Il ponte delle spie

This movie hit me really strangely.

I was expecting a political drama about the cold war, and while indeed it was that, I was not expecting to have so much fun and for Bridge of Spies to be so humorous.

The Coen brothers writing a movie Steven Spielberg would direct just sounds like a winning combination and it really was. Sealing the deal, was a great performance by Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks does what he does best, by playing an everyday man in an average life. James Donovan was just an insurance lawyer who gets caught up in the middle of the Cold War. Bridge of Spies, starts him off so normal and then turns his life into quite an adventure.

And I do mean adventure. In the hands of Spielberg, the movie's visuals were large and epic. I was expecting this movie to feel more like his last flick, Lincoln. Instead it feels more like Indiana Jones, as James Donovan travels to Berlin at the time when the wall was being completed.

Watching Hanks play Donovan who is just swept into an overwhelming situation and just keeps his cool and his charm is just highly enjoyable.

Totally loved Bridge of Spies, It's one of the best team ups between Hanks and Spielberg and even though Lincoln was a great movie, Bridge of Spies is everything Spielberg is capable of. So entertaining.

"Everyone deserves a defense. Everyone matters." James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks)

In Bridge of Spies, Steven Spielberg once again masterfully goes to the historical drama with a righteous man's theme (think Schindler and Lincoln for starters). This time lawyer James B. Donovan is asked to defend an accused Soviet spy, Rudolf Able (Mark Rylance, superb), in order to show the world the American justice system is democratic.

The story is "inspired by true events" with the outline of the exchange of Able for U-2 downed pilot Gary Powers historically accurate. As usual, Spielberg recreates the times with the atmosphere, cars, and film noir aspect of a spy thriller in the figurative and literal Cold War. He said, "I always wanted to tell the stories that really interested me in my personal life—which are stories about things that actually happened."

Hanks is central to Spielberg's vision of the lone hero defying the odds and supporting the highest ideals of the American Constitution and the individually virtuous man. Never does Hanks overplay the good-guy card; he's just very adept at playing an everyman not always right but always righteous.

The dialogue is crisp, a no fooling around typical of Spielberg and Hanks but a charming bad guy as well: James Donovan: "Aren't you worried?" Rudolf Abel: "Would it help?" As producer Kristie Macosko Krieger commented about Spielberg, "He's got a childlike sense of wonder. He never gets tired of hearing stories . . . . " Bridge of Spies is vintage Spielberg with a Lincoln-like atmosphere, righteous hero, and intriguing multi-plot, an entertaining spy story brimming with humanity.

As the director says, "This is more about very smart people in conversation with each other, and the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads is that, if they make the wrong decisions, it's the end of the world."

In 1957, during the Cold War, the insurance lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is assigned by the Bar association to defend in court the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), who was captured by the FBI. Donovan is successful and Rudolf is sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death penalty. Meanwhile the American pilot and spy Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is arrested by the Soviet government while taking photos from a spy plane that crashed. The CIA summons Donovan to help in the negotiation to exchange the two spies. When Donovan learns that the American student Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) was arrested in the border of East Berlin while trying to bring his German girlfriend to the West Berlin, he decides to include the student in the negotiation. However his proposal is not supported by the CIA that is interested in Powers only. Further, Powers is prisoner of the soviet government and Pryor is prisoner of the GDR (German Democratic Republic). Will Donovan succeed in his intent?

