The final confrontation between Smiley and Karla takes place. But in this game there are no victors, only losers.The final confrontation between Smiley and Karla takes place. But in this game there are no victors, only losers.The final confrontation between Smiley and Karla takes place. But in this game there are no victors, only losers.
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- TriviaIn the final scene, where Smiley and Guillam are waiting for the exchange, they are in a coffee shop in the Turkish district. Guillam asks Smiley to order something "for the rent", to which Smiley replies, "Oh yes. God knows what they live on." Although this is not a character error on the part of George Smiley, Turks in Germany at the time were hardly poor. Most of them were unskilled people, unemployable in their own country, and opted to migrate to Germany, where there was a shortage of workers. This led to the boom of the Turkish district in Germany during the late 70's / early 90's, as depicted in the scene. Despite being unskilled workers, they were able to find gainful employment in Germany, which supplied them with a more than average living which they wouldn't even dream of in their homeland. They lived in closely knit groups, keeping in their own neighborhoods, usually refraining from socially associating with the people of the country they lived in. (There is even an urban legend about a man who, upon returning to Turkey after decades of living in Germany, claimed "Thank God I didn't learn even a word of German.")
There's a poster of a general on the wall in the coffeehouse in the same scene. He is Kenan Evren, the general who came to power via the 1980 military coup which he led, and became the 7th President of the Republic for Turkey. It was not uncommon for magazines to publish his poster for coffee shops, barbers, etc.
- GoofsThe conclusion of the series supposedly takes place on the Oberbaumbrücke in Berlin, one of the East-West checkpoints, yet it features the Lady Bay Bridge in Nottingham, UK. The filmmakers chose the bridge in the UK due to its similarity to the bridge and dressed it to resemble the German bridge as closely as possible. This is explained on the DVD production notes as a financial decision.
- Quotes
George Smiley: [Writing to Karla] 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 offences 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 is 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 35th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1983)
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- Kleine Schanze, Berne, Kanton Bern, Switzerland(Grigoriev is approached by Esterhase)
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