{"id":90840,"date":"2020-10-16T19:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/"},"modified":"2020-10-16T19:00:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T16:00:33","slug":"21st-century-spielberg-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/","title":{"rendered":"#21st Century Spielberg \u2013 \/Film"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2d251c97bea\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2d251c97bea\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#Part_6_Do_the_Right_Thing_%E2%80%93_Bridge_of_Spies_and_The_Post\" >Part 6: Do the Right Thing \u2013 Bridge of Spies and\u00a0The Post\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#Everyone_Deserves_a_Defense\" >Everyone Deserves a Defense<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#You_Know_What_You_Did\" >You Know What You Did<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#Kinship\" >Kinship<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#%E2%80%9CI_Might_Be_Crazy_But_I_Think_Im_Going_to_Make_Another_Movie_Right_Now%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cI Might Be Crazy, But I Think I\u2019m Going to Make Another Movie Right Now\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#Lets_Go\" >Let\u2019s Go<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/21st-century-spielberg-film\/#Brave\" >Brave<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#21st Century Spielberg \u2013 \/Film<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>                            <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641101\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post-700x321.jpg\" alt=\"21st century spielberg bridge of spies the post\" width=\"700\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post-700x321.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post-360x165.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post.jpg 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>(Welcome to\u00a0<\/em><strong>21st Century Spielberg<\/strong><em>, an ongoing column and podcast that examines the challenging, sometimes misunderstood 21st-century filmography of one of our greatest living filmmakers,\u00a0<strong>Steven Spielberg<\/strong>. In this edition: <\/em><strong>Bridge of Spies<\/strong><em> and <\/em><strong>The Post<\/strong><em>.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none;\" height=\"90\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/16424168\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/000000\/\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Spielbergian hero is someone who not only does the right thing, but goes above and beyond. Someone who risks it all \u2013 life, limb, and reputation \u2013 for the greater good. And not some wispy, intangible greater good, either \u2013 oh, no. It\u2019s not the belief in a better world; it\u2019s the belief that the world we already have is as good as it\u2019s going to get, if only we allow it. Spielbergian America is a place where the power is in the hands of the people, and all the people need do to make the country live up to its lofty goals is to fight for what\u2019s right, no matter how daunting the fight may be. Two of <strong>Steven Spielberg<\/strong>\u2018s 21st-century films personify this perfectly, and, coincidentally enough, both star <strong>Tom Hanks<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong><em>Bridge of Spies<\/em><\/strong> and\u00a0<strong><em>The Post<\/em><\/strong>.<br \/>\n<!-- SlashFilm_300x250_In_Post --><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Part_6_Do_the_Right_Thing_%E2%80%93_Bridge_of_Spies_and_The_Post\"><\/span><b>Part 6: Do the Right Thing \u2013 <i>Bridge of Spies<\/i> and\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"232\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"encrypted-media\" title=\"Spotify Embed: Bridge of Spies &amp; The Post\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed-podcast\/episode\/4aFc8vRP9o0CnOuxyaEY9v\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/spielberg-rockwell.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641004\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/spielberg-rockwell-700x607.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/spielberg-rockwell-700x607.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/spielberg-rockwell-360x312.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/spielberg-rockwell-768x666.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/spielberg-rockwell.jpg 1281w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Everyone_Deserves_a_Defense\"><\/span><strong>Everyone Deserves a Defense<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first thing\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> does is drop us into the middle of some Cold War spycraft. But this isn\u2019t your typical movie espionage. There are no shoot-outs; no tuxedoes; no martinis, neither shaken\u00a0<em>nor<\/em> stirred. Instead, the spy work being done in the opening moments of\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> consists of a slight, quiet man painting. He paints his portrait \u2013 the shot set up to recall Norman Rockwell\u2019s painting \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trip<\/a>le Self-Portrait\u201d with three distinct things to look at \u2013 the man doing the painting, the mirror he\u2019s looking into, and the canvas he\u2019s recreated his visage on. And he also heads off to the park to paint some landscapes.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s an unassuming, unthreatening man, played by\u00a0<strong>Mark Rylance<\/strong>, an actor who had primarily stuck to stage work and some minor film roles until Steven Spielberg came along. The character\u2019s name is\u00a0Rudolf Abel \u2013 but we don\u2019t know that yet. We don\u2019t really know anything yet, because Spielberg stages this opening in near-silence. Sure, there are the sounds of the Brooklyn neighborhood Abel lives in. And there are the sounds of the footfalls of the men in suits who seem to be tailing Abel around. But there\u2019s no music; no drama, really. We\u2019re dropped into this world and forced to go along with it until we can figure out just what the heck is going on.<br \/>\n<!-- SlashFilm_300x250_In_Post_2 -->Abel is a spy. He may not\u00a0<em>look<\/em> like a spy \u2013 his clothes are shabby, the hotel room he\u2019s staying in is a tiny mess, and his eyes are owl-like behind a pair of thick glasses. But right under the noses of all around him, Abel has been engaged in spycraft for the Russians. But now his time has run out \u2013 the FBI comes storming into Abel\u2019s hotel room and hauls him away (although not before Abel is able to slyly destroy a secret document he had hidden in plain sight).