If it is true that to be a great writer, you need an unusual childhood, then the great spy novelist John LeCarre may be Exhibit A. Or so it seems in this fascinating documentary by Errol Morris, THE PIGEON TUNNEL.
Errol Morris, one of the most creative, compelling documentarians ever, turns his camera on perhaps the greatest spy novelist ever, John LeCarre, in the documentary THE PIGEON TUNNEL. The British writer and former spy who uses the pen name John LeCarre, but whose real name was David Cornwell, has turned out a remarkable string of spy novels, nearly all of which became bestsellers. From The Spy Who Came Into The Cold onward, John LeCarre has thrilled readers with spy novels that have the intriguing ring of real spy craft to them, unlike the James Bond adventurer type, transforming the genre of espionage novels.
“The Pigeon Tunnel” is the name of John LeCarre’s (aka David Cornwell’s) 2016 autobiography but it is also the place-holder name he used for his spy novels before they had their final titles. Near the beginning of the Errol Morris’ excellent documentary THE PIGEON TUNNEL, LeCarre related a rather chilling story about the origin of that phrase, a tale in which privileged guests at a grand Monaco hotel use a seaside-facing balcony to shoot at pigeons as they emerged from a tunnel, an entertainment arranged by the hotel, something young Cornwell says he witnessed while staying at the hotel with his free-spending gambler father Ronald “Ronnie” Cornwell, and one that illustrates a certain sense of cold entitlement and his lack of feeling.
Documentarian Errol Morris spoke with John LeCarre in an interview that ranged over four days in 2019. LeCarre is charming, cordial, erudite and often smiling, as he talks about his books and his work in secret intelligence, and most especially about his father Ronnie Cornwell, a charming swindler and gambler who was always in debt and sometimes in trouble with the law. LeCarre’s mother abandoned the family when he was five, leaving him and his older brother with his unreliable, philandering father. Growing up with such a father, truth was a stranger in their lives and his father involved his sons in his cons. When not in trouble with the law, Ronnie rubbed elbows with the upper crust and spent freely. There was little affection. It was a childhood that could not have been more unusual.
While LeCarre recounts his tales, Errol Morris works his signature magic, with actors re-enacting some parts of LeCarre’s life, particularly his youth and young adulthood, sequences so good you are drawn into them like drama and a bit surprised when you come back to the white-haired man in the room. We also get archival stills and shots of newspaper clippings, often headlines about Ronnie’s arrests or financial scandals. There are extended clips from films based on LeCarre’s books, primarily THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD and the British TV adaptation of the Smiley series of novels, starting with TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY.
While Errol Morris weaves his magic with archival materials, John LeCarre is filmed in ways that suit the spy tales or stories of growing up as the son of a conman. The shot is often cocked, a Dutch angle, and shooting into a room through a doorway or with eerie green light adds a sense of mystery. LeCarre never loses his temper, never raises his voice and only rarely looks even uncomfortable. With a few exceptions, like when he talks about his own father’s attempt to con him out of money, LeCarre is calm and collected, personable and polite – a charmer to the last.
But LeCarre begins the interview with a touch of wariness, quizzing director/interviewer Errol Morris about his “intentions” for the interview and asking how he should regard him – friend, adversary? When Morris replies that he honestly doesn’t know, and repeats it, LeCarre seems to relax as it satisfied with the vague answer. It sets a strange tone for all that follows, with us always wondering what is going on in his head,. behind the congenial smile. About recruiting spies, LeCarre describes how the British secret intelligence service looked for “boys who were a little bit bad but who were loyal,” those who had separated from family early by going to boarding school and has an early Independence – all of which he acknowledged described him perfectly.
As the two talk, the background sometimes shifts, from a library to a room with a large table and vertical windows. We see only LeCarre, although we sometimes hear Morris, as LeCarre talks about his books, his work in secret intelligence and especially about his childhood and his relationship with this unreliable father.
The one thing he seems to have done right, was seeing that his sons had good educations at public schools and went on to Oxford. The plan was for young David to be a lawyer but instead he studied modern languages, with the support of his tutor Vivian Green. Then MI5 came calling and espionage entered the picture.
John LeCarre’s spy novels were strikingly different from the James Bond adventure tales, with the feel of real spy craft and cerebral, coolly calculating cat-and-mouse games between adversaries on opposite sides of the Cold War. It was a revelation that transformed espionage novels. and led to a string of bestsellers and movies based on them.
All this adds up to a fascinating tour of the world of John LeCarre, his strange childhood, his days at Oxford where he studied modern languages and was recruited to spy for MI5, and his time with MI5 (British domestic security) and MI6 (international) during the Cold War that he wrote about so well. Blended with the excellent recreations and the archival footage and stills, and we feel completely immersed in John LeCarre’s world, fictional and not, always with the little hint of secrets still kept.
It is a world that LeCarre fans, like this writer, won’t want to leave. But leave we must, as the film comes to an end and we are left with the knowledge that is was LeCarre’s last interview before his death in 2020. But is was fascinating while it lasted, much like LeCarre’s always smart and nuanced spy novels.
PIGEON TUNNEL is available streaming only on Apple+ starting Friday, Oct. 20.
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
