly but surely making his steady ascent to Hollywood. Then fashion designer Tom Ford cast him as the lead in 2009's melancholic A Single Man for which he earned his first Oscar nod.

He lost out to Jeff Bridges that time around, but in February this year came the moment to pop the champagne and celebrate - he'd finally done it.

It's just a shame the 51-year-old actor was five months too late to (mentally at least) join in the fiesta.

"I remember thinking I'd probably wake up in July and get very excited about it - and that's exactly what happened," says Firth, who's in town to talk about his new spy film Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, which is already generating Oscar buzz.

"It was all a bit lonely because the party was over," he says with a grin, those infamous dimples softening his features.

He still can't remember receiving the golden statuette: "No, that's what's completely extraordinary but I think when major things happen to us, whether good or bad, there's a slight shock. It has a slightly numbing effect."

From the moment his Oscar nomination was announced, Firth's life became a whirlwind of press junkets, red carpets and award ceremonies. It's a time he describes as "turbulent".

He explains: "That doesn't mean bad, just things were operating at quite a pitch. It's exciting, but can also make you a bit neurotic."

He toured the world picking up gongs including a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA, a British Independent Film Award and Critics Choice Film Award for Best Actor before finally scooping the Academy Award.

And with each statuette came a charming, self-effacing acceptance speech, underpinned by a droll sense of humour - which is exactly what Mr Firth exhibits in the flesh.

There's no fanfare as he walks into the room dressed in a black suit and grey shirt, before taking a seat on an enticingly cushioned sofa.

Crossing one leg over the other and clasping his hands in his lap, he proves to be witty and smart - and doesn't take himself too seriously.

Asked how he feels about being displaced as 'Britain's Best Looking Man' by F1 driver Jenson Button in a recent poll, he says: "Lorraine Kelly just told me this in front of a rolling camera. I'm crushed."

How about appearing on Time Magazine's most influential list? "One of my children [he has two sons, Luca, 10, and Matteo, eight, with Italian wife Livia] has pointed out to me that I'm not even the most influential person in my own household," he says, flashing another grin.

Then talk turns to the rather more serious subject matter of Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.

Based on John Le Carre's novel, it's a suspenseful, slow-burning spy film of the old school variety.

Set in the early 1970s, the tale centres around George Smiley, a recently retired M16 agent, played by Sir Alec Guinness in the 1979 TV series and here by a brilliantly restrained Gary Oldman, who's drawn back into the murky world of espionage to unearth a double agent.

It's a veritable who's who of British actors, including John Hurt, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Jones.

"I don't think any actor is so selfless to only luxuriate in ensemble work, but I was absolutely up for it," says Firth, who plays spy Bill (Tailor) Haydon.

"He's vain and cultivates certain eccentricities. He's a bit of a bohemian. An artist who has a slightly flamboyant twist to the way he dresses and is sexually very active, let's say," says Firth.

"And despite the vanity that drives us to find something meaty for ourselves, it's a thrill to be surrounded by brilliant people - not only because you get to watch them, but it also lifts your own game," he explains.

But even Firth admits to first-day jitters: "There's an initial moment when you walk on the set and think, 'Oh, I might be out of my league'," he says.

He hadn't read the book before taking on the role, but he has now. He can't remember watching the TV series but the idea of bringing the book to the big screen "seemed very cool to me", he says - the word 'cool' sounding foreign coming from his lips.

Describing the film as a beautifully melancholic story, Firth says: "I think the thrust of it is much more emotional than intellectual.

"To me, it's a very tender and moving portrait of lonely men, disappointed idealists.

"These are all men who've made considerable sacrifices within their personal lives in order to do what they do. That puts all the more emphasis on the fraternity they have at work.

"For them to realise that one of them is betraying all of them is not just a threat, it's also heartbreaking."

Firth has only shot one film since the Oscar win, a comedy called Gambit, directed by the Coen brothers. "I took enormous pleasure in it and loved that it changed the tone," he says.

Now he looks set to reunite with Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant for a third outing of Bridget Jones.

"There's a script and I'm always interested," he says.