"Bridge of Spies" is a great spy thriller based on a true story in the period of the Cold War. The plot is engaging and the cinematography, costume design and art direction are amazing. It is unnecessary to comment the direction of Steven Spielberg and the performance of Tom Hanks, perfect as usual, but it is impressive the capacity of negotiation of James B. Donovan. This American lawyer is shown as an impressive negotiator, having cold blood to make tough decisions. The credits informs that Donovan has been also successful negotiating later in Cuba the release of prisoners. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ponte dos Espiões" ("Bridge of Spies")

A feel-good Cold War melodrama, Bridge of Spies is an absorbing true-life espionage tale very smoothly handled by old pros who know what they're doing. In its grown-up seriousness and basis in historical conflict, Steven Spielberg's first feature since Lincoln three years ago joins the list of the director's half-dozen previous "war" films, but in its honoring of an American civilian who pulled off a smooth prisoner exchange between the East and West during a very tense period, the film generates an unmistakable nostalgia for a time when global conflict seemed more clear-cut and manageable than it does now. Spielberg's fourth collaboration with Tom Hanks, which world- premiered at the New York Film Festival and opens commercially on October 16, looks to generate stout box-office returns for Disney through the autumn season. For people of Spielberg's generation, the early years of the nuclear era and the stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union represents a significant part of the fabric of childhood. With the passage of time, it's possible to tell stories of the time without furnishing them with overt propagandistic overlays, and for Westerners there is the added built-in appeal of the "we won" factor and the perception that dealing with adversaries was so much simpler then than it is now. As their focus in this impeccably rendered recreation of a moment in history, most palpably represented by the building of the Berlin Wall, Spielberg and screenwriters Matt Charman and Ethan and Joel Coen have chosen a sort-of Atticus Finch of the north, a principled, American Everyman insurance attorney unexpectedly paged to represent a high-level Soviet spy caught in New York. There is no question that Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is guilty, but James B. Donovan (Hanks), a proper and decent family man with a professional dedication to his client and an abiding loyalty to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, has a quick and intuitive read of any legal situation and shrewdly stays at least one step ahead of the game in almost any situation.

Following "War Horse" and "Lincoln," "Bridge of Spies" rounds out Steven Spielberg's trilogy of histories in the 2010s, each film earning a Best Picture nomination for being a superb piece of craft — and having Spielberg's name attached.

None of these are bad, but they are extremely traditional films evoking the prestige dramas of the '90s and not necessarily offering anything new. As such, "Bridge of Spies" doesn't shed new light on Cold War history, but it does tell a small story with of inspirational characters with a lot of heart.

Tom Hanks stars as James Donovan, an insurance attorney asked to represent a recently detained Soviet spy named Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). A proud Constitutionalist of sorts, Donovan decides it's his honor and duty to give one of America's most hated men his right to a defense. Then, when a U.S. pilot is captured in Soviet territory, the CIA recruits Donovan to negotiate a swap.

"Bridge of Spies" echoes "Lincoln" in its portrayal of a morally tenacious man who stood firm in the face of opposition. Putting an actor as likable Hanks in the role of someone as upstanding and charming as Donovan is almost unfair. The script, treated by Mark Charman and also the Coen brothers, builds clever scenes for Hanks to navigate through with total ease. The story doesn't push or challenge the veteran, but it does frame everything that's happening with the appropriate weight, enough so that we can connect with everything Donovan is going through and respect the decisions he makes and Hanks helps communicate those stakes. The Cold War was an ugly time; it might seem that what Donovan did and how he approached his responsibilities was a moral no-brainer, but it was actually quite complicated and extremely unpopular.

Rylance as well is a an excellent stroke of casting genius. More known for his stage work, the veteran creates a portrait of a man so self-assured it's frightening. It's the kind of nuanced supporting role that is easy to overlook when most award-winning supporting turns are flashy scene-stealers.

Spielberg and longtime director of photography Janusz Kaminski give "Bridge of Spies" such richness. This is a film driven by plot and acting, but the picture is pristine. In particular, the way they capture East Berlin during the negotiations scenes is feels haunting in a way few films taking place in that similar time and place have. Also, the visual symbolism of reflections and different perspectives is something Spielberg plays with subtly but enough so to put some artistic flourishes on his film. Most importantly, the climactic bridge sequence works on every level, and that alone proves Spielberg, cast and crew all did their job.

When Spielberg is done directing, "Bridge of Spies" will probably not make anyone's list of his top films, but it shows that just about any corner of history can make for an excellent film in capable hands.

~Steven C

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