Original subtitles

How are you today, counselor?

Oh, thank you.

Well.

I hope you enjoyed your little excursion

to the country on Friday.

The old city of Thun is not sufficiently appreciated, I believe,

by members of our distinguished diplomatic community here.

In my opinion, it is to be recommended

not only for its antiquity

but also for its banking facilities.

You agree?

My name is Kurt Siebel, sir.

I am chief investigator

to the Kantonalbank Bern in Thun.

We have certain questions

relating to Dr. Adolf Glaser's private account with us.

You would do well to pretend to know me, eh?

Please do not be alarmed.

If you could spare us an hour, sir,

I am sure we could arrange matters

without troubling your domestic

or your professional position.

Please.

There are irregularities, counselor--

grave irregularities.

We have a dossier upon your good self

which makes lamentable reading.

If I placed it before the Swiss police,

not all the diplomatic protests in the world would protect you

from the most acute public embarrassment.

What irregularities?!

Who is this Glaser you speak of?

I am not Glaser.

I am a diplomat, Grigoriev.

The account you speak of has been conducted

with total propriety.

As commercial counselor, I have immunity,

and I also have the right to own foreign bank accounts.

There is also the delicate question

of your marriage, counselor.

I must advise you that your philanderings

in the embassy

have put your domestic arrangements in grave danger.

( car engine starts )

Remember, go easy.

No speeding.

No laughing.

It's a Bernese Sunday.

( groans )

( groans )

( Grigoriev grunting )

GRIGORIEV: Where am I?

I demand to know where I am.

I am a senior Soviet diplomat.

I demand to speak to my ambassador immediately.

I have been kidnapped.

I am here against my will!

If you do not return me immediately to my ambassador,

there will be a grave international incident.

You want ransom?

You are terrorist?

But if you are terrorist,

why don't you bind my eyes?

Why do you let me see your faces?

You must cover them!

I want no knowledge of you!

I demand!

I demand!

SMILEY: You are Counselor Grigoriev

of the Soviet Embassy in Bern?

Grigoriev.

I am Grigoriev!

Yes, well done-- I am Grigoriev.

And who are you, please?

Al Capone?

Who are you?

Why do you rumble at me like a commissar?

Then, counselor, since we cannot afford to delay,

I must ask you to study the incriminating photographs

on the table beside you.

Photographs?

What photographs?

How can you incriminate a diplomat?

I demand to telephone my ambassador immediately.

I would advise the counselor to look at the photographs first.

When he has looked at the photographs,

he is free to telephone whomever he wants.

Kindly start at the left.

The photographs are arranged from left to right.

The telephone

is at your disposal, counselor.

Copies of these photographs will receive generous distribution

within 48 hours from now unless something is done to prevent it.

You will also appreciate

that the Swiss authorities do not take kindly

to the misuse of their passports--

least of all by diplomats.

They are also sensitive

when it comes to infringement of their banking laws.

Your womanizing won't go down too well in Moscow either,

will it?

How is Madame Grigorieva these days?

Will she be pleased by a sudden home posting,

followed by premature retirement

to some inclement part of Russia?

You and all your family,

no car,

no privileges,

un-persons.

Sit down.

We have also, of course, to consider

the effect of these photographs and reports

upon certain organs

of Soviet state security, haven't we?

Certain directorates of Moscow Center--

special directorates.

We have to consider

whether exile is sufficient punishment

for one who has so gravely bungled his instructions.

Oh, yes.

At what time exactly

do you expect Madame Grigorieva

to return from her mushrooming expedition, counselor?

We don't want you to be missed at home, do we?

You are spies, eh?

You are Western spies.

We are officials.

That's all you need to know.

When you have done as I ask,

you will walk out of here a free man.

You have my assurance.

Neither your wife

nor even Moscow Center will be any the wiser.

Now, please tell me

at what time your family returns from Elfenau.

( groans )

ESTERHASE: Don't do that again, you hear me?

I don't speak to scum like you!

What are you?

A Polish?

Magyar?

I don't speak to antiparty elements!

I am Russian!

Don't do it again.

( grunts )

GRIGORIEV ( moaning ): Ah, Grigoriev...

You fool!

You are so weak,

so weak.

Why didn't you say no?

You are a fool and a clown!

You should be in an asylum

instead of the girl.

