Bridge of Spies
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Austin Stowell, Scott Shepherd, Sebastian Koch, Alan Alda, Mikhail Gorevoy, Will Rogers, Jesse Plemons
Drama/Thriller - 135 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 1 Oct 2015
Written by: Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Austin Stowell, Scott Shepherd, Sebastian Koch, Alan Alda, Mikhail Gorevoy, Will Rogers, Jesse Plemons
Drama/Thriller - 135 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 1 Oct 2015
Most of the important players in Bridge of Spies have a cold at one time or another. Old fashioned handkerchiefs are the preferred method of dealing with a persistent runny nose and nobody pops a Sudafed or uses a tissue. This is a slight detail from director Steven Spielberg many people won’t even notice, but then again, Spielberg is known for filling his movies with a quaint gesture here and a light touch there. The territory Bridge of Spies covers is not at the apex of the Cold War, I suppose the Cuban Missile Crisis owns that distinction, but it involves themes and characters movie audiences find particularly appealing, espionage and spies. Employing expert techniques including cinematography, production design, and costumes, Bridge of Spies is perfect at the science of filmmaking and bringing forth a specific time and place, but the art and intrigue side of the project does not pull equal weight. Bridge of Spies is an effective spy tale and legal game of cat and mouse, but it is not epic.
We are never informed how, but U.S. counterintelligence captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance, 2015’s The Gunman) in New York City in 1957. We watch Abel, who on all accounts appears to be a more than capable agent as he calls no attention to himself, shuffles around the city, stops to paint the local landmarks, and nonchalantly collects items from pre-determined dead drops. His complete lack of alarm when FBI agents burst through the door and the manner through which he casually disposes of evidence is choreography at the master level. Everyone, including Abel, recognize he is caught red handed and is destined to hang. Unfortunately for the U.S. spy agencies, that pesky document known as the Constitution starts tying their hands.
We are never informed how, but U.S. counterintelligence captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance, 2015’s The Gunman) in New York City in 1957. We watch Abel, who on all accounts appears to be a more than capable agent as he calls no attention to himself, shuffles around the city, stops to paint the local landmarks, and nonchalantly collects items from pre-determined dead drops. His complete lack of alarm when FBI agents burst through the door and the manner through which he casually disposes of evidence is choreography at the master level. Everyone, including Abel, recognize he is caught red handed and is destined to hang. Unfortunately for the U.S. spy agencies, that pesky document known as the Constitution starts tying their hands.
Displaying their due diligence to comply with due process, the government appoints insurance claims lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks, 2013’s Captain Phillips) to represent Abel. This should be an open and shut case with Donovan taking minimal heat from the public but doing his best to follow the letter, but not quite the spirit, of the law. Funny thing about Donovan though is that he serves an ideal, not the gut reaction to the menacing Red Scare.
Donovan and Abel share core principles. On the outside, they are as different as can be; a Constitution quoting, freedom loving American and a Soviet spy committed to the Motherland. These two would never sell out or turn their backs on their countries. The CIA is incredulous when Donovan reminds them of the concept of attorney-client privilege and the Fourth Amendment. Abel declined the CIA’s offer to turn double agent which is why he is on trial to begin with.
Donovan’s pure intentions also leave his idyllic, nuclear family open to harassment and abuse. His period Victorian house paints an iconic picture of an earnest white collar professional, his supportive wife, and their three precocious children. The public does not take too kindly at Donovan’s small victories in support of his Soviet client. Skipping ahead a bit in time but presented simultaneously, the American man on the street doesn’t take too kindly to Francis Gary Powers either. Powers (Austin Stowell, 2014’s Whiplash) was the unfortunate pilot shot down in his U-2 spy plane collecting imagery over sensitive Soviet military installations, a covert operation. John Q. Public is upset Powers didn’t take care of business and kill himself on the way down.
When Uncle Sam calls on James Donovan again, they want him to travel to Berlin, a recently divided city, to try and negotiate a trade, Abel for Powers. Already impressive, the trip to East Germany gives the production design a chance to show off some more. Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport and Gleinicke Bridge return to 1961. The film’s most stunning shot follows a grad student on his bicycle as he rides next to East German soldiers stacking stones erecting a grey but sturdy division bisecting Berlin down the middle. The student turns out to be Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers), an American economics student writing his Ph.D. on the wrong side of the wall. His sudden involvement in the negotiations will test Donovan’s moral as well as his professional ability to succeed in international diplomacy.
To show what Berlin looked like in 1961, still a bombed out shell of a city, Spielberg filmed in Wrocław, Poland. I’m not sure what this says about contemporary Polish infrastructure, but Wrocław looks like a city ravaged by war. Pulling off believable, striking aesthetics is nothing new for Spielberg; the audience expects it. Yet, Bridge of Spies lacks a specific punch in the gut, the kind of stab you felt watching Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan – the same punch you felt was missing from Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal. The Coen Brothers, elite writers of punchy and piercing dialogue, co-wrote the script but left out their customary wry humor and lyrical spirit. The actors, especially Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel, dominate their scenes, but in the end, prisoner exchange negotiations are interesting to watch, but they remain back page commentary from the truly engaging above the fold material of the Cold War.
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