this be my second time through for a perfect spy . i watch it 2 or 3 year ago and like it . i like it still . it natural that it get compare to the beeb other big le carre series and tinker tailor soldier spy . tinker tailor focus on the game spy play while perfect spy give u the other axis what kind of person a spy be . there be a number of theme that these movie share and along with others in the genre . ambiguity moral and sexual and interpersonal which create a multidimensional space of true vs. false and inside vs. outside and love vs. responsibility . in a way and these character be happy when they be be treat the most shabbily by those they love and respect backstabbed in it various nuance . the theme of father and father figure be also important . one of the most intriguing character in a perfect spy be rick and the main character magnus perhaps ersatz father . throughout the story he betray and be betray . a rogue who always manage to climb back up the ladder when he be topple and who seem impervious to what others think of him and ask magnus each time they meet and do you love your old man . and never and do you love me . maybe it say this somewhere else and but a perfect spy be a love story . another theme be that of malignancy . the nature of the business be to turn others turn them against their government and against their friend and associate and turn them against their value and belief . in each of the le carre movie i have see and the spy who come in from the cold and look glass war and tinker tailor soldier spy and smiley people and and a perfect spy and turning and be turn be the foundation of the tragedy . finally and not so much a theme a an artistic touch in each of these film there be usually only a single gun shot and or perhaps two shot bookending the story . violence and torture and cruelty be always just beneath the surface . we see their result not a stream of blood or dank prison cell but in the the object le carre character cling to a they be ineluctably suck down into the morass . if you haven not see the film above and and you enjoy a perfect spy and you be in for a treat . i would also recommend the sandbagger series ( yorkshire tv ) and the 2nd and 3rd season of which begin to reach the level of this kind of complexity . the ipcress file and burial in berlin be nice and though light weight . for political intrigue try a very british coup and house of card and yes and minister or yes and prime minister . if only a brit would set his hand to make the three kingdom there would be a film with intrigue and complexity .