Bridge of Spies

Synopsis

"During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.." [IMDb] "In 1957 New York City, Rudolf Abel is charged with spying for the Soviet Union. Insurance lawyer James B. Donovan is prevailed upon to take on the unenviable task of defending Abel, so that Abel's trial will be seen as fair. . . . In 1960, Gary Powers, a pilot in the CIA's top secret U-2 spy plane program, is shot down over the USSR. He is captured and sentenced in a show trial to ten years confinement, including three years in prison. . . . On February 10, 1962, Powers was exchanged, along with American student Frederic Pryor, in a well-publicized spy swap at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin." [Wikipedia]
Rudolf Abel, the spy, calls James Donovan, his lawyer, "Standing Man" after a man he knew in Russia when he was a child. This man, when attacked by a mob, kept standing up after he was knocked down, and eventually the mob let him live out of respect. The relationship between Abel and Donovan transcends patriotism and the Cold War. The human spirit, the nobility of man, will win the Cold War.

Genre

Historical

Released

2015

Location

US & USSR

Period

1957-1962

No