Retro Review | “Bridge of Spies”: Spielberg’s perhaps under-appreciated Cold War thriller
There seems to be a lot of discussion right now about Steven Spielberg. At least, over on “Movie Twitter” we have been debating his best, and not so best films. In an actual contest done by Rick Wilson many respondents voted “Munich” down — while I thought “Munich” was fabulous. And fabulously problematic, especially considering what is going on the Middle East right now.
So, in the category of “perhaps under-appreciated Spielberg” I nominate his excellent Cold War Thriller, “Bridge of Spies”. I talk a lot about IMDB ratings, so I’ll just throw in that “Bridge” has a 7.6 IMDB score, which, considering how many thousands of films have IMDB ratings (and therefore how hard it is to get a high rating) might as well be a perfect score.
Why so Cold War, Batman?
It also seems like the Cold War, or the threat of Nuclear Annihilation, is a big topic right now. Maybe it is just my own Personal Bubble, where I am watching Amazon Prime Video’s outstanding “Fallout” TV series. While “Bridge” contemplates the lengths to which we had to go to prevent a nuclear catastrophe, the Prime series assumes it has happened, and imagines how horrible life would probably be afterwards.
In “Bridge”, the outstanding British actor Mark Rylance plays Rodolph Abel, a modest Haberdasher in New York who is accused by the US Government of being a Russian Spy. Of course, this (the 1950s) was the supremely paranoiac McCarthy Era, where simply saying someone was a Spy (or a Communist) was enough to ruin their life. The equally outstanding Tom Hanks plays lawyer James B. Donovan, who is gently strong-armed by his Law Firm into representing Abel, and clearly does not know what he is getting into.
Great Actor Workshop, Part 24
One thing Great Directors (Auteurs, really) seem to be able to do is attract great actors to play great material. Spielberg has done this time and again, in the recent “Lincoln” with Daniel-Day Lewis, and many years ago casting Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore in “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial” which was called by no less than LA Times’ film critic Sheila Benson as the greatest American film of its era.
The treat here is watching Hanks and Rylance square off in the claustrophobic scenes inside of a jail cell, where all of Donovan’s pre-conceived notions about Abel, about what a real “Spy” might or might not be like, and much else are literally blown to pieces by Rylance’s spare, precision delivery. I always say a great actor can say more with a glance, or a raise of his or her eyebrow than most actors can say with many lines of dialogue, and that ability is very much on display, here.
What’s really at risk?
The brilliance of the screenplay, jointly written by Matt Charman, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, is that, although the stakes on a Global scale are very large, the much smaller stakes for Abel and Donovan end up being more important.
In the seemingly black-and-white calculus of the Cold War, Commies were bad (the slogan “Better Dead than Red” was common) and Amurcians were good. Sound familiar? This kind of Exceptionalism has been making the rounds in recent decades, so the jingoistic binary of “we good, they bad” should be uncomfortably tart for those with critical mind.
Although trading purported Spy Abel for imprisoned Americans is the End Game for the US Government, Donovan begins to both doubt that Abel is actually a Spy (he isn’t) and to genuinely care about him as a human being. So much so that he is willing to go to bat for Abel on a very large scale.
The Turn, or simply the Third Reel
Most stories have a beginning, middle, and end. The Beginning of “Bridge” concerns the introduction and back-story, the middle the jail-house scenes which feel almost like a film version of a very good one-act play. The final act of this play takes place in West Berlin. In the Winter.
How much Donovan has come to care for Abel will become very clear when he must work well beyond his simple abilities as an American Suburban-Dad Lawyer and practice real Tradecraft and Diplomacy — over the strenuous objections of the dangerous US and Russian spy agencies — to ensure that Abel makes it out of this pickle alive.
“Bridge of Spies” really earns this exciting resolution, which calls to mind the best film versions of Le Carre, such as Tomas Alfredson’s excellent “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”. The final 30 minutes plus of Spielberg's film is thrilling, and worth watching the film and me keeping this review free of spoilers.
Conclusion? Get thee to a Streaming Service
The writing, acting, and of course direction all recommend “Bridge of Spies”, as do all of the craft credits, including amazing period Production Design by Adam Stockhausen, excellent Score by the wonderful Thomas Newman, and many others. But one would expect nothing less from a Master Craftsman such as Spielberg.
He brought his “A Game” and “A Team” here.
If you love Spy Thrillers, Dramas, Cold War thrillers or just love to watch two legendary actors go at it on screen (“Heat”, much?) watch “Bridge of Spies” for free in HD on Apple TV, for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
