Set during the Cold War, 'Bridge of Spies' follows insurance lawyer James Donovan, who is recruited to defend captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel and later negotiates a tense prisoner exchange across divided Berlin. The film explores themes of justice, integrity, and the moral complexities of espionage during one of history's most politically volatile eras. Based on true events, it is a gripping portrait of an ordinary man navigating extraordinary diplomatic circumstances.
Spielberg films James Donovan's 1962 negotiation of the Powers-Abel exchange. The film is the spy genre as legal procedural; the Cold War as paperwork.