<\/p>\n<p>Now in custody, the accused Soviet spy needs a lawyer \u2013 and he gets one in\u00a0James B. Donovan (<strong>Tom Hanks<\/strong>), an insurance lawyer at a prestigious firm. The American government\u2019s position is that Abel deserves a defense \u2013 but not\u00a0<em>too good<\/em> a defense. Everyone commends Donovan for taking the job, but they\u2019re also not very subtle in their wishes for him to lose the case. Sure, Abel deserves the\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earance<\/em> of a defense \u2013 but as far as everyone around Donovan is concerned, the man is a commie spy who deserves to be strapped into the electric chair. Donovan\u2019s bosses; his wife Mary (an unfortunately underused\u00a0<strong>Amy Ryan<\/strong>); the U.S. Government; even the judge in the case \u2013 they all make it pretty clear that there\u2019s only so far Donovan should go to do his duty.<\/p>\n<p>But Donovan doesn\u2019t agree. \u201cEveryone deserves a defense,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery person matters.\u201d It\u2019s a mantra he\u2019ll repeat more than once. He\u2019s that prototypical Spielbergian hero, and in the hands of Tom Hanks, he becomes a figure of unimpeachable integrity. Hanks is an actor who radiates nice guy vibes, so his casting here is pitch-perfect. As Spielberg put it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cJames Donovan was what you would call a stand-up kind of guy, someone who stands up for what he believes in, which, in his case, is justice for all, regardless of what side of the Iron Curtain you are on. He was only interested in the letter of the law. And Tom\u2019s own morality and his own sense of equality and fairness, and the fact that he does such good things in the world by wisely using his celebrity, made him the perfect fit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Best of all, Hanks doesn\u2019t make Donovan a total square. Sure, he\u2019s a lawyer who is standing up for what\u2019s right based on his almost fervent belief in the rule of law. But he\u2019s also a funny guy, with Hanks\u2019 natural comedic timing shining through. He and Abel click almost im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely.<br \/>\n<!-- SlashFilm_300x250_In_Post_3 -->\u201cHave you represented many accused spies?\u201d Abel asks during their first meeting, to which Donovan replies: \u201cNo. Not yet. This will be a first for the both of us.\u201d It\u2019s an ice-breaker moment that endears the men to each other. Donovan knows that Abel is a spy, but in his eyes, Abel is just a guy doing his job for his country \u2013 the same way that Donovan is. And he\u2019s ready to fight like hell to defend the man. \u201cI don\u2019t work for the government,\u201d he tells Abel. \u201cI work for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Donovan\u2019s almost stubborn refusal to take the easy way out seems almost unbelievable these days. Can you think of a public figure here in the 21st century that would be so unflinchingly principled to do what\u2019s right? I\u2019m sure if you can the list is very, very small. But it also never seems phony in\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em>. We\u00a0<em>want<\/em> to believe in upright men like James B. Donovan. We want to buy into Steven Spielberg\u2019s firm belief in America.<\/p>\n<p>America is not an abstract idea to Spielberg. And while the filmmaker didn\u2019t write the screenplay to\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em>, you can feel his own personal belief system radiating off the screen. It\u2019s perfectly encapsulated in a scene in which Donovan has a conversation with a CIA agent. The agent would very much like Donovan to ignore attorney-client privilege and spill whatever secrets Abel may have revealed (little does he know that Abel hasn\u2019t given away anything \u2013 and never will. He remains tight-lipped about his spying activities, even when given the opportunity to give them up in exchange for freedom).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t go Boy Scout on me,\u201d the CIA agent tells Donovan while pressing for answers. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a rule book here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Donovan doesn\u2019t agree. \u201cWhat makes us both Americans?\u201d he asks the agent. \u201cJust one thing. One. Only one. The rule book. We call it the Constitution, and we agree to the rules, and that\u2019s what makes us Americans. That\u2019s all that makes us Americans. So don\u2019t tell me there\u2019s no rule book, and don\u2019t nod at me like that you son of a bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bridge Of Spies (2015) - there is a rule book\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z6LDXOwA3XQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<!-- SlashFilm_300x250_In_Post_4 -->It\u2019s a perfect speech, delivered perfectly by Hanks, who remains calm through the delivery, even when dropping that \u201cson of a bitch\u201d at the end. It\u2019s not corny; it\u2019s not overdramatic. It\u2019s what Donovan \u2013 and, by extension, Spielberg \u2013 believes. We are not American by blood. It doesn\u2019t matter where we came from; what country our family immigrated from to get here. What makes us American is our unspoken agreement to follow that rule book, the Constitution. That\u2019s all that matters. It has nothing to do with nationalism. It\u2019s all about just playing fair.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a rather solid case \u2013 the FBI had no warrant to collect the items they did from Abel\u2019s hotel room \u2013 Donovan loses and Abel is convicted. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief \u2013 Donovan can say he did his best, and everyone can move on. But the lawyer is far from done. First, he manages to convince the judge to give Abel a life sentence rather than send him to his death, reasoning that one day, the Russians might capture an American spy \u2013 in which case Abel could be used as a bargaining chip to get this metaphorical American spy back. Then, Donovan goes all the way to the Supreme Court to argue for an appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Usually big Supreme Court scenes are saved for the\u00a0<em>end<\/em> of a movie, but with\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em>, things are just warming up. As a result, this is almost two <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a> in one, with the first half dedicated to Donovan\u2019s defense of Abel in America, and the second half taking the lawyer far from home. Donovan fails to sway the Supreme Court, and finally seems ready to accept that his work is done. In truth, his job is just getting started.