Given the quality and influence of his literary work, it is no exaggeration to say that John le Carré invented the modern spy novel. A former agent of the British security services (MI5) and secret services (MI6), le Carré, born David Cornwell, experienced a destiny rivaling those of his fictional protagonists. He who was brilliantly adapted for cinema and television, here he is, shortly before his death in 2020, revealing his personal and professional secrets to the renowned documentary filmmaker Errol Morris in the river interview The Pigeon Tunnel.
The director of the brilliant and innovative The Thin Blue Linewhich proved the innocence of death row inmate Randall Dale Adams, A Brief History of Time (A brief history of time), about the physicist Stephen Hawking, and The Fog of Warabout former American Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Oscar for best documentary), knows a thing or two about portraits of extraordinary individuals.
In this, The Pigeon Tunnel is a perfect continuation of Errol Morris’ enlightening and rigorous filmography.
Furthermore, perhaps the expression “river maintenance” is reductive. Certainly, in essence, that is what it is all about. However, the successive interviews which constitute the plot of the film may well take place in various closed places (a luxurious library with a cozy atmosphere, a cold interrogation room, etc.), Morris nevertheless invites the 7e art in the image.
Indeed, from the outset, the documentarian multiplies the pronounced angles and unusual techniques, including the use of mirrors, in order to express, in visual terms, the interior universe of a subject accustomed to playing a double game. Compositions exquisite helping, The Pigeon Tunnel is perhaps Morris’s most formally accomplished film.
The filmmaker also willingly breaks down “action”. This is the case from the beginning, when the author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (The mole), The Constant Gardener (The constancy of the gardener) And Little Drummer Girl (The little girl with the drum) remembers his discovery of “pigeon tunnels”.
This dates back to his adolescence when his father dragged him to the Monte-Carlo casino. Under the establishment’s hunting lodge, overlooking the Mediterranean, tunnels had been dug. After being locked up there, pigeons rushed towards the exits and were slaughtered “for sport” (le Carré, like many of his characters, often felt like these birds).
Throughout this reminiscence, Morris alternates with virtuosity a breathtaking reconstruction of said memory, and extracts from the film The Spy Who Came in from Cold (The spy who came in from the cold), masterpiece by Martin Ritt based on the novel of the same name by le Carré.
The tone and manner are set.
Relentless, but serene
One of the main themes covered is the writer’s obsession with the concept of betrayal. And to mention the fact that his father, a recurring figure in the discussion, was a scammer…
“Life was a stage. And existence off stage was boring. We never talked about the truth,” relates le Carré.
“Did you feel cheated, child? » asks Morris.
” No. I joined in the deception,” replies le Carré, smirking.
The rest, from the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his mother, to his double life as an agent in Berlin during the erection of the Wall, through his education within the upper social classes (“I learned to become like them , but I never felt like one of them”), proves captivating from start to finish. This, even if we only vaguely know the work of John le Carré.
With Morris’ inquisitive camera riveted on him, the octogenarian writer is relentless in his introspection, but serene in his observations. We could listen to him for hours, his words and confessions are so fascinating. We must, unfortunately, be content with 90 minutes, which are still privileged.