Bridge of Spies. The movies begins with the arrest of a Soviet spy in New York. Jason Donovan an insurance lawyer , played by Tom Hanks , is persuaded to be his token defence counsel. Donovan takes up the case with unexpected seriousness and puts up a formidable defence — he also manages to persuade the judge to pardon the spy’s life so that it could be later used as a bargaining chip and then argues for the matter to be heard by the Supreme Court, which upholds the verdict of the lower court by a narrow margin of one judge’s vote.
In the interim , he gets better acquainted with his client who he admires for his professionalism and his stoic demeanour.
The Cold War between the Soviets and the US is on the upswing and a thermonuclear conflagration is an imminent possibility. Donovan’s prescience is vindicated when an American pilot on a U-2 espionage mission is shot down and captured in Soviet territory.
The rest movie details how Jason is roped in to negotiate the swap of the pilot for the spy, his travels to East Germany etc. The Bridge is the location where the exchange takes place. Donovan gets two for one. As regards how that happens , you will have to watch the movie for it. Apparently Donovan was involved in another negotiation of that nature — this time with Cuba — and his success rate was phenomenal.
This movie is a stellar lesson in history. Donovan was a real person and fact finding sites mention that the move is about 80% faithful to what actually transpired.
Bridge of Spies was directed by Steven Spielberg and co-written by the Coen brothers.
There never is a dull moment and Thomas Newman’s score is right on the money.
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