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-hanks-rylance.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641103\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-hanks-rylance-700x321.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-hanks-rylance-700x321.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-hanks-rylance-360x165.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-hanks-rylance-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-hanks-rylance.jpg 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"You_Know_What_You_Did\"><\/span>You Know What You Did<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Jump to 1960, and\u00a0Gary Powers, a pilot in the CIA\u2019s top-secret U-2 spy plane program, has just gone and gotten himself shot down in the USSR. This is a big problem because getting captured is the\u00a0<em>one<\/em> thing Powers was instructed not to do. As far as the CIA is concerned, Powers doesn\u2019t exist. His mission, should he choose to accept it, is to commit suicide rather than fall into the hands of the Reds. But Powers is indeed captured, and paraded in front of cameras in a show trial meant to embarrass the United States. Which it does. Powers is convicted and locked up in Russian prison, but the Americans realize they have an ace up their sleeve to get him back \u2013 Rudolf Abel.<\/p>\n<p>After a series of back-channel messages, Donavan is drafted by the CIA to head to Berlin to negotiate the swap. But Berlin is a powder keg at the moment. The Berlin Wall is going up, and Donovan will soon find himself in the middle of dealing with both the Russians and the East Germans. Before Donovan\u2019s arrival, American student\u00a0Frederic Pryor ends up arrested in East Germany and sent to jail on suspicion of spying. Donovan learns about Pryor\u2019s capture when he arrives in Germany, but as far as the CIA is concerned, Pryor doesn\u2019t matter. Powers is the objective.<\/p>\n<p>But Donovan can\u2019t let that go. He\u2019s that Spielbergian hero, committed to not just doing his duty, but going above and beyond. He plans to arrange the release of both Powers\u00a0<em>and\u00a0<\/em>Pryor, but that\u2019s easier said than done. The Russians and the East Germans keep bouncing him back and forth, resulting in confusion and miscommunication, almost all of it played for surreal laughs.<\/p>\n<p><em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> isn\u2019t just a Steven Spielberg movie. It\u2019s\u00a0<em>also<\/em> a <strong>Coen Brothers<\/strong> movie. Sort of.\u00a0<strong>Matt Charman<\/strong> wrote the initial draft of the script, and when Spielberg came aboard, he brought in Joel and Ethan Coen to polish things up. The Berlin section of the film is where the Coen\u2019s style shines through, as nearly every character Donovan encounters seems plucked from a Coen-like farce (think a slightly-less-silly\u00a0<em>Burn After Reading<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cJoel and Ethan got us very, very deep into the characters,\u201d Spielberg said. \u201cThey really instilled a sense of irony and a little bit of absurd humor, not absurd in the sense that movies can take license and be absurd, but that real life is absurd. They are great observers of real life, as we all know from their great august body of work, and were able to bring that to the story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While the first half of the movie is strong, the second half is when things really begin to sing, as Donovan treks around a snowy Berlin and comes down with a cold in the process. Donovan\u2019s consistent sniffling and coughing adds an extra layer of amusement to the proceedings and helps to lighten what could\u2019ve been a non-stop series of tension-filled scenes. Donovan is playing with fire here, putting his life, and the lives of Pryor\u00a0<em>and<\/em> Powers in danger \u2013 and yet\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> manages to find the humor in it all, be it in how Donovan keeps trying to sweet-talk his way to victory, or in how blatant the Russians and East Germans are in their lies and\u00a0obfuscation.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Donovan achieves the impossible. He\u2019s able to convince both sides to give up their prisoners in exchange for Abel, with everything culminating in a thrilling, tense conclusion set both at\u00a0Glienicke Bridge, where Powers is to be swapped with Abel and at Checkpoint Charlie, where Pryor is to be set free. So much of\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> consists of people simply having conversations, but Spielberg is able to turn those conversations into cinematic thrills. Spielberg\u2019s camera tracks Hanks\u2019 Donovan anxiously waiting on the bridge while cutting over to Checkpoint Charlie, where a bored CIA agent waits for Pryor to show up. So much is riding on whether or not this will all go according to plan, and the tension builds.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s alleviated for a moment when Abel is brought to the bridge and he and Donovan reunite with a handshake that seems so warm against the winter cold. These men respect each other, and Donovan wants to make sure Abel survives all of this. In a sense, he cares more about Abel than does the American prisoners he\u2019s arranged to have released.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, it works out. Abel returns to the Russians, Powers and Pryor are released, and Donovan heads home. On the flight back, the CIA are cold and standoffish to Powers. He wasn\u2019t supposed to be captured, after all. But Powers insists to Donovan that he kept his mouth shut and gave away nothing to the Russians. But Donovan replies: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what others think. You know what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because not only is the Spielbergian hero committed to doing the right thing, he\u2019s also selfless. Even after all is said and done, Donovan returns home and doesn\u2019t bother to tell his wife what he did \u2013 she has to find out via the TV <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> while Donovan is passed out upstairs. He\u2019s done his duty without bothering to brag, and he can feel pretty good about himself.<\/p>\n<p>Or can he? After a seemingly upbeat moment of triumph, all of it scored by <strong>Thomas Newman<\/strong>\u2018s gorgeous music (regular Spielberg collaborator John Williams was dealing with medical issues at the time, and Newman stepped in), Spielberg throws in one moment of dark doubt. In Berlin, Donovan watched in horror from a passing train as kids tried to scramble over the Berlin Wall, only to be shot in the back. Now, riding the train in America, he looks out and sees a group of kids leaping over a backyard fence. It\u2019s framed exactly the same way as the Berlin Wall moment, and we almost expect gunfire to rain down on these fence-jumpers. But of course, that doesn\u2019t happen. They go about their merry way \u2013 but Donovan looks on. He looks on for a long time, long after the train has left those kids and that fence behind. He did the right thing, and he knows what he did. But he\u2019ll never be able to get certain images from the experience out of his head.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-behind-the-scenes.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641104\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-behind-the-scenes-700x321.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-behind-the-scenes-700x321.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-behind-the-scenes-360x165.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-behind-the-scenes-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/bridge-of-spies-behind-the-scenes.jpg 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Kinship\"><\/span><strong>Kinship<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> is Spielberg at the peak of his power. It speaks to the filmmaker\u2019s talent that he was able to turn\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> \u2013 a talky, adult-driven drama that has nothing to do with franchises \u2013 into a box office success. That\u2019s not always a given with a Spielberg movie, but\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> managed to pull it off because of its inherent quality.<\/p>\n<p>The filmmaker is clearly having\u00a0<em>fun<\/em> here. There\u2019s something thrilling about watching Spielberg set up moments like when Donovan tries to evade a CIA tail in the rain; or the back and forth dialogue between Donovan and nearly every character. Even the film\u2019s one big action moment \u2013 Powers\u2019 plane crash \u2013 radiates with innovation, like when Spielberg has the camera point up through a hole in Powers\u2019 parachute to show the pilot\u2019s spyplane disintegrating above.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t live on an alien planet my entire career,\u201d Spielberg said in regards to the grounded, real-world story of\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve got to find things that are earthbound that make me glad to be on this planet, and experiences, when I\u2019m making films, that have relevance and have kinship to actual events in history. That fills me up; that makes me actually happier in this stage of my life than even a success like <em>Jurassic World<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hanks\u2019 stellar performance is a key ingredient to making this all work, and it\u2019s hard to imagine any other actor in the role. But it\u2019s also important to single-out Mark Rylance\u2019s award-winning turn as the calm, polite Abel. The antithesis of the generic enemy spy, Abel is simply a guy doing his job, and Rylance brings such an air of poise to the part that it\u2019s immediately endearing. Like Donovan, we can\u2019t help but like this guy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat Mark brings to the role is a completely-realized self-assuredness. Mark will not take a moment and throw it completely out and come in and completely redo it,\u201d said Hanks of his co-star. \u201cWhat Mark will do instead is construct the character in the scene that slow little motions of feint, either one way or the next, will bring a new jolt of energy to, but is still the same character he built.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tying all of this together is a world that feels lived-in. The late 1950s-early, 1960s atmosphere never feels staged. The costumes the characters wear feel lived in. There\u2019s a Rockwell-like nostalgia, sure \u2013 but nothing here feels idealized. Frequent Spielberg collaborator\u00a0Janusz Kaminski plays around with a lighting style that will carry over into the similarly-themed\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>, where the interiors of rooms are dark and full of wafting smoke while bright, almost unearthly light blasts through windows. As bright as that light is, it also looks cold, which sells the wintry atmosphere most of the film is set in.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a practical reason for the way the light burns through those windows: the glass has all been frosted over.\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> was another quick shoot for Spielberg, and as a result of the fast-paced production, there wasn\u2019t enough time to deal with greenscreens and digital historic settings. The solution: frost the glass so we can never really see what\u2019s going on through certain windows. Like all great magic tricks, it seems kind of cheap when you realize how it\u2019s done. But in the context of the movie, it works exceedingly well.<\/p>\n<p>Kaminski also plays around with the lighting in the film\u2019s locations \u2013 the United States, East Germany, and West Berlin are all lit in different ways. \u201cWhen you think about the New York part, which is more golden, our perception of the period tends to be a little bit warmer, because it is in the past, so we tend to romanticize those images,\u201d Kaminski said. \u201cAnd also, the United States during that time was slightly more innocent, so the light and the color reflect that innocence to some degree. And then actually progressing through the film and going to West Berlin, [this] is still colorful, but not as colorful as New York. And subsequently, when you move to East Germany, there is a total void of color. It becomes not black and white, but desaturated and more bluish. And you achieve that by exposing the film a certain way, not putting color gels on the lights, but lighting with bluish and white light.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But best of all,\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> succeeds because of how deftly it sells its message without ever seeming like a \u201cmessage movie.\u201d This is a film with deep faith in America, but it\u2019s not your typical flag-waving patriotic clap-trap. Spielberg\u2019s\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em>\u00a0isn\u2019t interested in those abstractions, or that pageantry. It\u2019s instead interested in shining a light on a rare individual willing to go the distance to uphold that rule book he believes so dearly in. This is a much-needed civics lesson wrapped up in a bright, shiny Spielbergian package. A rejection of blind, stupid, thoughtless nationalism for the sake of nationalism, and instead rooted firmly in the belief that the country is only as good as its people are willing to be. As a nation, we can all be better \u2013 if only more people were willing to believe in that rule book as much as James B. Donovan.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-hanks-and-streep.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641107\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-hanks-and-streep-700x321.jpg\" alt=\"the post hanks and streep\" width=\"700\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-hanks-and-streep-700x321.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-hanks-and-streep-360x165.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-hanks-and-streep-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-hanks-and-streep.jpg 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CI_Might_Be_Crazy_But_I_Think_Im_Going_to_Make_Another_Movie_Right_Now%E2%80%9D\"><\/span><strong>\u201cI Might Be Crazy, But I Think I\u2019m Going to Make Another Movie Right Now\u201d<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Steven Spielberg makes movies\u00a0<em>for<\/em> everyone, but he primarily makes movies\u00a0<em>about<\/em> men (and boys). There are plenty of Spielberg female supporting characters, some of them quite great, but the overwhelming body of Spielberg\u2019s work consists of male-driven stories. And then, in his early \u201970s, Spielberg went ahead and made the most feminist movie of his entire career:\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty of male figures swirling about the character-driven saga, most notably Tom Hanks\u2019 gruff newspaperman Ben Bradlee. But\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> is really a story about a woman, and how that woman \u2013 after years of being told to keep quiet and remain in her place \u2013 finally decided to speak up and wield the power she possessed.<\/p>\n<p>That woman is\u00a0Katharine Graham, played by <strong>Meryl Streep<\/strong>. Graham was never supposed to be an influential figure. Her husband, Phil, had inherited the\u00a0<em>Washington Post<\/em>. And then, like his father before him, Phil Graham died by suicide. Phil\u2019s death resulted in Katharine becoming the paper\u2019s owner, which made her the first female publisher of a major American newspaper in the 20th century.<\/p>\n<p>While the script for <em>The Post<\/em>\u00a0would eventually be expanded to include many characters, it started out as the Kay Graham story. Liz Hannah had read Graham\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography <em>Personal History<\/em> and come away inspired. \u201cI had never read a memoir where somebody was\u00a0<i>so\u00a0<\/i>willing to talk about their mistakes and talk about their relationships and really analyze them,\u201d the screenwriter said.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah sent her script out to agents, never dreaming it would end up being a big movie with a big cast and a big director. In Hannah\u2019s own words she thought the project would end up being \u201cthis tiny little movie that no one will ever see.\u201d But of course, she was wrong. The script caught the eye of legendary producer Amy Pascal. Pascal would, in turn, send the script to Spielberg \u2013 who was doubtful, at least at first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got a call from Stacey Snider and Amy Pascal, who suggested I read a script from a brand-new writer who\u2019d never sold anything in her life \u2014 Liz Hannah, 31 years old \u2014 who had written a story about Katharine Graham,\u201d Spielberg said. \u201cI was reluctant to read the script, but Stacey and Amy said, \u2018I think you\u2019ll change your mind\u2026\u2019 And I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The aftermath of the election of 2016 ignited in Spielberg a passionate fire to get\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> made. \u201cThe level of urgency to make the movie was because of the current climate of this administration, bombarding the press and labeling the truth as fake if it suited them,\u201d Spielberg said after the film was made. \u201cI deeply resented the hashtag \u2018alternative facts,\u2019 because I\u2019m a believer in only one truth, which is the objective truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The urgency resulted in a prototypical Spielbergian case of overachievement, with the filmmaker stepping away from post-production on his impending\u00a0<em>Ready Player One<\/em> to shoot\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cLiz\u2019s writing, her premise, her critical study and especially her beautiful, personal portrait of Graham got me to say: \u2018I might be crazy, but I think I\u2019m going to make another movie right now,&#8217;\u201d Spielberg later recounted.\u00a0 \u201cIt snuck up on me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>The Post<\/em> producer\u00a0Kristie Macosko Krieger added: \u201cWe just turned everything around in a day. I called everybody and said\u2026\u2019we\u2019re going to make a movie in New York in 11 weeks.&#8217;\u201d After those weeks of pre-production (it ended up being 12, not 11), Spielberg completed shooting on\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> in two months (the entire process, from pre-production to release took only seven months). He had flexed his powers to put together a huge cast \u2013 mostly comprised of actors acclaimed for their TV work \u2013 and put at the head of that cast Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.<\/p>\n<p><em>Spotlight<\/em> screenwriter <strong>Josh Singer<\/strong> also came aboard to expand Hannah\u2019s script. \u201cLiz\u2019s script was about two human beings on an intimate journey, an incredible script,\u201d Singer said. \u201cWhat we then wanted to do was add in more history and a strong sense of the timeline to show how remarkable these few days were and bring the audience deeper into that world. We move beyond Kay and Ben to see what\u2019s going on with the Nixon tapes and with The New York Times and it all helps create more context for Kay\u2019s massive moment of decision-making.