Mike and I saw Steven Spielberg's masterful spy drama called "Bridge of Spies," and were fascinated with this story from beginning to end. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and it's now on video, where we rented it from Redbox.
Tom Hanks is at his best and should have been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of real-life lawyer James Donovan, who defended Russian spy Rudolf Abel in 1957. Mark Rylance was nominated for an Oscar for playing Abel with a cool, intellectual charm, that you almost like that he's a artist, as well as a known Communist spy. I wanted to see more of Abel's paintings, because he was known to be a great painter.
Tom Hanks is at his best and should have been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of real-life lawyer James Donovan, who defended Russian spy Rudolf Abel in 1957. Mark Rylance was nominated for an Oscar for playing Abel with a cool, intellectual charm, that you almost like that he's a artist, as well as a known Communist spy. I wanted to see more of Abel's paintings, because he was known to be a great painter.
Meanwhile, after the Russians shoot down American pilot Francis Powers' U2 spy plane over Russia in 1960, he is jailed in a miserable cell, and psychologically tortured for information about his mission to take photos of the USSR. This was the Fifies and eary Sixties, when Americans distrusted the Soviets so much that they actually believed a nuclear war was near. Many of the communists were spreading anti-American propaganda, but no atomic bomb was ever dropped.
Skip to 1962, and someone comes up with the idea to swap Rudolph Abel, who was in an American jail, with Francis Powers, in an act of diplomacy, and Lawyer James Donovan is sent to mediate the swap that took place on the "Bridge of Spies," which separated Free Germany with Communist East Germany. The story is told intelligently, with the righ touch of Spielberg wit and comedy, that this film is very enjoyable to watch for anyone interested in history.
Some of the events in this movie are slightly dramatized like Donovan's house being shot up by anti-communist Americans, and Donovan witnessing a shooting at the Berlin wall. However, it is close to the truth, because Donovan really was sent hate mail, and incidents like that really did happen at the Berlin wall. Thanks to wikipedia for keeping a page on all these real-life people. Thanks for Disney for distributing this film worldwide, it made a lot of money at the box office, and rightfully so.
This is one great film. I highly recommend it, although the sixties called and they want their foriegn policy back, which just means times have changed since then. Peace, Love, and Best Wishes, Ruben and Mike.
Skip to 1962, and someone comes up with the idea to swap Rudolph Abel, who was in an American jail, with Francis Powers, in an act of diplomacy, and Lawyer James Donovan is sent to mediate the swap that took place on the "Bridge of Spies," which separated Free Germany with Communist East Germany. The story is told intelligently, with the righ touch of Spielberg wit and comedy, that this film is very enjoyable to watch for anyone interested in history.
Some of the events in this movie are slightly dramatized like Donovan's house being shot up by anti-communist Americans, and Donovan witnessing a shooting at the Berlin wall. However, it is close to the truth, because Donovan really was sent hate mail, and incidents like that really did happen at the Berlin wall. Thanks to wikipedia for keeping a page on all these real-life people. Thanks for Disney for distributing this film worldwide, it made a lot of money at the box office, and rightfully so.
This is one great film. I highly recommend it, although the sixties called and they want their foriegn policy back, which just means times have changed since then. Peace, Love, and Best Wishes, Ruben and Mike.
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