Error Morris is a celebrated documentarian who has made such films as A Fog of War, Standard Operating Procedure, and A Thin Blue Line. Dealing with politics, the police, and corrupt businesses. His latest film doesn’t deal with as serious subject matter as those. It’s about one of the most beloved authors in English literature John Le Carre aka David Cornwall. He has a lot of secrets he shares with Morris in The Pigeon Tunnel.

John LA Carre is the pen name of David Cornwall. He has written many great spy novels like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, The Tailor of Panama,  The Constant Gardener, and my personal favorite Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His career in various spy agencies when he was a younger man helped prepare him for his career as a novelist. He is so good at weaving threads that make his novels so very cinematic. Which is why so many of them have been made into movies.

Morris delves into a lot of Cornwallis’s past as a son to a very bad father who was a criminal, an alcoholic, and an all-around nasty character. He tried to get his son to help him out of prison and many other financial difficulties on top of that. He was jealous of his son’s fame and fortune and he couldn’t get past this so he sued him for some ridiculous reasons. He was the epitome of what I would describe as a terrible father by anybody’s standards. My father wasn’t much better that’s for sure. 

Furthermore, Cornwall was asked about his love life. He had various relationships with multiple women, the first one he divorced and the second one he lived with for quite a while. He had four children with these two women Alison Ann and Valerie. Four sons Simon, Stephen, Timothy (first marriage), and Nicolas with his second wife. He didn’t go into his family life much though. It’s the one thing he likes to keep close to his vest. His last vestige of privacy.

The one this Cornwall delved into a lot was his service for his country. When he was in the military and his multiple jobs with various spy agencies within the British government around Europe. At first, he enjoyed his service to his country then he got sick of all the political garbage that goes along with it.  He didn’t stay in the spy service for a long time, but MI6 would be a great help with his literary career going forward. He learned a lot from his time in these spy agencies which he put into his books for decades to come.

One particular instance was when the head of MI6 Kim Philby aka Harold Adrian was found out as a Russian spy during the Cold War. He was perfect fodder for the character of Bill Hayden (Colin Firth) in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Cornwall would use quite a bit from the newspapers and television news in Great Britain and other resources for information for his books. This made them all the more authentic to the readers, as well as made better movies.

One of the cool things I loved about this documentary was how Morris weaved in various film reels, newspaper quotes, archival footage, and photos to show that what Cornwall was talking about was real and authentic. The main thing that made this film so good though was the talking heads mainly Cornwall himself. His personal and candid interview was the main thing that drove this film forward. This is the last interview anybody will get from this legendary man and it’s a very independent interview that doesn’t hold back on this man’s storied life, warts and all.

The Pigeon Tunnel is described as the thing that gets readers to be invested in the story of the various books this man has written but it also describes how Morris gets us to be invested in this man’s fascinating story from child to elderly adult. It’s the perfect title for this film. Cornwall is such an interesting man with a past full of sorted individuals such as his father and a complicated domestic life. His work and his service to his country were touched on and nothing was spared by Morris.  This is one of the best documentaries of this year and should garner some love come awards season. I was completely immersed in this man’s story from beginning to end. 

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen