Showing 6th March. 2017
Bridge of Spies (2015)
PG USA 2hr 22mins Drama IMDb rating 7.6/10
Director – Steven Spielberg
Cast – Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda
In 1957, lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is recruited from his prestigious law firm to defend accused Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). It's an unenviable task in many respects. Donovan hasn't practiced criminal law since he was a prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials after World War II. Also, the strong anti-Communist mood at the time makes him a target from who think Abel should just be executed.
Abel is convicted but Donovan convinces the judge to sentence him to prison, rather than execute him, as they may at some point in the future want to swap him for an American spy the Soviets might have in custody. Just such a scenario comes into play when in 1960 U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down over Soviet territory and taken prisoner. Donovan is again recruited to act as the intermediary and negotiate swapping Able for the American requiring him to travel to East Berlin crossing the newly built Berlin Wall.
Mark Rylance won a deserved 2016 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
Audience Reaction
Linlithgow Film Society Rating out of 10 9.4
Excellent 39 Very Good 11 Good 2 Fair 0 Poor 0