You are an idiot.

You fool.

Regarding your wife and children,

counselor.

She will be home at 1:00.

But perhaps she will be late?

Oh, she's never late.

Then kindly begin by telling me

of your relationship with the girl called Alexandra Ostrakova.

Huh!

You hear that, Magyar?

Ostrakova.

He asks me about some girl called Ostrakova.

I know of no such person.

I am a diplomat.

Release me immediately.

I have important engagements.

Alexandra Borisovna Ostrakova-- so called.

A Russian girl, but she has a French passport--

just as you are a Russian,

but have a Swiss passport, counselor.

How did you come to be involved with her, please?

I need vodka.

Give him a glass-- one only.

GRIGORIEV ( over radio ): Involved?

You think I am so base I sleep with mad girls?

SMILEY: Take the bottle outside.

I was, uh, in Moscow.

The date, please, counselor.

Give the date when you were in Moscow.

Henceforth, please give the date at all points.

August.

Of which year?

Which year?

I say August, he asks me which August.

( chuckles )

I was recalled to Moscow for an urgent economic conference.

Wait.

Go on.

I had arranged to pass two days

in the apartment of a girl called Evdokia,

formerly my secretary.

Her husband was away on military service.

Unfortunately, I was prevented

by adhering to these arrangements

by intervention of Moscow Center.

( phone rings )

( phone rings )

We are advised your wife has returned home.

It's now become necessary

for you to telephone her.

Telephone her?

You will kindly tell her you are unavoidably delayed.

I tell this to my wife, eh?

You think she will believe me?

She will report me to my ambassador immediately:

"Ambassador, my husband run away!

Find him!"

Each Thursday, the courier Krassky

brings your weekly instructions from Moscow, does he not?

Oh, your commissar, he knows everything, eh?

Well, if he knows everything,

why doesn't he speak to Grigorieva himself?

You are to adopt an official tone with her, counselor.

Do not refer to Krassky by name,

but suggest that he has ordered you to meet him

for an urgent discussion somewhere in the town.

If she protests, tell her it is a secret of state.

A secret...

A secret of state.

Hello.

Here is Grigoriev.

Don't speak to me about food, woman!

I am not interested in mushrooms!

Now, listen.

I shall be delayed by matters of state.

Matters of great urgency and importance.

I shall be delayed for several hours.

No, you may not know the reason.

Good-bye!

( depresses hook )

( all applauding )

Thank you, counselor.

You were describing

how you were approached by Moscow Center.

Kindly continue with your narrative.

Well, "Grigoriev," they tell me, "you come with us, we need you."

In Moscow, when they say that to you,

you do not say "Call tomorrow."

You go.

And you went.

We drive, all night.

Then big gates,

soldiers.

I ask my escort, "Is this a camp?

What have I done wrong, you are taking me to a camp?"

They tell me to shut up.

We climb a hill.

On the hill, a small dacha, a few lights, no luxuries.

"Who is this strange baron," I ask myself,

"who can live in a hut and look at the whole world

without wishing to possess it?"

Give me a cigarette.

And inside, this man-- not a baron, a priest...

with a deep quiet in him.

Behind a desk, like you.

"Grigoriev,

"I am a high official of state security.

"I am also a man, like you.

Sit down."

I sit down.

Like now.

The room.

Barren as a prison cell.

A high official, and needs so little.

A man clearly of deep experience.

I see it in his face.

You meet few men like that.

Smoking.

Smoking what?

Please?

What did he smoke?

The question's plain enough.

A pipe, cigarettes, cigar?

Ah!

Cigarette.

American.

Oh, the room was full of their aroma.

Imagine the influence of such a man--

to chain-smoke American cigarettes in Russia.

And he gave you no name?

No.

Describe the first topic

of your conversation with this man.

Huh.

Ah...

Women.

He knew everything...

about my little Evdokia,

my plans to love her that weekend.

About typists.

Wives of certain comrades.

A ballerina in Leningrad.

He disposed of all this information

in the most disturbing details.

"Grigoriev, you have no secrets from me.

"I see into your very heart.

"But never mind.

"Now you will be my ally.

"My soldier.

"My friend.

And I will reward you."

He was like you...

exactly.

First pressure, then the reward.

The friendship.

Go on.

