An interview with novelist John le Carré for the Criterion Collection release of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. #JohnleCarré #JohnleCarre #TheSpyWhoCameinFromtheCold #CriterionCollection
I agree on both points! I could listen to him "read the phone book" (remember those?) Richard Burton was a scenery-chewer, as the expression goes. Alec Guinness was always restrained/a bit opaque and that's what really pulled the viewer in. I'm gonna have to watch the the BBC productions of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "Smiley's People" to see more of Sir Alec in action.
Not many books have been written by actual spies! J.Le Carre gave talks at MI 5 and the CIA, dozens of times! Le Carre's father was a con-man and probably a spy, weirdly enough!
@@annedwyer797 He seemed to pause before speaking, which gives the impression he's thinking of what to say rather than a script. It adds depth to the character by not really doing anything at all, (no film critic, so no clue of the correct terms or language!). Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse did a superb sketch called Eeny Meeney Miney Mole which compares Guinness and Oldman as Smiley, worth a watch!
Sitting in bed, glass of vino collapso and listening to this wonderful wise man who is my favourite writer. I have cds, tapes and books and so love the BBC productions of 1979 and 1982 of the Smileys. Spy as portrayed by Burton is still a favourite of all time. This man gave so much joy RIP x
"End of the line rundown spook!" Excellent 👌 I went into Berlin this year 1966, mother woke us as it rolled in raining darkness, gaurds in the dark with machine guns and spotlights, are seriously unforgettable! 😮 They were shooting people who tried to cross, till 1989! Madness!
This is the most polite interview. The ways in which he hints at his displeasure with the final product, and yet still gives praise where it's due, and criticizes it thoughtfully, are something to learn from.
A master of language. He has the Shakespearean gift, in his novels, of creating real people. Even his walk-on characters have more life than the main protagonists of other writers’ novels.
His multiple combination of intelligent analytical observation, empathy, romantic idealism and education is a powerful combination. Hes also a dodgy old spook to boot haha
What a relief, an interviewer who keeps his ego and vanity out of the interview! Le Carré is such an exceptional, intelligent speaker, making fine analysis of what he also acknowledges is a classic film from his own very fine novel. He has umility, honesty, and an astute, critical eye avoiding false modesty, but nevertheless recognising the limitations of his then self as a writer, and realistic enough to also see the luck he had in the timing of the novel’s publication. Pure joy to watch such an excellent interview/documentary. Great stills and excerpts from the film. Whatever Le Carré thinks, Burton was superb.
Wonderful piece. Le carre is spot on in the contrasts between two absolute legends Burton and Guinness. He speaks with such a balanced outlook and I adored the shout out to Cyrillic cusack.
I knew someone, very close to me, who spent 50 plus years in the intelligence field. I knew a few others, too, but this man was an extraordinary thinker, able to examine from an outside position, an exceptional critical thinker, no need to impress, a very capable teacher and quite humble. Likely the best human being I ever knew.
More than one old friend from my school days is in the intelligence field as well, and they are (to a man) stingy when it comes to buying gifts, lunch or drinks, and they are miserly with their praise of anything outside themselves, or their careers. Each one is so conditioned to look for ulterior motives and with ''reading other people's mail'' that they distrust the spoken, objective, open statement. They joke about who in their own department, is listening to our phone chats, reading our texts and emails and how they're ''just confirming our contact information'' when they call, which is unnerving. They're clever and they're skilled at getting information from those around them. But they are ''giving the machine what it wants.'' And I resent being cultivated, and harvested for my knowledge.
@@blackbird5634 I find the English are like this in general, because duplicity is what the country has been built on. It comes from Monarchy always afraid of losing its power. Meanwhile Americans are more straight forward, though superficial and disingenuous in their own way.
@@blackbird5634 I've also met people in the intelligence field and had a slightly different experience. They seemed to be friendly, sociable people of vast intelligence who had seen certain things behind the curtain that had changed their perspective forever.
I've met a couple of spooks. Damaged goods, living their entire lives in fear unless entirely under a wing of the agency (then they feel like they got God by the beard), essentially criminals from good families.
Do you know when she said this to Smiley? I know what you're getting at, I think. I thought of the scene where Connie refers to the character of Polyakov, whom she loved to listen to repeatedly on tape. To Smiley she characterized Polyakov's voice as "mellow like yours."
Thank you for posting this. Seriously, THANK YOU. Satisfying, in-depth interviews like this have been slowly dying off with the advent of popular talk shows featuring celebrities who are famous just for being famous. Cornwell is one of my favorite authors, and I really enjoyed his comments on this film. So sad to learn of his recent passing.
I saw John Le Carre interviewed at the Hay Literary Festival some years ago. Huge queues for him like a rock star. We’d all seen clips of him on TV over the years. Completely dominating documentaries about Alec Guinness. Never enough of him though. The voice. The knowledge. The perception. The mind. We were all hoping that 90 minutes on stage he wouldn’t be a disappointment. That he would fulfil our expectations. He was superb. Whenever he spoke you could hear a pin drop. If you want more I would recommend his audiobook of his autobiography The Pigeon Tunnel.
Started watch to hear about the movie then just wanted to listen to him speak, reminds me of how grown ups spoke when I was a kid, granted with more eloquence.
In England, back in the late '70's, there was a radio programme called 'A book at bedtime'. It was on week nights at 11pm and as a teen this book was my introduction to Le Carre. Forty years later, and a whole lot world-wiser, i understand this book differently. Wonderful having Le Carre explain his thinking behind the characters and the story, and how when it comes to film adaptation, it often misses the Authors intent and you get a whole different story which must be frustrating beyond belief for the Author.
