About – The true story of James Donovan (Tom Hanks) an American layer that is recruited to defend the arrested Soviet spy, that has to negotiate an exchange for Francis Powers (Austin Stowell).
Bridge of Spies was nominated for so many awards at the beginning of this year (2016) but didn’t achieve best picture or best leading role. However Mark Rylance won the Academy and BAFTA Award for best actor in a supporting role, which was very well deserved. With the competition of The Revenant, Bridge of Spies isn’t remotely close to winning the best picture and best leading role. Bridge of Spies is a very historical movement in the cold war, so when you are watching something that is based on a true event there is a small line that can be crossed to make it entertainment as well as historical. It captures the truths regarding James Donovan and his struggles with his own government and the Russians. Bridges of Spies really enlightens the audience to what USA and James Donovan had to do to successfully get there men home.
Without a doubt Tom Hanks is terrific in Bridge of Spies just like he is in everything else he is in. It’s a classic performance from him; he made you feel sorry for the character and also for Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). By the way that he looked at other characters you knew that he was certain to achieve the aims that he was set out to do. By his facial expressions you can only imagine how the real James Donovan was like, fighting for the real meaning of justice. Tom Hanks really captured the truth behind the real James Donovan that helps this whole film come together on showing the audience what it was like during the Cold War.
Surprisingly Bridge of Spies made you feel sorry for Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) which surprised me greatly because of how important the Cold War was for North America. However the way that Steven Spielberg made you feel about the Russian spy in them sort of situations is incredible. By Rudolf Abel keeping calm and saying to James Donovan “Would it help?” due to James Donovan that kept asking him “You don’t seem alarmed”.
This made the connection that he is only human and in them sort of situations you have to keep calm and not give up. When you watch something like Bridge of Spies you want the worst thing to happen to the villain but in this case the tables has turned, which made you feel sorry for him.
There is an issue with me and Hollywood, without a doubt it produces the world’s most amazing films. However, they do make out that the West is ‘remarkable’ and such a ‘lovely’ place to live with all these ‘amazing’ people. During Bridges of Spies I was thinking this exact issue. They made out that the USA didn’t do anything wrong towards Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), that he was secure and looked after just like they would one of their own. Then there are the Russians with Francis Powers (Austin Stowell) that kept him awake all night and giving him such a restless imprisonment. These certain issues are hard to deal with, knowing we will never know the truth about what actually happened during the imprisonment for the two men. Hollywood made it out to be their hospitality was done by the ‘rule book’ but the Russians did their own thing.
Finally, I can see why Bridge of Spies was up for so many awards and I can also see why it didn’t win any either. There are issues that could have been taken differently to show entertainment but done it in an even better way for the historical side of the story. All the performances were superb there was not one criticism that I could pin point it was all brilliant, especially Mark Rylance who won an award.
2eyes1screen 