The documentary The Pigeon Tunnel has an early scene where it’s explained how pigeons are directed into a long dark tunnel and when they fly out into the light they are shot down by hunters.
Master documentary filmmaker Errol Morris interviews David Cornwell, “the former spy known to the literary world as John le Carré.”
Cornwell died nearly three years ago. The footage was recorded in 2020 or before. Yet his observations as a former intelligence officer as well as a popular bestselling author of spy novels are apt for today’s conflicted world.
Morris uses a different style of interviewee to camera as compared to his Interrotron method used in previous films. Sometimes the background bookshelf on the set are bent like a leaning tower.
Only an insider like Cornwell would have the lowdown on things like the Philby affair. The Pigeon Tunnel covers the world in change from the 1940s to the present day.
Essential documentary viewing.
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