First, I was to open a Swiss bank account.

Not in Bern, where I was known,

but in Thun, in the name of a Swiss subject, Glaser.

"But I am a Soviet diplomat!

I am not Glaser, I am Grigoriev!"

He hands me a Swiss passport in the name

of Adolf Glaser.

( chair moves suddenly )

Every month this account should be credited

with several thousand Swiss francs.

Sir,

you should observe his calmness,

his authority in all circumstances.

In chess game, he would win everything,

merely by his nerves.

But he was not playing chess.

Sir, he was not.

So what was he playing?

Make haste.

"Grigoriev," he says to me...

"Pay close attention.

"In a private clinic in Switzerland,

"not half an hour from the town of Thun,

"is confined a young Russian girl

"suffering from an advanced state of schizophrenia.

"Her name is Alexandra Borisovna Ostrakova.

"In the Soviet Union, this form of illness

"is not sufficiently understood.

"Diagnosis, treatment are too often complicated

"by political considerations.

"In Switzerland, a more enlightened attitude is taken

"to these matters.

Grigoriev, I speak to you as a father, not a politician."

"Comrade," I reply,

"if this Alexandra Borisovna is your child,

you have my deep sympathy."

He laughed.

I had misunderstood him.

"She is not my child

"and my name is not Ostrakov.

Pay attention."

"Oh, I apologize."

I feel the natural truthfulness of this man.

His warmth of heart.

His mercy.

You are a perceptive and kindly man, Grigoriev.

These qualities have not passed unnoticed.

Then he tells me a great secret.

"Grigoriev, in the whole history of Moscow Center,

"there is no greater heroine

"than Alexandra Borisovna Ostrakova.

"She has protected us against many enemies.

"She has mixed with the most dangerous elements

"in order to deceive them

"and report their conspiracies.

"She has given her very body

"in the cause of the Revolution.

"Unfortunately,

this experience has now deranged her mind."

"She is an invalid."

"Help her, Grigoriev.

"Comfort her in her agony.

Be a father to her."

Your task.

What was your task?

Well, to visit Alexandra

every week in her clinic.

To pay her fees from special bank account.

To speak to her physicians.

To be a father to her.

And when courier Krassky calls,

to give him each week my report upon her condition

and receive special instructions for next visit.

To place before her special questions

prepared for me by the priest.

And you agreed?

I ask him first two questions for myself.

"Comrade," I say, "why cannot this task be undertaken

"by one of the many Swiss-based representatives

of our state security?"

An excellent question.

How did he reply to it?

"Comrade," he said...

"This is matter is too secret.

"Even for the people of my own directorate, too sensitive.

"As things are now, if ever there should be a leak,

I shall know that Grigoriev alone is the man responsible."

I was not grateful for this distinction.

I should think not.

And what was your second question, counselor?

"Has Ostrakova no parents?

"Friends, relations of her own, in Russia?

"If our mental clinics are no good,

perhaps a special arrangement could be made?"

And he replied...?

He became quiet.

For the first time,

I would say he showed certain hardness.

"In secret operations," he told me, "each may only know part.

None but the Comrade Director himself may know all."

And did you believe him?

No, sir.

Why not?

He had tears.

Tears...

in his eyes.

SMILEY ( on tape ): Next Friday, you will on no account visit

the girl Alexandra.

You will tell your wife this was the substance

of today's meeting with the courier Krassky.

When Krassky brings your instructions

on Thursday, accept them normally,

but you will not visit Alexandra.

And if I refuse?

The priest will recall you,

the Swiss will expel you,

Grigorieva will murder you,

and you will forfeit all chance

of a friendly reception in the West...

alone or accompanied, as you wish.

Tidy up.

When will I see you again?

You desert me?

Leave me to this Magyar?

This gentleman will take care

of all matters of detail.

Good-bye.

Good-bye, sir.

Sir?

SMILEY: Yes?

Yes?

What is it?

George, this is a madhouse.

I mean, how long can we hold the dam?

This guy is a total crazy.

When does Krassky return to Moscow?

Saturday, midday.

Tell Grigoriev he must arrange a meeting

with Krassky before he leaves...

On Saturday.

He should tell Krassky

he will have an important message for him...

an urgent letter to take to Moscow.

Sure.

Sure, George.

Herr Lachmann.

Oh, yes.

Mother Felicity expects you.

Thank you, Sister Beatitude.

Mother Felicity.

So.

You are Herr Lachmann.

Herr Lachmann is an acquaintance of Herr Glaser,

and Herr Glaser is this week indisposed.

Have you met Alexandra before?

No.

You are perhaps her father?

You are the absent Mr. Ostrakov in disguise?

In this profession,

I have ceased to be surprised at anything.

I am merely standing in for Herr Glaser.

Who is standing in for the parents.

Good.

Now everything is clear.

You must be very careful with her, Herr Professor.

Sometimes she lives in the dark.

And sometimes she sees too much.

Both are painful.

She has grown up in Russia.

I don't know why.

It is a complicated story,

full of contrasts and full of gaps.

If it's not the cause of her illness,

it is certainly, let us say, the framework.

You do not think

Herr Glaser is the father.

No.

Nor do I.

Have you met the invisible Ostrakov?

Oh, you have not.

Does the invisible Ostrakov exist?

Alexandra assures me that he is a phantom.

Alexandra would have quite a different parentage.

Well... so would many of us.

( buzzer rings )

May I ask what you have told her about me?

Everything I know.

Which is nothing.

You are a friend of Uncle Anton,

whom she refuses to accept as her uncle.

I have told her it is her father's wish

to have someone visit her every week.

She assures me her father is a brigand

who pushed her mother off a mountain at dead of night.

( knock at door )

MOTHER FELICITY: Come in, my child.

( kisses )

( door closes )

ALEXANDRA: Is Anton dead?

No.

( places hat on desk )

Anton has bad flu.

Anton says he is my uncle,

but he is not.

He also pretends he has no car.

Where is your list?

Anton always brings

a list.

Oh, I have my questions in my head.

It is forbidden to ask questions

without a list.

Questions out of the head

are all completely forbidden by my father.

Who is your father?

I saw your car.

"BE" stands for "Bern"?

Yes, it does.

What kind of car does Anton have?

A Mercedes.

A black one.

Very grand.

Then why does he come to see me on a bicycle?

Perhaps he needs the exercise.

No.

He has a secret.

Have you a secret,

Alexandra?

My secret is called Tatiana.

That's a good name-- Tatiana.

How did you come by that?

Oh, it's forbidden to talk about it.

If you talk about it, nobody will believe you,

but they put you in a clinic.

But you are in a clinic already.

( laughs quietly )

I appreciate your kindness, Herr Lachmann,

but I know that you are an extremely dangerous man.

More dangerous than teachers or police.

Mother Felicity

is too close to God.

She doesn't know that God is somebody

who has to be ridden and kicked like a horse

until he takes you in the right direction.

But you, Herr Lachmann,

you represent the forgiveness of the authorities.

Yes, I am afraid you do.

Are you God?

No.

I am just an ordinary person.

Mother Felicity says

that in every ordinary person, there is a part that is God.

I have heard it said, too.

You are supposed to ask me

whether I have been feeling better.

Are you feeling better, Alexandra?

My name is Tatiana.

Then how does Tatiana feel?

Tatiana is the daughter of a man who is too important to exist.

He controls the whole of Russia, but he does not exist.

When people arrest Tatiana,

her father arranges for her to be freed.

He does not exist, but everyone is afraid of him.

Tatiana does not exist either.

What about Tatiana's mother?

She was punished.

That is to say, she was not obedient to history.

She was mistaken.

People should not attempt to change history.

It is the task of history to change people.

Did Tatiana ever meet her father?

A man used to watch the children walk to school.

And then?

From a car.

He would lower the window, but he looked only at me.

And did you look at him?

Of course.

How else would I know that he was looking at me?

What was his manner?

Did he smile?

( buzzer sounds )

He smoked.

Feel free, if you wish.

Mother Felicity likes a cigarette sometimes.

Well, it's only natural, isn't it?

Smoking calms the conscience, so I am told.

I would like to come with you in your car.

I require your gentleness.

I love you.

( door opens )

Thank you, Herr Professor.

( scolding ): Sasha.

( sobbing )

SISTER BEATITUDE: Alexandra!

Come back!

Sister Agnes!

Help us, please!

Go in!

( door closes )

SMILEY: The young woman known as Alexandra Borisovna Ostrakova

is your daughter.

