interesting historical drama and a great performance

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2016)

"Bridge of Spies" from 2015 is about the Francis Gary Powers incident in the 1960s. As usual, with the exception of the Lincoln assassination, I remember it. This time, though, only vaguely.
The U.S. arrested a Russian spy, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) and chose James Donovan (Tom Hanks) who had some experience in military cases, to defend him. Abel is found guilty but Donovan is able to convince the Judge to commute his sentence to life in case the U.S. needs him later - for instance, if we should want to exchange him for one of our own.
That situation happens when Francis Gary Powers, taking aerial photographs for the CIA, is shot down and taken prisoner. Donovan is then sent to negotiate the exchange.
For many people, this will be a slow, talky drama, with one big action scene, Powers being shot down, and one scene of tension (if you don't know the outcome).
It is, however, a very good drama with Hanks giving a strong and sometimes humorous performance as Donovan, thrust into the world of international spies and negotiations. He takes it upon himself to also work for the freedom of an American student, Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) who was arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
That student is the only person involved in the case who is alive today, at 83, and praised the film but thought they "took a lot of liberties with it." Well, that's Hollywood.
The main reason, other than historical interest, to watch this film is the performance of Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel. A winner of three Tony awards, two Olivier awards, and a BAFTA, Rylance is a highly regarded stage actor, known as the best of his generation. He's made very few films but he's about to make more and take the film industry by storm.
As Abel, Rylance creates a human being, portraying him as a quiet, unassuming older man sent to do a job. He bonds with Donovan, but he tells him that he's not afraid to die. He spends his time in prison drawing. It is a remarkable performance which has earned him an Oscar nomination.
Strangely, many people involved in this incident didn't live too long after -- Abel, who returned to the Soviet Union and to his family, lectured for 10 years and died in 1971; Donovan died in 1970; and Powers died in a helicopter crash while working for a TV station in 1977.
I hope the film will encourage some people to read up on this case - of course, I always hope that. Maybe some time somebody will do it rather than posting the question someone did about Gandhi -- was this a fictional character.