Bridge of Spies

He’ll always be known first and foremost for his technically marvelous megahits, but Steven Spielberg has, in the new millennium, displayed a strong body of work with less blockbuster flash and more substance. Such films range from serious politically-minded dramas like Lincoln or Munich, to the personality-driven caper fun of Catch Me If You Can. Even some of his more high-budget pictures like A.I. and Minority Report, for all their effects and action scenes, engage more on an intellectual level. It’s been an enjoyable chapter of the filmmaker’s career, and Bridge of Spies happily continues it.

The film tells the true story of the legal and political affair of Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), a Soviet spy caught in New York in 1957. Brooklyn lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is tasked with defending him in court. This being the height of the Cold War, this thankless task makes Donovan a social and political pariah. But it also leads to his direct involvement in the negotiations to exchange Abel for Americans imprisoned by the Soviets and East Germans amidst major Cold War moments like the 1960 U-2 plane crash and the building of the Berlin Wall.

The film is almost like two movies in one. The first, as Abel goes to trial, plays like a legal drama, only a little sparse on the details and even courtroom scenes. It makes up for that, however, with some compelling and righteous meditations on the American Way that are relevant today. Despite the intense hatred toward him and Abel and even threats against him and his family, Donovan never backs down from the belief that his client has the same right to a fair trial as anyone else. Replace a few 1950s-specific words with modern ones, and it’s just as solid an argument against detention without trial that has been perpetuated by this country of late. Later on, the point is driven home by contrasting Donovan’s arguments on American values with depictions of Soviet interrogation techniques, which somewhat recall recent torture scandals. It’s all subtle enough that it doesn’t lecture the audience, but it’s unmistakable for viewers who follow world events. And in spite of the negativity and inevitability of the outcome, the tone of the narrative is almost inspiring.

Once the film moves on to the spy stuff, it becomes an exciting, crackling piece of work. Even though it doesn’t have the mystery or ambiguity of a caper film (this being history and not fiction), the negotiations and one-upmanship among all the parties plays out like a game in any espionage thriller, and just as excitingly. Little bits of levity are also weaved expertly with the danger, so as to throw the audience off just enough.

The picture shifts gears between these two distinct parts expertly. Such is a credit to Tom Hanks in the leading role, who uses his chameleonic ability to be convincing in just about any role. In the home front section, he’s the righteous rock of American legal ideals, never wavering no matter what abuse and hatred his case elicits. But once he enters the spy arena, he’s totally believable as a normal guy essentially dropped into an extraordinary circumstance and more or less making it up as he goes. It’s a perfect approach because he’s never more than a small step or two ahead of the audience, which makes us almost forget that there's only one outcome. And in a movie where words are the biggest plotting bombshells, even among such a big cast of strong roles, he never fails to dominate the scene like a pro, especially in his comic timing. Also strong in that department is Mark Rylance, who cuts the tension with a graceful wit that’s welcome.

And of course, this being a Spielberg film, the technical aspects are fantastic. A terrific sequence showing said U-2 crash is quite impressive, as is the really cool depiction of the Berlin Wall and the divided city of that time. The bright, intense cinematography might seem a bit overpowering, but effectively represents a stark thematic contrast between the darkness of the communist world and the light of America. This is a picture with strong ideas about history and patriotism, but instead of being self-serious about its importance, it also delivers as a superb piece of entertainment.