You arranged for her illegal departure from Russia

by pretending she was a secret agent

of the Thirteenth Directorate.

You stole public money

and misused the resources of your service.

You caused the murders of two men,

the first in England and the second in West Germany.

I do not ask what you did to the wretched Oleg Kirov.

Any one of these offenses would be enough to ensure your death

at the hands of your rivals in the Collegium.

There is also the open question

of what may be done with your daughter here,

now that her true identity is known.

It is possible that she is curable, I am told,

with the right treatment, here in the West.

In the East it's different, as you know.

But what will happen

once she is deprived of money and proper papers?

She will become a perpetual and ailing exile,

ferried from one public hospital to another.

I do not need to imagine her solitude, or yours.

I have seen her.

When we met in Delhi, I urged you to come to the West.

I promised you, within reason, a decent life.

If you do that now,

if you cooperate in your interrogation,

you will be resettled in the usual way

and your daughter's future in the West will be secure.

By your actions,

you have disowned the system that made you.

You have placed love above duty.

The ground on which you once stood is cut away.

You have become a citizen of no-man's-land.

I send you my greetings.

Maybe he'll just...

He won't. He can't.

Sure.

When you give it to Grigoriev,

tell him to put it in another envelope

before handing it over to the courier Krassky.

Make it look like the usual weekly report.

He's already got it prepared.

George...

There's nothing more to say.

ESTERHASE: Okay, boys.

Mr. Smiley has a few days to kill,

but he doesn't want to go back to London.

So take care of him, eh?

Don't get in his way,

but make sure he doesn't slip in the snow.

Right?

See you, George.

See you, too, Toby.

( phone ringing )

Ja?

OPERATOR: Telefon aus England.

Von wem?

OPERATOR: Fur Mr. Standfast.

In Ordnung.

Standfast speaking.

MAN: Berlin, sir, next Thursday.

I see.

And where will the package be delivered?

MAN: Oberbaumbrucke.

Ah, yes.

Well, that's where he would choose, I suppose.

MAN: It's the safest.

Yes, it's natural.

MAN: Good luck, sir.

Thank you.

Berlin.

Thursday night.

It's on.

( exhales )

( man yelling in German in distance )

( man continues yelling )

( recorded Turkish music playing )

What cover will he use?

Something humble, something that fits in.

Those that pass here are mostly old-age pensioners, I gather.

What on earth do old-age pensioners want here?

Some visit dependents, some work.

I didn't inquire very closely, I'm afraid.

We pensioners tend to keep ourselves to ourselves.

( humming tune softly )

George.

If he comes, he'll come on time.

Then why did we get here two hours early?

We owe it to him.

Nobody else is on his side.

More coffee, George?

No, thank you, Peter.

No, I...

don't think so.

No, no more coffee.

( bicycle bell rings )

It's only a possibility, George.

Don't get excited, okay?

Just a slim chance, that's all I'm saying.

George, listen.

Good luck, eh?

But keep calm-- be like Karla.

Remember?

( men yelling in German in distance )

Eh?

( men yelling in distance )

George, quick.

Yeah, we're hoping that the package

will be along very shortly, sir.

The van has left the warehouse and we can actually see it

heading towards the firm's premises.

I would say that in about 30 seconds' time,

we should be sending you

a telegram of profound congratulation, sir.

GUILLAM: Oh, George...

You genius.

You angel.

How far?

50 yards and closing.

He limps-- did you know that?

He trails the left foot.

He must have had a stroke.

He's carrying something.

A knapsack.

30 yards.

Lord, he's cool.

( man yells in distance )

GUILLAM ( whispers ): No.

No, keep moving.

Move, come on. Shift.

( men yelling in German in distance )

GUILLAM: Come on.

Shift.

Come to Uncle.

( whispers ): That's it.

That's it.

Oh, my dear God.

That's my baby.

Nice and easy.

( slowly ): Take it easy.

( men yelling in German in distance )

( people running )

Get back.

Back to your posts, damn you.

( man laughs )

George.

You've got to look.

ESTERHASE: George, all your life!

Fantastic!

Take care, George.

Go well, you hear me?

( cars driving off )

Come on, old friend.

It's bedtime.

George...

You won.

Did I?

Yes.

Yes, I suppose I did.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org