The Bridge of Spies is a 2015 Steven Spielberg historical drama that is based on a true story. Set in the post World War II era, the film revolves around the distrust between USSR and the United States of America during the Cold War when the Iron Curtain was being erected across Europe.
What got me first interested in the film was its historical setting. The film at first glance has a very ‘Orson Welles’ appeal. You cannot watch the trailer and not recall The Third Man. I don’t usually like historical dramas made in the present times, but this film is brilliantly done!
The story follows the capture of Rudolf Abel (played by Mark Rylance), a Soviet spy by the American authorities who is assigned James B. Donovan (played by Tom Hanks) as his defense attorney. Donovan defends his client to the full extent of his capability, upholding the principal that every man deserves a just defense in the American court of law. Though subjected to intense public wrath for his defense of a Soviet spy, he is able to get his sentence commuted from capital punishment to life imprisonment.
During the same time an American pilot is captured and prosecuted by the Soviets and sentenced to life imprisonment. On the other hand, an American Yale graduate who is studying Economics in Berlin gets captured by the East German authorities on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall while it is being built. He is also deemed a spy and thrown into German prison.
Donovan is sent to Berlin to negotiate the exchange of the Soviet spy for the American pilot. However, on his arrival he learns of the American student’s capture and negotiates a deal to exchange Abel for both the Americans. This proposition is received with severe hostility and resistance as both the Americans are captured by different authorities. Albeit the East Germans are a part of USSR, they don’t see eye to eye.
Rudolf Abel describes Donovan by ‘Stoikiy muzhik’, a Russian phrase meaning ‘the standing man’. Both men are shown to have deep respect for each other. Abel for Donovan’s sincere and relentless defense of him regardless of what people had to say and Donovan, for Abel’s integrity and patriotism through to the end. He is calm as the sea, no matter how bad the situation got, answering Donovan’s query about whether or not he was worried with his “Would it help?”.
All the actors have done justice to their respective roles, but I cannot call any performance phenomenal. The element that can be applauded as being phenomenal is the direction. The film flows flawlessly from one event to another, showcasing all nuances of the time being played out poignantly, be it the erection of the Berlin Wall or the hostility of the masses towards a foreign spy.
TheMovieBuff 
Totally agree about the direction – Spielberg at the top of his game. His blocking of the prisoner exchange on the bridge was phenomenal. I thought Mark Rylance was excellent too, and his understated performance was a nice contrast to Hanks’.
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Thank you for bringing this point to the fore. Mark Rylance very effectively brought forth the many facets of a foreign spy. His embodiment of the role of a man who is a soldier to his people, all the while a traitor to the other was splendidly portrayed. I think he and Tom Hanks together very well demonstrated that matters even as grave as espionage couldn’t be categorized as black and white. Grey areas exist and have to be acknowledged as so, no matter the cost. Here again we have the dexterity of an expert director to thank.
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