November 1, 2023
FILM: THE PIGEON TUNNEL
DIRECTED BY: ERROL MORRIS
STARRING: DAVID CORNWELL
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The name John Le Carre should be known to anyone who loves to read classic spy thrillers. Those of us whose primary passion is film might be more familiar with the adaptations of Le Carre’s books, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, among others. What may be less familiar to either group is Le Carre’s real name: David Cornwell. Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (The Fog of War) conducted a series of interviews with Cornwell before the writer passed away in 2020 at the age of 89. The Pigeon Tunnel pulls those interviews together to provide an interesting portrait of a man whose own work was highly influenced by his father’s life regularly on the run. While those less familiar with Cornwell (aka Le Carre) may have trouble connecting to some of the material here, the techniques Morris uses as well as some of the details concerning Cornwell’s life are artfully constructed and revealed.
The title of the film is based on the working title Cornwell regularly used for most of his books. It also symbolically reflects his mother’s breaking free from her “crisis addict” husband when Cornwell was only five years old. It could also represent the tunnel that Cornwell traveled through as he wrote his works and allowed himself to be free from a life that could have been as destructive as his own father Ronny’s was. Cornwell reports that the man was a swindler who habitually duped people and lost lots of money resulting in a chaotic life for his son. Cornwell discusses how his writing made “order out of the chaos.” He was able to develop his own secret worlds where intricate stories could be told about a world that may have reflected that of his father.
It is these discussions that help us understand who Cornwell was as an artist/writer and who he might have been as a man. (He was notoriously quiet about his own private life.) He tells us about his days at Oxford studying modern languages and his early career during the cold war in Germany. We also learn a lot about some of the significant figures/spies with whom Cornwell interacted with during his life. Much of this became part of his novels which he referred to as his “home for larceny.”
Morris’s approach to painting this portrait of Cornwell is filled with some highly stylized visual imagery. During most of the one-on-one interviews, Cornwell is framed with canted (or “Dutch”) Expressionistic angles. Such perspectives typically suggest something is “off” in the world of the character on screen and perhaps it is true that Cornwell’s life was a bit unlike most writers’ lives. The film is also filled with voice over narration, clips from the adaptations of Cornwell’s novels, recreations of different events from his life, and stills from the writer’s past. There’s also a lovely and mysterious score by Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan which feels as if we are in the world of yet another adapted “story.”
Morris opens a window into Cornwell’s life and possible inspirations. It’s a finely crafted piece of work that will interest film enthusiasts and spy thriller fans. However, it will most appeal to John le Carre’s many loyal readers.
The Pigeon Tunnel is currently streaming on AppleTV+.
FILM: THE PIGEON TUNNEL
DIRECTED BY: ERROL MORRIS
STARRING: DAVID CORNWELL
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The name John Le Carre should be known to anyone who loves to read classic spy thrillers. Those of us whose primary passion is film might be more familiar with the adaptations of Le Carre’s books, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, among others. What may be less familiar to either group is Le Carre’s real name: David Cornwell. Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (The Fog of War) conducted a series of interviews with Cornwell before the writer passed away in 2020 at the age of 89. The Pigeon Tunnel pulls those interviews together to provide an interesting portrait of a man whose own work was highly influenced by his father’s life regularly on the run. While those less familiar with Cornwell (aka Le Carre) may have trouble connecting to some of the material here, the techniques Morris uses as well as some of the details concerning Cornwell’s life are artfully constructed and revealed.
The title of the film is based on the working title Cornwell regularly used for most of his books. It also symbolically reflects his mother’s breaking free from her “crisis addict” husband when Cornwell was only five years old. It could also represent the tunnel that Cornwell traveled through as he wrote his works and allowed himself to be free from a life that could have been as destructive as his own father Ronny’s was. Cornwell reports that the man was a swindler who habitually duped people and lost lots of money resulting in a chaotic life for his son. Cornwell discusses how his writing made “order out of the chaos.” He was able to develop his own secret worlds where intricate stories could be told about a world that may have reflected that of his father.
It is these discussions that help us understand who Cornwell was as an artist/writer and who he might have been as a man. (He was notoriously quiet about his own private life.) He tells us about his days at Oxford studying modern languages and his early career during the cold war in Germany. We also learn a lot about some of the significant figures/spies with whom Cornwell interacted with during his life. Much of this became part of his novels which he referred to as his “home for larceny.”
Morris’s approach to painting this portrait of Cornwell is filled with some highly stylized visual imagery. During most of the one-on-one interviews, Cornwell is framed with canted (or “Dutch”) Expressionistic angles. Such perspectives typically suggest something is “off” in the world of the character on screen and perhaps it is true that Cornwell’s life was a bit unlike most writers’ lives. The film is also filled with voice over narration, clips from the adaptations of Cornwell’s novels, recreations of different events from his life, and stills from the writer’s past. There’s also a lovely and mysterious score by Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan which feels as if we are in the world of yet another adapted “story.”
Morris opens a window into Cornwell’s life and possible inspirations. It’s a finely crafted piece of work that will interest film enthusiasts and spy thriller fans. However, it will most appeal to John le Carre’s many loyal readers.
The Pigeon Tunnel is currently streaming on AppleTV+.