\u201d The end result may not be Steven Spielberg\u2019s\u00a0<em>best<\/em> movie \u2013 but it is one of the most entertaining, and rewarding. It\u2019s a breezy, fast-paced, star-studded masterclass on doing the right thing, and lobbying praise on the sanctity of the press.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-streep.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641279\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-streep-700x321.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-streep-700x321.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-streep-360x165.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-streep-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-streep.jpg 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lets_Go\"><\/span><strong>Let\u2019s Go<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><em>The Post<\/em> tells the true story of the publishing of the\u00a0\u201cPentagon Papers,\u201d a set of classified documents regarding the 20-year involvement of the United States government in the Vietnam War, loaded with plenty of proof that America knew that there was no way to win the war, but was too proud to admit it or pull out of the conflict. The papers were leaked to the press by\u00a0military analyst Daniel Ellsberg, played in the film by\u00a0<strong>Matthew Rhys<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Vietnam is mostly in the background of\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>, but Spielberg can\u2019t resist dropping us into the war by showing Ellsberg in the midst of the conflict, complete with a groan-inducingly predictable Creedence Clearwater Revival cut blaring over the soundtrack. At some point, someone decided Creedence was the official music of the Vietnam War, and Spielberg was unfortunately not above falling into the trap.<\/p>\n<p>Ellsberg knows the war is going poorly, and he says as much to then-Secretary of Defense\u00a0Robert McNamara. But later, Ellsberg watches in horror as McNamara lies to the press about the war with a smile on his face. The story then jumps forward a few years \u2013 without really clarifying that, making it look as if this is all happening in the span of a few days. Now working as a civilian-military contractor\/consultant for the RAND Corporation, a military thinktank, the still disillusioned Ellsberg decides to do something: he photocopies hundreds of pages of classified documents pertaining to the war. Documents that stretch back to the Truman administration. Documents that make it abundantly clear that the United States has known Vietnam was a lost cause for years, and yet continued to send troops off to their death rather than admit defeat.<\/p>\n<p>Spielberg stages these opening moments with all the urgency of a paranoia-tinged spy thriller, with Ellsberg on edge as he hustles about, photocopying documents. To better illustrate how far back the words in these documents go, and to make the scene all the more exciting, Spielberg juxtaposes footage of various presidents giving speeches about the conflict against scenes of Ellsberg photocopying pages while reading off dates and excerpts. Over it all, John Williams\u2019 score is like a ticking clock. It even recalls the music he created for the \u201cstealing of the embryos\u201d scene in\u00a0<em>Jurassic Park<\/em>, and while\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> is far removed from that fantastical film, this theft scene has almost the same energy. In short, it\u2019s thrilling. In the span of a few minutes, Steven Spielberg manages to make a man photocopying some pages look just as exciting as a car chase sequence.<\/p>\n<p>After the Ellsberg intro,\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> moves on to our main characters. We meet Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep), the owner of\u00a0<em>The Washington Post<\/em>. She\u2019s always the lone woman in a room full of men \u2013 a motif Spielberg returns to again and again, with Graham always sticking out among a sea of business suits. It\u2019s 1971, and the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em> is still considered a \u201csmall local paper.\u201d That might soon change, though, as Graham plans to take the paper public, hoping the stock market launch will improve financial matters.<\/p>\n<p>Graham clashes with the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em>\u2018s editor, the gruffer-than-gruff Ben Bradlee, played by Tom Hanks. The first scene that the two share starts off playful, even friendly. But it becomes clear that Bradlee has a bad habit of talking over Graham. And at one point, when she makes a suggestion about publishing something, Bradlee snaps at her. It renders Graham momentarily silent, and the character\u2019s silence is something Streep does wonderful work with.<\/p>\n<p>I know it\u2019s almost cliched at this point to point out what a great actress Streep is, but she does some of the finest work of her career in\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>. The part allows Streep to constantly be just a tiny bit off-kilter \u2013 Katherine doubts herself. During a meeting with the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em>\u2018s board, when given the opportunity to talk using a series of notes she spent all night working on, Katherine clams up, preferring instead to let Chairman of the Board\u00a0Fritz Beebe (the always-welcome\u00a0Tracy Letts) speak for her. During the same meeting, when someone asks for a monetary figure, Graham has the answer, but she only whispers it to herself. No one hears her.<\/p>\n<p>The relationship between Bradlee and Graham is ultimately warm and caring, but it takes almost the whole film for Bradlee to really realize how much of a risk Graham is taking. But as the narrative kicks off, Bradlee is more worried about the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em>\u2018s reputation. He\u2019s angry their stories aren\u2019t big enough; aren\u2019t groundbreaking enough. He\u2019s worried no one takes them seriously. Hell, they can\u2019t even get an invite to Richard Nixon\u2019s daughter\u2019s wedding at the White House.