

2023·Documentary·1h 32m
7.1
★










Academy Award winner Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of David Cornwell, the former spy known to the literary world as John le Carré.
Directed by Errol Morris
based on true story
british spy
crime fiction writer

Trailer

IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch

Cast

John le Carré
Self

Charlotte Hamblin
Olive Cornwell

Garry Cooper
Ronnie Cornwell

Simon Harrison
Kim Philby

Douglas Rankine
Rudolf Hess
Crew

Errol Morris
Director

Errol Morris
Writer

Philip Glass
Original Music Composer

Errol Morris
Producer

Hossein Amini
Executive Producer

Michael Lesslie
Executive Producer
Popular Reviews
21 reviews
Emilie Campbell
8.0★ · 03/16/26

Gotta be one of the most quotable people ever
Gotta be one of the most quotable people ever
Justine
6.0★ · 01/05/25

Some really good pigeon-centric cinematography
Some really good pigeon-centric cinematography
Aaron Nolan
6.2★ · 12/07/23

Quite the life to live! Had no relationship with him or his work prior to this, but there is so much to glean here about what makes a great writer and what makes a compelling story. “The cat sat on the mat isn’t a story, but the cat sat on the dog’s mat is”.
Quite the life to live! Had no relationship with him or his work prior to this, but there is so much to glean here about what makes a great writer and what makes a compelling story. “The cat sat on the mat isn’t a story, but the cat sat on the dog’s mat is”.
Jack J
7.0★ · 10/21/23

Writing as an act of personal revelation in a time where any personal information is weaponized against you — essentially, a timely work. Much preferred the sections where Morris and Le Carre engage in intellectual debates about the boundaries of each other’s medium to the more talking head sections of Le Carre’s childhood, but he’s such a natural storyteller that the conventionality is cancelled out by a briskness and empathetic lens
Writing as an act of personal revelation in a time where any personal information is weaponized against you — essentially, a timely work. Much preferred the sections where Morris and Le Carre engage in intellectual debates about the boundaries of each other’s medium to the more talking head sections of Le Carre’s childhood, but he’s such a natural storyteller that the conventionality is cancelled out by a briskness and empathetic lens
Ethan

Morris complements Cornwell’s ever adventurous stories with some decent recreations and very effective real footage and footage from various adaptations of Cornwell’s stories. And Cornwell just has a calm and smoothing voice that is easy to listen to but maybe also too easy to fall asleep to.
Morris complements Cornwell’s ever adventurous stories with some decent recreations and very effective real footage and footage from various adaptations of Cornwell’s stories. And Cornwell just has a calm and smoothing voice that is easy to listen to but maybe also too easy to fall asleep to.