"This character [Mark Darcy] has obviously inhabited part of my life, so I'd like to see where it's taken, and it does look as if it's going somewhere interesting."

Then he adds with a laugh: "It'll be like one of those rather fraught family reunions at Christmas."

It's comforting to see Firth isn't going to focus solely on dramatic roles. If anything, he believes the Oscar win has freed him as an actor.

"In terms of one's attitude to it, you can either see it as pressure to live up to something or as taking the pressure off and going, 'Well, I've got that now. I'll do whatever the hell I please'. And that's a far more pleasant way to see it."

EXTRA TIME - A FEW INSIDE SECRETS

:: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is directed by the Swede Tomas Alfredson, who is best known for the melancholic vampire film Let The Right One In.

:: The Circus is the code name for the British Intelligence Service, aka MI6.

:: Author John Le Carre has a cameo appearance in the Christmas party scene.

:: The film was shot in London, Hungary and Istanbul.

:: Actor Stephen Graham said being cast in the film was like "getting picked to play for England".

:: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is showing in cinemas now

- Susan Griffin

Press Association

REVIEW: TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

September 18th, 2011
Author: Lee Price
The Economic Voice

Credits:

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writers: Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan based on the novel by John le Carre
Principal cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Tobey Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciaran Hinds and John Hurt.
Release date: 16^th September 2011.
Synopsis:
Disgraced intelligence officer George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is brought out of retirement by Westminster to weed out a Soviet mole working within the hierarchy of the Circus (the code name given to MI6).

Read more: http://www.economicvoice.com/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-john-le-carre-gary-oldman-2011-review/50023785#ixzz1YMRrCX4VBased on the information acquired by field operative Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) during his work in Istanbul, Smiley is lead to believe that the traitor within the ranks may be one of several highly placed former colleagues.

Recruiting the services of current spy Peter Guillium (Benedict Cumberbatch) and thus monitoring the internal workings of The Circus, the former cold war agent turns spy catcher as Smiley closes in on the double agent.

Review:
John le Carre’s seminal cold war thriller was first published in 1974 and was famously adapted by the BBC in 1979 with Alec Guinness cast as the disgraced spy come in from the cold, George Smiley.

Gary Oldman’s portrayal in the current adaptation makes perfect sense as the role continues to require an actor who can combine subtlety with an ability to bury themselves within a character who is firstly an observer and collector of facts.

But beneath Smiley’s logical and calm exterior lies an individual who would kill in cold blood without a moment’s hesitation if the circumstances called for it.  Alfredson has assembled the cream of British talent to bring his reworking of the book to the big screen with the haunted and aged spy hunter sharing the screen with a cast that includes current favourites Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong alongside the established class of Tobey Jones, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Firth and the legend that is John Hurt.

Make no doubt that this is a stylish and taut exercise in drawing in the viewer with the ruthless and almost workman like characteristics of it’s spies combined by the emotive acting on display as hardened men come to terms with the sacrifices made in their personal lives.

The performances are especially impressive with both Tom Hardy and Mark Strong each adding stand out moments and dropping the persona of their recent alpha male roles to portray men internally scarred by the service undertaken in the defence of the realm.

The actors are also strongly complemented by a production value and visual flair that not only evokes the paranoia of the cold war but lushly recreates a Britain fading in its grandour as it enters the turmoil of the Seventies.

Any fears that John le Carre’s maze of a plot may be lost in the film’s running time are laid to rest as both the screenplay and director manage to cover all the main bases in an emotionally taut and highly entertaining two hours of espionage.


Verdict:

Oldman provides a master spy for a masterful piece of filmmaking. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is an intelligent and sophisticated exercise in old school suspense that gradually draws in the viewer whilst also providing an emotive tour de force beneath the hardened surfaces of its cold war operatives.

A classic in the making that is fully recommended.


Read more: http://www.economicvoice.com/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-john-le-carre-gary-oldman-2011-review/50023785#ixzz1YMRX5h00

COLIN FIRTH - TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY UP FOR GOLDEN LION AWARD

Steve McQueen's film Shame leads UK charge to win Golden Lion in Venice

John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights also in the running for the top prize

Steve McQueen's film Shame has been nominated for the Golden Lion award at Venice film festival. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

 

The Brits arrived at the world's oldest film festival today/ and brought more graphic sex than you can shake a stick at in the shape of artist Steve McQueen's second movie Shame, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.

