Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Stuart K — 22 Mar 2016

BRIDGE OF SPIES - Spielberg revisits the Cold War.

Steven Spielberg's Christmas cinematic release "Bridge of Spies" sees a return to his more serious side, with this period-astute and occasionally tense, Cold War drama. The opening scenes dramatically replay the capture in 1957 of the seemingly innocuous, yet notorious Soviet spy Rudolf Abel -- delivered with deadpan comic observancy and ultra-stillness by Britain's renowned theatrical chameleon Mark Rylance, most recently seen as King Philippe V of Spain in the West End transfer of The Globe Theatre's "Farinelli and the King".

Tom Hanks plays the insurance lawyer James Donovan who is pressed into defending the spy. But this is no stifling, courtroom-confined drama. In the manner of his predecessors -- (James Stewart in "Mr Smith Goes To Washington", Henry Fonda in "Twelve Angry Men" and Gregory Peck in "To Kill A Mockingbird") -- men who made careers from playing roles which pitched the American idealist against a cynical establishment and the rule of mob -- Hank's nice guy soon becomes insistent on the rights of the individual and the upholding of constitutional due process, against overwhelming pressure to act as a mere rubber-stamp functionary.

This perseverance brings him into conflict with his bosses, judicial officials, the CIA, his family and ultimately renders him as much a target for public hatred and vilification as the spy he defends. With the guilty verdict in no doubt, his tenacity focuses on coaxing the judge to transport the final verdict, the upshot of which ultimately proves the launch-pad for the second half of the movie and the real-life Cold War events which unfold in Berlin.

Gary Powers, pilot of the U2 spy plane shot down over Soviet Russia in 1960 -- (some breathtakingly good use of CGI in bringing to life his factual account published in "Operation Overflight") -- is the man the Americans want to trade for Rudolf Abel who by now, has been languishing in prison for 5 years. The chill, the chaos, the contrast in affluent post-war America and ruined East Berlin is tangible and compelling. Negotiations for the exchange (which seem forever to be teetering on a bureaucratic knife edge and requiring of an insurance lawyer's grasp of diplomacy and clarity) are deftly handled by Spielberg and let it be noted that he never allows an over emphasis of the facts or harrowing detail to get in the way of his telling of a good yarn. So despite a few period inaccuracies involving Frederic Pryor - the young economics student caught in the upheaval of the fledgling, yet internationally unrecognised East Germany - the overall result is an entertaining and suspenseful story which will doubtless keep the box office busy and earn a plethora of award nominations.

Look out for a cameo by a frail looking (soon to be 80) Alan Alda and ever-stylish German actor Sebastian Koch playing a disgruntled flunky who petulantly and deliberately resorts to incurring a speeding violation in order to exact a mini-victory over his passenger (Hanks) whilst on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall.

Personal anecdote - Back in late 1989 the world held its breath as rumblings of the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc became an unstoppable force. Soon, the collapse of Erich Honecker's government in the DDR gave way to the puppet tenure of Egon Krenz and my then boss (a very politically aware Hotelier) and I, would discuss at length the situation in divided Berlin. For my Christmas bonus/gift that year, he decided to present me with flights and a week in a hotel located just off the Kurfürstendamm in West Berlin, so that I could go and experience the tremendous atmosphere and upheaval for myself in early January 1990, and bring him back my personal account. I have never forgotten the experience of showing my papers to the forlorn East German border guards at Check-Point Charlie and entering the depressing and grey eastern sector where the Brandenburger Tor was covered in optimistic graffiti and the Orange glass Communist Party HQ building had just been declared unsafe due to excessive use of asbestos in its construction. It was freezing, the middle of winter and yet the atmosphere was electrifying and buoyed-up by optimistic young people everywhere who had begun chipping away at the wall with picks, shovels, drills, chain saw and anything which they could get their hands on whilst the guards on both sides, merely looked on. SRK London, 7th Dec 2015.