<\/p>\n<p>But everything is about to change. The\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em> starts publishing the Pentagon Papers. Soon, the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em> gets some of the papers themselves. And then one of their staff, assistant editor Ben Bagdikian (<strong>Bob Odenkirk<\/strong>, who is phenomenal here, giving a memorable but understated performance) realizes he knows where the papers are coming from. He has a connection to Ellsberg, and manages to track the man down and retrieve even more of the stolen documents.<\/p>\n<p>However, things have gotten complicated. A federal district court injunction has stopped the\u00a0<i>Times<\/i>\u00a0from publishing more of the papers. Bradlee says that shouldn\u2019t be a problem \u2013 the injunction was against the\u00a0<em>Times<\/em>, not the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em>. He wants to publish them. He\u00a0<em>needs<\/em> to publish them. Not just for the sake of the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em>, but also because it\u2019s a First Amendment issue. The government has never before stepped in like this against a newspaper. \u201cThe only way to protect the right to publish is to publish,\u201d Bradlee says. Hanks is having fun with this part. It\u2019s not his most nuanced work, and his scratchy voice is a little distracting (as is his wig). But Hanks realizes that this isn\u2019t his movie \u2013 it\u2019s Streep\u2019s. Bradlee is just a supporting player, and Hanks knows just how to dial things back so that he never takes over the picture. He also gets quiet moments to shine, such as when Bradlee reflects on how his close friendship with John F. Kennedy surely got in the way of how he covered the JFK administration.<\/p>\n<p>While Bradlee and his staff are raring to publish, everyone who is not on the writing side of the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em> \u2013 the lawyers, the board members, the money men \u2013 thinks it\u2019s a terrible idea, and they make sure their objections are heard by Katherine. But Katherine is clearly conflicted. She knows that Ben is right \u2013 that publishing is important. But like James B. Donovan in\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em>, almost everyone around her is telling her it\u2019s wrong. Even Fritz, who is always ready to defend Katherine, tells her he probably wouldn\u2019t publish.<\/p>\n<p>This all builds to one of Spielberg\u2019s most enjoyable bits of filmmaking, coupled with tour de force work by Streep. Katherine is on the phone with Ben and the lawyers. Ben is yelling that they should publish. The lawyers are yelling that they shouldn\u2019t. The camera starts off above and behind Katherine, slowly circling around to her face as she stands alone in a room in her house, clutching the phone. Katherine is being told that journalists will resign if they don\u2019t publish. Ben adds that if they don\u2019t publish: \u201cWe will lose. The country will lose. Nixon wins. Nixon wins this one, and the next one, and all the ones after that. Because we were scared. Because\u201d \u2013 and here he repeats his mantra \u2013 \u201cThe only way to protect the right to publish is to publish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spielberg starts pushing in on Katherine\u2019s face. Streep widens her moist eyes; her breathing begins to increase; she cocks her head to the side and bites her lower lip. She looks ready to say\u00a0<em>something<\/em>,\u00a0<em>anything<\/em>. But the words aren\u2019t coming \u2013 not just yet. Not till the camera gets to where it needs to be. First, it has to push in on Streep\u2019s face as she struggles to find the right words. And then, when the camera hits its mark, and when Streep\u2019s face is filling the frame, she blurts out: \u201cLet\u2019s go. Let\u2019s do it.\u201d And she slams the phone down before she can have her mind changed.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s dynamite. It\u2019s electric. On paper, the scene is simple \u2013 Katherine hesitates, then gives her answer. But in Spielberg and Streep\u2019shands, it\u2019s a scene that gets your heart pumping in your chest.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-gang.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-641282\" src=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-gang-700x321.jpg\" alt=\"the post gang\" width=\"700\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-gang-700x321.jpg 700w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-gang-360x165.jpg 360w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-gang-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/the-post-gang.jpg 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brave\"><\/span><strong>Brave<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The publication kicks off a firestorm from the Nixon White House. Spielberg makes the rather odd decision to make Nixon a sort of comical boogeyman \u2013 playing audio recordings of Nixon\u2019s phone calls against shots of an actor playing Nixon pacing around the Oval Office. Spielberg never goes inside the Oval \u2013 we just hang out on the lawn, peeking in through the window.<\/p>\n<p>Remember what I said about\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies \u2013<\/em> how\u00a0big Supreme Court scenes are saved for the\u00a0end of a movie? It wasn\u2019t true in that film, but it is here. Graham and Bradlee go to the Supreme Court to argue their First Amendment constitutional rights, and \u2013 spoiler alert \u2013 they win. The court decision is read out by editorial writer\u00a0Meg Greenfield, played by a criminally underused <strong>Carrie Coon<\/strong> who none the less gets what might be the most important speech in the film: \u201cIn the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Post 2017_Supreme Court Winning Scene\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6SlFv5iZPs4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a big, triumphant moment. It\u2019s Spielberg and company striking a blow for the First Amendment and reminding us that the Trump years weren\u2019t the only time that Republican administrations attacked the press. And Spielberg, that eternal optimist, wants to remind us that this is a fight worth having. That the\u00a0only way to protect the right to publish is to publish.