It’s been a big year for the Cold War, and after suffering through Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Pawn Sacrifice, I’m sure Steven Spielberg said, “ok, fellas, that was nice, but daddy is here now to show you how it’s done.” (Just like he showed us how to do WWI.) I figure it’s either that or the clause in his original soul-sale that he has to shoot Germany every other film. No matter, unless you count the fourth Indiana Jones film (and why would you?), Steven hasn’t done much with the Cold War to date – maybe he felt a draft.
Fair to say that gap has now been filled, filled like a giant cinder block erasing a void in a great city wall of some kind. Set in 1957, Bridge of Spies describes the period where the Cold War went from deep mistrust to building walls – specifically The Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin along political lines. This was not a shining moment in human history. The Cold War itself was defined by a lot of spying. And, check it out, we got one! The United States correctly identified Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) as a Soviet spy in Brooklyn. By the time the U.S. caught him, Abel was an old man who spent his glorious spy hours either napping or painting. Kinda begs the question exactly how much spying can one do while staring at the East River all day. Maybe I don’t want to know.
Insurance lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is assigned to the defense of Abel. Bridge of Spies explores two central themes, one philosophical/political in nature – is a foreign enemy entitled to American justice? And a second, more practical, theme – how can Abel be exchanged for American pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), downed while spying above the Soviet Union? Donovan is the key figure in both themes, and he has an unnerving sense of American justice and patriotism – this is a point many would argue as Donovan repels CIA probes and fights for procedural justice in what essentially amounted to a kangaroo court.
Is American patriotism defined as handing over Abel and/or betraying lawyer/client privilege to spill any possible Soviet secrets or is it “following the rule book” (i.e. the U.S. Constitution) and providing Abel the best defense that our system allows? Through Donovan, Spielberg argues the latter without question – but this is something repeatedly debated in what we do as a country: is patriotism about destroying the enemy or championing the only thing that truly makes us American?
When Powers goes down, the debate disappears. Now, it’s about trading their guy for our guy; this quells what must have been an eternity for the real Donovan in which he received death threats and drive-by attacks for having the audacity to provide a reasonable defense for a spy. I would love to know from anybody who can objectively remember this point in time if the 1950s American Cold War paranoia was worse than the current 
paranoia that has driven the Republican Party so far right during our time. I don’t know how one would successfully judge such, but the fear comes from exactly the same place.
In the second half of the film, we start playing a game of what-came-down-must-have-gone-up with many a scene devoted to construction of the Wall and the consequences of such … like roving gangs of toughs stealing jackets? And the local politicians completely in on it? Wow, that’s some Latin American style corruption ya got there – good for you. And always a game – Donovan represents the United States, but not in any official capacity. Oh, and meanwhile in Berlin, some moron American grad student (Frederic “Boom Boom” Pryor) gets caught on the wrong side of the Wall – geez, man, we’re you trying to become a political prisoner? Were you counting on the good nature of German police? Who does that? Especially in 1957? Well, Donovan wants that kid back, too. That’s the wrinkle – to tell the truth, the prisoner exchange is fairly anticlimactic: Spielberg shows us the long lines to cross the border, the opportunistic Wall thugs and escape hopefuls even get gunned down by border guards in front of Donovan’s eyes – but James Donovan is, politics-wise, a symbolic figure of the olive branch, and so I had a hard time believing he was ever in real danger.
Bridge of Spies had some very nice touches – one was that the mild-mannered Abel is a much more likeable character than Powers. Abel is deliberately presented as something between a kindly grandfather and a doddering old man instead of the two-faced ratfink villain the newspapers certainly illustrated. Meanwhile, Powers is the smart-mouthed-in-over-his-head jerk who failed to fall on his sword in the line of duty; the destruction of his plane was, however, the most exciting scene of the film.
Hey now, comrade, don’t be a hater
Maybe we all can swap a traitor
Don’t shoot him dead!
I’ll give you a Red
And an emissary to be named later
Rated PG-13, 141 Minutes
D: Steven Spielberg
W: Matt Charman, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Genre: Horse tradin’ … on a slightly higher scale
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Cold War junkies
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: McCarthyists