The film, McQueen's second after Hunger which dealt with Bobby Sands and the IRA hunger strikes, was enthusiastically received after its first screening in Venice. It leads something of a British charge as one of three UK movies in competition for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion.

Tomorrow, Andrea Arnold brings her keenly awaited version of Wuthering Heights, while today, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch are in town for a new film version of John le Carré's classic spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, boosted by a statement from Le Carré himself heaping praise on the film by the Swedish director Tomas Alfredson.

Shame tells the story of Brandon, a single thirtysomething man in New York who is addicted to sex in any of its forms as long as it does not involve love or intimacy. His ordered lifestyle is thrown into a sort of chaos with the arrival of his needy sister, played by Mulligan.

McQueen said that after making Hunger, a film about a man with no freedom, he was interested in making a film about a man who had access to anything. "They are both films about politics and freedom," he said.

Neither of the lead actors was shy of getting their clothes off and the film, because of its subject, does contain a mighty lot of sex – whether sex with escorts, internet sex, threesome sex, solo sex in the office toilet, sex in a window of the Standard Hotel or backroom gay sex – much of it accompanied by Bach.

For Fassbender it comes just two days after he was in Venice for the David Cronenberg film A Dangerous Method in which he has sex with and spanks his patient, played by Keira Knightley.
Fassbender said the graphic sex scenes had been uncomfortable to film. He added: "The most important thing is to make sure that everybody involved is comfortable, as much as you can be, and then just kind of go for it so you don't have to do too many takes."

Mulligan is in Australia filming The Great Gatsby with Baz Luhrmann so it was left to McQueen to answer a question on her nudity. "She's an actress," he said. "Who cares? It's not a big deal. She's an artist."

McQueen's first film, Hunger, has not been released in Italy and the director said he understood it was because of the male nudity, so goodness knows what will happen to Shame.

McQueen said he loved his main character. "He's not a bad person. He's a person living now, with all the trappings of now. Of course it shapes you, taints you. As a character I think he's very familiar to all of us."

The film was written by McQueen and Abi Morgan, whose series The Hour recently finished on BBC1. They interviewed many men who have this kind of addiction, they said, and the word that kept coming up time and again was shame – hence the title.

The film contains some impressive acting and a memorable rendition of New York, New York from Mulligan. "For me it's a very sad song, very much blues," said McQueen. "It was an extraordinarily emotional day when we recorded that. It was amazing."

It is very much a British film, co-produced by Film Four with money from the defunct UK Film Council. Asked why it is set in New York with American characters, McQueen said it felt right as a 24-hour city of both "excess and access".

The film was enthusiastically applauded at its first screening on the Venice Lido.
For many, the remake of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy means just one thing: heresy, given the celebrated 1979 TV series starring Alec Guinness.

In a statement, Le Carré said he had felt much the same way. "The television series had needed seven episodes," he said. "And slice it how you will, television drama is still radio with pictures, whereas feature film these days barely talks at all."

But, he said: "My anxieties were misplaced. Alfredson has delivered a film that for me works superbly, and takes me back into byways of the novel and its characters that the series of 32 years ago didn't enter."

The writer was also full of praise for Oldman's George Smiley, who evokes the same "solitude, inwardness, pain and intelligence" that Guinness brought to the part, but Le Carré added: "If I were to meet the Smiley of Alec Guinness on a dark night, my instinct would be to go to his protection. If I met Oldman's, I think I just might make a run for it."

There is something of a buzz for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, whereas with Arnold's Wuthering Heights, no one knows quite what to expect. Arnold has made two acclaimed contemporary dramas, Red Road and Fish Tank, so there is a lot of interest in seeing her adapt Emily Brontë's classic novel.
If any of the three do win on Saturday they will be only the second British film in 20 years to win the Golden Lion, with Mike Leigh's Vera Drake taking the prize in 2004. Other films in contention are Todd Solondz's Dark Horse and Roman Polanski's middle-class angst drama Carnage