The latest Tom Hanks film, is a cracker. Set in the cold war period of 1957/8 it features the background of the negotiations to exchange Francis Gary Powers a downed U2 pilot and student Frederic Pryor for a Russian spy Col Rudolf Abel who was caught by the US while acting as a dead letter intermediary.
For those who haven't seen it, it was well worth the cost of the cinema ticket, Hanks was at his 'upholder of the law and constitutional dignity' best and Mark Ryland was excellent as a consummate professional spy. Both men regarded the other with some respect, Hanks trying to make the legal process follow the constitutional law. In answer to a CIA man, who he deemed descended from German stock, and his Donovan, from Irish stock, he suggested the only thing which made them both American was the constitution.
I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, it has a very frosty element and a heart-warming, feel good ending. Take plenty of popcorn it goes on for 140 minutes. Music is by Thomas Newman after John Williams had to cry off through illness, directed by Spielberg - it's got to be good.
Comments
Wiki link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Spies_(film)
Angharad
Been there
Twelve years ago we crossed the bridge, then boarded a boat on a trip to Prague. We passed under it, and I believe I actually reached up and touched it. I should have thought about it a bit more.
Portia
Fiction
According to Fred Pryor (the real one), the movie invents a great deal, and gets most of the facts wrong, but it's a good rendition of that fiction.
Aurora
I Agree
An extremely good movie. It actually spans a slightly longer time span because the U2 incident was in 1960, but the paranoia of those times is well portrayed.
I actually went through Check Point Charlie and it was a scary experience walking down that stretch of road with binoculars and sniper rifles pointing at you from the guard towers. You then arrived in a very institutional reception area where po-faced men in uniform examined your passport minutely and then demanded that you exchange your Deutschmarks for Ostmarks (we had been warned to only take a little more than 20 DMarks because you didn't get them back and Ostmarks were essentially worthless) before being allowed to enter East Berlin.
East Berlin was the drabbest place I had ever seen and there was nothing to buy anyway.
Going back to West Berlin felt wonderful.
I remember being at
I remember being at University when the Berlin Wall came down. The reports of just about anyone that could working to rip it apart were impressive.
It's just too bad that it took so long for the economy to stabilize after the reunification. It takes time to change the ways of thinking driven by the USSR.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
We have pieces of the wall
The son of a friend of ours was there to help tear it down.
Portia
Mark who?
Most people in the US will never have heard of Mark Rylance. On this side of the Atlantic he is a well regarded/respected Actor/Director and Playright. Kudos to Tom Hanks for casting him for this role. I look forward to seeing this film shortly.
I remember the 80's
I remember the 80's and watching Bachelor Party. If anyone had told me then that Tom Hanks would go on to be a high regarded dramatic actor or that Micheal Dudikoff would be an action star I would have laughed and asked for whatever they were drinking. Sometimes its a real surprise what happens 'down the road'.
quidquid sum ego, et omnia mea semper; Ego me.
alecia Snowfall
It is a very good movie, and
It is a very good movie, and it captures the mentality of that time pretty well also. I think it will definitely be looked at by the Academy when their nominations come out.
Also, yes John Williams didn't do the music, but there's a bit to that. He went to Spielberg and asked whether he would have time to do the music for "Bridge of Spies" and Star Wars both and Spielberg agreed with him that it was imperative for him to do Star Wars as a priority.
Samirah M. Johnstone