STEVEN Spielberg’s film “Bridge Of Spies” tells the story of unassuming New York insurance lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks), engaged in 1957 to defend English-born Soviet agent Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) on espionage charges then, in 1962, to negotiate the exchange for Abel of Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) whose U2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down while photographing the USSR from 70,000 feet.

The film recalls an era of ideological confrontation with a potential to lead to World War III, with nuclear weapons available to both sides scaring everybody.

Matt Charman’s screenplay, assisted by the Coen brothers, looks at its time and events with unhurried attention to detail as Donovan, a calm, even dull, fellow with a forensic intellect that eschewed hysteria in favour of biding his time to deliver a winning argument, undertakes his assignments.

At Abel’s trial, the bias of Judge Byers (Dakin Matthews) forms the basis for a gentle polemic about the constitution of the US and the principle of every man’s right to a fair trial (although Abel’s guilt was undeniable, Byers ignored the FBI’s failure to follow due process).

The East German regime smarted at its subordination to the Kremlin when Donovan insisted that he would not exchange Abel unless he also got not only Powers but also Frederick Pryor, an American student unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall at the moment of its final closure.

Spielberg tells these events stolidly yet with conviction. Half a century later, who are we to quibble about the finer points?

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