Bridge of Spies: Movie Review or Spoiler Alert?

This 2015 historical drama thriller featuring Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg is about the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union at the time the Berlin wall was erected. As at the time I had the option of watching it, I had not heard a peep about it. I recall asking my movie friends for heads up and only one of them told me it was not my kind of cinema movie but since I was going with a group of couples, I should suck it up and go with the flow. That I did, and boy was I not disappointed. Apparently it is a critically acclaimed movie with 90% approval by professional movie critics. So what was it about this movie that has got me back to blogging on Movies again? Well, simply put, it is the 'moments' that imprinted on my heart.

There was a part where Tom Hanks asked a profound question which any multi-cultural country like Nigeria needs to keep in mind always - what makes us Citizens of any nation? His answer paraphrased: the fact that we live by a constitution under the same sovereign authority. In the wake of misplaced National Identities in Nigeria (the war on Boko Haram trying to destroy us in North and the Biafrans in the South East agitating for a republic of their own due to perceived marginalization in the current governance system), we need to ask ourselves the same question, what makes us Nigerians?

Another remarkable part of this movie that got me speechless was the fact that the entire movie was based on a true story. One man, James Donovan, in the face of hostility stood by his principles uncompromisingly fighting for the tenets of the constitution to be upheld to all ‘aliens’ or foreign persons regardless of who and what they are. In this era where the fear of terrorists hiding among Syrian refugees to infiltrate countries and cause mayhem has gotten countries closing their borders, this film speaks to the humanity in us. Asking us to treat everyone with dignity and love as we would a fellow countryman. Then there was Mark Rlyance’s character (Rodolf Abel) and Austin Stowell’s character (Francis Gary Powers) who never betrayed their country but were still treated as liabilities to their country’s intelligence agencies. This brought to light the fact that even when you stand strong doing what’s right, people will believe what they choose to. But do right anyway.

I believe Rodolf Abel would have spilled the information the Americans expected from him if only they had shown the same genuine concern for his wellbeing that James Donovan had. Donovan had won his trust so much so that he had begun to slowly open up to him about who was his family and who was a fellow spy and even the code to which Donovan would know how he would be treated by his country on arrival home. This is not to say the Americans didn’t treat Abel better than Powers was treated oversees. The contrast just went on to prove that regardless of what others do, if you know what is right to do, do it anyway. Last but not least in the details that made me hopelessly crazy about this film is the fact James Donovan went on to accomplish greater good for more people just by being true to himself and sticking by what he believed.

In my life I have enjoyed some war & espionage movies; I was introduced to them by my father who had a ravenous desire for historical and biological information and just happened to love war films as much as boxing movies. And thanks to him, I have had the pleasure of watching my two all-time favourite war movies, Schindler’s List (starring Liam Neelson) and Saving Private Ryan (starring Tom Hanks). Although I’ve been told Brad Pitt’s Fury is a remarkable film, I am yet to see it – even though it’s been on my laptop’s desktop for months – because I haven’t been in the mood to watch a war movie. So now you see why I was willing to suck it up and watch Bridge of Spies when I could have been watching Hunger Games: Mocking Jay2 which is topping the box office charts right now. I’ve got to say after Fast and Furious and Spectre 007, Bridge of Spies is among my top five movies for 2015.