In 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.
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.
Final appearance of Alec Guinness as George Smiley.
Toby Esterhaze has a proper English accent in this series, but a clipped Eastern European cadence and accent in Smiley's People.