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re telling the story of resiliency, honesty and dedication of the whole career of journalism,\u201d Spielberg said. \u201cSome would have us believe that there is no difference between beliefs and facts. We wanted to make a story where basically facts are the foundation of all truth and we wanted to tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For all of its wonderful, important, and timely moments,\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> trips over its own feet on more than one occasion. The Vietnam opening is unnecessary. The spooky shots of Nixon through the White House windows are distracting. And, worst of all, Spielberg tacks on an ending that feels like he\u2019s trying to set up\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> Cinematic Universe. After all is said and done, Katherine and Bradlee share a warm moment together where they commend each other for doing the right thing. And then Katerine says, \u201cI don\u2019t think I could ever live through something like this again!\u201d At which point \u2013 after a brief Nixon moment \u2013 Spielberg cuts to the Watergate break-in, complete with a guard saying, \u201cI think we have a break-in at the Watergate Hotel!\u201d It\u2019s groan-worthy, as if Spielberg is winking at us as he sets up the events covered in\u00a0<em>All the President\u2019s Men \u2013\u00a0<\/em>a movie that doesn\u2019t feature Katherine Graham, but does feature Ben Bradlee, played by\u00a0Jason Robards.<\/p>\n<p>But these missteps are minor compared to all the wonderful work Spielberg does here. It\u2019s the little things that matter: the way Bradlee and two writers run down to the newsstand to grab the\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em>, and pages of the paper blow out of their hands and flutter overhead like birds. The way Spielberg cuts to a shot of everyone in the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em> newsroom with their nose in the\u00a0<em>Times<\/em>. The way the printing press in the\u00a0<em>Post<\/em>\u2018s basement rattles the whole building when it\u2019s turned on, as if it\u2019s some ancient slumbering god shaking itself awake.<\/p>\n<p>And then there are those performances. While some actors are underused, they all get at least one moment to shine. The best example of this might be<strong> Sarah Paulson<\/strong>, who is stuck in the thankless task of playing Bradlee\u2019s wife Tony. Paulson spends the majority of the movie just hanging in the background, and just when you think she\u2019s about to be completely underserved by the movie, she ends up with a wonderful speech where she finally makes Ben realize just how brave Katherine is being by agreeing to publish the papers:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cKay is in a position she never thought she\u2019d be in, a position I\u2019m sure plenty of people don\u2019t think she should have. When you\u2019re told time and time again that you\u2019re not good enough, that your opinion doesn\u2019t matter as much. When they don\u2019t just look past you, when, to them, you\u2019re not even there, when that\u2019s been your reality for so long, it\u2019s hard not to let yourself think it\u2019s true. So to make this decision, to risk her fortune and the company that\u2019s been her entire life, well, I think that\u2019s brave.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Post new clip: Brave\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DWlkO1zmqk0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Spielberg usually storyboards for his films, but the rushed production of <em>The Post<\/em> made that impossible. Instead, the filmmaker relied on his actors to help him create his shots. \u201cEvery single shot was discovered through the discovery of the actors\u2019 performances,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you get performances like this and a company of actors like that, the shots are coming at me fast \u2014 I\u2019m having trouble keeping them in my head how I want to shoot the scene \u2014 but I came to work every day with an open mind without a shot list\u2026The same way the actors never rehearsed, everything was done in the moment and very spontaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And then there\u2019s the look of the film. The blown-out window light from\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> is back, but there\u2019s an old school feel to the footage due to cinematographer Janusz Kaminski shooting on 35mm film. \u201cI wanted with Janusz to make the film look like it was not a contemporary film but rather shot in the early 1970s,\u201d Spielberg said. \u201cIt was all about color temperature and palette and coordinating Janusz\u2019s lighting with Ann Roth\u2019s brilliant costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clocking in at 116 minutes,\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> whizzes by. There\u2019s not an ounce of fat on this thing \u2013 it flies off the screen and never overstays its welcome. And, most remarkable of all, it has a woman as the Spielbergian hero. Spielberg was 71 when he made\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em>, and yet even at that age, he was showing that he still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. That he could still pump out a thrilling, challenging film better than any filmmaker half his age working at the time, and that he could try new things.\u00a0But\u00a0<em>Bridge of Spies<\/em> and\u00a0<em>The Post<\/em> were both grounded, character-driven films set in the real world. And Spielberg wasn\u2019t done yet. He still had two other films arriving in the 21st century, both of which returned him to effects-driven fantasy, for better or worse. Mostly worse. But that\u2019s a story for next time.<\/p>\n<p>                            <strong>Cool Posts From Around the Web:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>                            <!-- \/post -->\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/21st-century-spielberg-podcast-bridge-of-spies-and-the-post\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#21st Century Spielberg \u2013 \/Film&#8221; (Welcome to\u00a021st Century Spielberg, an ongoing column and podcast that examines the challenging, sometimes misunderstood 21st-century filmography of one of our greatest living filmmakers,\u00a0Steven Spielberg. In this edition: Bridge of Spies and The Post.) The Spielbergian hero is someone who not only does the right thing, but goes above and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/21st-century-spielberg-bridge-of-spies-the-post.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1568,8866,76086,1570,25825,39484,23498,8868,76087,33777],"class_list":["post-90840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-featured-stories-sidebar","tag-21st-century-spielberg","tag-bridge-of-spies","tag-features","tag-mark-rylance","tag-meryl-streep","tag-podcasts","tag-steven-spielberg","tag-the-post","tag-tom-hanks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}