Another masterpiece from Spielberg/Hanks

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2016)

Who said that a thriller has to be violent to be considered as successful? Bridge of Spies is a smart movie about the Gary Powers affair, a dramatic event which could have become the spark of a destructive conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Despite what the title may suggest, Bridge of Spies is not a movie about espionage. Don't expect to see thrilling chases, firefights or anything we could see in James Bond or Mission Impossible. This movie is about the real story of the efforts of one man, Jim Donovan, a Brooklyn lawyer specialized in insurance issues, who became involved in spite of himself in the most sensitive crisis of that time and, by using his negotiating skills, is trying to settle peacefully the crisis by organizing an exchange between Powers and a Soviet spy who was arrested prior to the crash of the U2.
Once again, Tom Hanks is playing with perfection this role of a man who put his reputation, his life and his family's in line by defending a Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel (played admirably by Mark Rylance) because he truly believes that anybody, whatever the charges are against him or her, deserves the right to be defended.
Mark Rylance is also perfect impersonating Rudolf Abel. His performance is very sober and I have some sympathy for the character. As Donovan says in the movie, Abel is just a loyal soldier of his country and he should not be branded as a traitor as many did back in that time.
But what gives to this movie all its credits is its sobriety and objectivity depicting the tension between the two sides back in that era, the hypocrisy of both judicial system including ours who wants the world to be considered as a model of justice but in reality are ready to deny the values of our country by violating the Constitution and depriving Abel of his basic right to defend himself.
There are some scenes who literally broke my heart. I had tears watching Jim's son filling the bathtub of water because in school he learned that the first basic needs which couldn't be able to be fulfilled in case of a nuclear bombardment will be electricity and water or when those two people got shot to death while trying to climb the Berlin wall and escape the oppressive Soviet regime. I looked up and it turned out that more than 200 people were gunned down trying to escape including women.
So yes maybe some would have preferred an action movie but for the ones who prefers a realistic recalling of the facts like myself will really appreciate this picture. We need more movies like Bridges of spies. Movies who can give you a realistic insight of what was going on. In that matter Bridge of spies is accomplishing its mission very perfectly.