I'm quite certain that this was the first Le Carré I read. Since then I've been big fan of him and I fell like all of his characters - good and bad guys - are real people and love them all.
I am speechless. Listening to my favourite author speak about his greatest creation being made into a movie. He spoke nonchalantly. I heard him with such awe.
I watched the movie as a teenager in the early 70s. I was pole-axed. The sense of betrayal and callousness was not what I expected from a spy movie, I was never the same again.
You often hear the phrase "from the horse's mouth". Well, here it is. I'm just fresh off from reading the book and watching the movie. What luck to hear him, and see him. This wouldn't have been possible when I was a boy. And I can go back and see this again tomorrow, to gain a better understanding. We may all be as significant as bacteria in the vastness of all the universes, with as little worth as nearly nothing. But as long as I think I am here to sense this, I have to say I feel some gratitude.
The intelligence in this is rare. His insights and assessments are rational and detached while still recognizing his and others’ personal biases and foibles.
Im dyslexic too & so when I read books I pick decent ones! Choosy. Btw used to belong to the Blind Library which had loads of audio books. Nowdays we have expensive apps I will buy eventually. Mostly do alot of utube audioboooks.
Great interview. I'm going to have to go away and watch it again now. Everything the author says about the film adaptation rings true. Love both the book and the film.
What a fantastically insightful and vivid storyteller, as always. Though for what it's worth, as far as I can find, his claim that the movie wasn't a box office success is incorrect.
Wonderful description of a writers thoughts on his characters on a film screen. Had always suspected they are meant to stay in the imagination. Always this slight dispointment seeing the Film & David has put his finger on the reason 😇
It never occured to me before that Cyril Cusack and Oscar Werner have appeared as antagonists in two movies: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Farenheit 451... well... I thought it was interesting...
He mentions the contrast with the James Bond portrayal of espionage; I've always enjoyed that Bernard Lee, M in so many of the EoN James Bond films, is relegated to a grocer in this film :-D
I love this! Been looking for it for awhile now, as parts of it have been out there for a long time and LeCarre has hinted at the frankness he displays here.
It's a brilliant film and Burton is mesmerising. It's hard to imagine another lead in that role. Burton is a born loner. To me, that's what he brought so successfully to the film. No matter how involved , he was always on the outside looking in. The alternative is either ignorance or naivety and that's what Bloom brought to the film. She sees the dream and Burton the sees banal, disappointing truth. A great film that stands up today only too well.
I mean have you watched Tinker Taylor? The man is not represented in that simplified melodrama all formed as star vehicle for Burton to play his standard tormented protagonist. Your simplistic analysis is unfortunately true. LeCarré is embarrassed by it.
@@paxwallace8324 Haha, bless. So you don't like it haha? The writer not liking an adaptation of their film is no yard stick. Stephen King famously hates Kubrick's 'The Shining'. However, my recollection of LeCarre's impression of 'The Man...' was pretty good but who cares? Certainly not me.
While I understand the frustration with Burton, he has everything to do with how good the final film was. It was a magnificent and deeply personal performance. His blue collar background, self-loathing and cynicism are perfect for the role. Trevor Howard was a wonderful actor (and like Burton, a big alky) but he couldn't provide all that Burton did.
@@bbmtge One of the last things he did before he died was to get an Irish passport, become an Irish citizen. however absurd you think that is ,it’s true. Fact. By the way I’m not embarrassed at all. but he certainly was otherwise he wouldn’t have done what he did.
A few years ago it was announced that a TV mini-series of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, starring Aiden Gillen as Alec Leamas, would be due for release around September 2021. I anticipated it with great excitement. Obviously it never materialised. I assume the combination of Covid 19 and the death of John le Carre killed off the project. TSWCIFC deserves the type of focus that 4 to 6 hours of TV drama could devote to it. And Aiden Gillen would be such a great Leamas!
I always get the feeling whenever Le Carré (Cornwell) speaks or writes about himself that he does so at least half disapprovingly, as if he regards himself clear-eyed from apart and wonders whether he isn't being just a bit too fatuous. And that's the kind of thing that makes him so likeable. This is no Le Carré-esque observation; the man probably says as much about his penchant for self-appraisal somewhere in his writing. In any event, his massive talent for assessing people is capable of being inwardly directed, and this speaks well for him.
When there was a bit of a crisis in 1996 over Di's death, I thought that if we have to have a president, it should be David Attenborough but, on this evidence, I think David Cornwell would have given him a good run for his money. Brilliant men, both of them.
Such a talented, sensitive human and writer. I loved the Spy.. I'm still amazed he pronounces Leamas incorrectly as they did in the film though it was filmed in ireland. It's Le-MASS.
Don't get me wrong I love James Bond. But i always thought he should be a little bit more like La Carr'e characters in his books. Raw, dark, emotionless at times. Thank you Mr. La Carr'e RIP
£9,000 for film rights. For comparison: in 1965 my parents bought a 3 bedroom detached house with large front and back gardens, for just under £2,000. Worth about £400,000 now.
interesting! and he seemed to be implying that it was low, for the rights in question. also as perspective, even a year or two after that time, I was earning £12 a week!
Despite loving both the book and the film, I’m not stuck with Burton in my head as Alec Lemas in the way Le Cerré feared. I get what he means completely, and I think he’s right, in most cases. Yet, if anything, it’s Brian Cox who occupies that space in my imagination, ever since he played Lemas in that incredible BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the whole Smiley series. I would recommend buying the discs to any fans, or downloading the collection. Especially for those who enjoy audiobooks or such like, whilst walking the dog or doing their chores. Brian Cox manifests Lemas’s inner world and the contradictions between who he is deep down and who he has to be with such empathy and feeling that I found myself thinking about him for weeks after listening.
