Bridge Of Spies

The Beard crosses choppy political waters.

Director Steven Spielberg Starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda ETA 27 November

On 1 May 1960, at the height of the Cold War, CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers is on a reconnaissance mission in Soviet airspace when he’s shot down and taken captive. Meanwhile, back in the US, American lawyer James Donovan is enlisted by the CIA to defend Soviet spy Rudolf Abel at trial. “It was a very dangerous time to get into the headlines standing up for a spy,” says Steven Spielberg, whose thriller reconstructs what came to be known as the real-life ‘1960 U-2 incident’.

The Beard’s first film since he landed his seventh Best Director Oscar nomination for 2012’s

Lincoln, Bridge Of Spies continues his love of historical drama after the recent likes of War Horse and Munich. And, as with many of Spielberg’s best films, the story comes from a personal place, the director’s father having visited Russia at the same time Powers was shot down. “Because of that, I never forgot what happened to Francis Gary Powers,” he says.

Describing his film, which is co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, as “a character thriller”, the director turned to buddy and Saving Private Ryan star Tom Hanks to play attorney Donovan. “He’s a bull of a negotiator. He’s Irish, tough, is not going to give an inch,” says Hanks, who’s on a biopic streak after playing Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks and the lead role in Captain Phillips. And things only get more dangerous when Donovan is tasked with travelling to east Berlin to trade Abel for Powers.

With British thesp Mark Rylance (“one of the most extraordinary actors working anywhere,” says Spielberg) playing Abel, Spielberg’s latest looks set to be a complex and riveting Oscars contender. “What Donovan wasn’t prepared for was the spy-craft,” Hanks says of his character, “the fact that people lie.” Trust no-one...