This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/15/tom-hanks-bridge-of-spies-father-role-james-donovan

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies – and the role our father played Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies – and the role our father played
(12 days later)
It is unusual for a woman of 66 to go to the cinema nine times to watch the latest Hollywood spy thriller, even if it stars Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance and is directed by Steven Spielberg. But when the film is a celebration of a forgotten moment of glory for a much loved father, it is easier to understand.It is unusual for a woman of 66 to go to the cinema nine times to watch the latest Hollywood spy thriller, even if it stars Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance and is directed by Steven Spielberg. But when the film is a celebration of a forgotten moment of glory for a much loved father, it is easier to understand.
“I feel like my father has been in the shadows and is finally emerging,” Mary Ellen Donovan Fuller told the Observer. “The scene that means most to me personally is when Dad comes home and collapses on his bed with exhaustion. He really poured his life into his exploits.”“I feel like my father has been in the shadows and is finally emerging,” Mary Ellen Donovan Fuller told the Observer. “The scene that means most to me personally is when Dad comes home and collapses on his bed with exhaustion. He really poured his life into his exploits.”
Bridge of Spies, out in the UK in November, tells the true story of the secret cold war negotiations that eventually led to the East German release of two Americans on a snowy bridge in Berlin in 1962.Bridge of Spies, out in the UK in November, tells the true story of the secret cold war negotiations that eventually led to the East German release of two Americans on a snowy bridge in Berlin in 1962.
The central character, James Donovan – Fuller’s late father, who is played by Hanks – is the Brooklyn insurance lawyer asked to defend a Soviet spy, Colonel Rudolf Abel, played by Rylance, who had been caught living undercover in New York. The decision to take up Abel’s unpopular case drew Donovan into a complex and covert world of international dealing in which his skills as an independent negotiator came to be relied on by the American government.The central character, James Donovan – Fuller’s late father, who is played by Hanks – is the Brooklyn insurance lawyer asked to defend a Soviet spy, Colonel Rudolf Abel, played by Rylance, who had been caught living undercover in New York. The decision to take up Abel’s unpopular case drew Donovan into a complex and covert world of international dealing in which his skills as an independent negotiator came to be relied on by the American government.
Bridge of Spies has already earned rave reviews, including five stars from the Guardian and plaudits from the New Yorker. The screenplay is by British playwright Matt Charman, who brought the story to Spielberg’s DreamWorks studios. His final script is a collaboration with Joel and Ethan Coen, and was inspired by Donovan’s book, Strangers on a Bridge, re-published last month. Bridge of Spies has already earned rave reviews, including five stars from the Guardian and plaudits from the New Yorker. The screenplay is by British playwright Matt Charman, who brought the story to Spielberg’s DreamWorks studios. His final script is a collaboration with Joel and Ethan Coen, and was inspired by Donovan’s book, Strangers on a Bridge, re-published last month.
The lawyer’s children, also portrayed in the film, now believe their crusade to win recognition for their father is over at last. For Fuller’s sister, Jan Amorosi, 72, the sight of Hanks playing their father on screen – struggling against the chill of the diplomatic climate and an icy winter in Berlin – proved too much. “I lost him when I was a young girl, so to see the harshness of the conditions he had to put up with, I started to cry and I couldn’t stop for about 20 minutes,” she said this weekend. “So many years of missing him. That shows the film has been well done, I suppose. It is very welcome and very overdue. He was a forgotten man.”The lawyer’s children, also portrayed in the film, now believe their crusade to win recognition for their father is over at last. For Fuller’s sister, Jan Amorosi, 72, the sight of Hanks playing their father on screen – struggling against the chill of the diplomatic climate and an icy winter in Berlin – proved too much. “I lost him when I was a young girl, so to see the harshness of the conditions he had to put up with, I started to cry and I couldn’t stop for about 20 minutes,” she said this weekend. “So many years of missing him. That shows the film has been well done, I suppose. It is very welcome and very overdue. He was a forgotten man.”
Amorosi, who is played in the film by Eve Hewson – the daughter of U2’s Bono – loves the film, although she pointed out that, while her family were verbally abused for supposed “Commie” sympathies, they were never victims of a violent attack, as portrayed in the film.Amorosi, who is played in the film by Eve Hewson – the daughter of U2’s Bono – loves the film, although she pointed out that, while her family were verbally abused for supposed “Commie” sympathies, they were never victims of a violent attack, as portrayed in the film.
She recalls her father considering the job of defending Abel, a national bogeyman: “After he took the call he went outside to hit some golf balls, then came back into the house and said, ‘I am taking the case’. He was very decisive and liked challenges. But, of course, that was the beginning of all the trouble for us.”She recalls her father considering the job of defending Abel, a national bogeyman: “After he took the call he went outside to hit some golf balls, then came back into the house and said, ‘I am taking the case’. He was very decisive and liked challenges. But, of course, that was the beginning of all the trouble for us.”
Much of the plot chimes with her memories, such as the day in Brooklyn just before Donovan was called out to Berlin to oversee the spy exchange, when she noticed him rubbing his palms together nervously. “He was giving me a lift in the car and I asked what was going on. He admitted he was excited about something.” Later, staying in the Adirondack mountains with friends, the young Amorosi received a call from the CIA promising to take her to meet her father in a safe house in Washington as soon as he got back.Much of the plot chimes with her memories, such as the day in Brooklyn just before Donovan was called out to Berlin to oversee the spy exchange, when she noticed him rubbing his palms together nervously. “He was giving me a lift in the car and I asked what was going on. He admitted he was excited about something.” Later, staying in the Adirondack mountains with friends, the young Amorosi received a call from the CIA promising to take her to meet her father in a safe house in Washington as soon as he got back.
Her brother John, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran from Connecticut, also remembers the secrecy. All the family, including their mother, Mary, were told Donovan was golfing in Scotland. “Before he went to Berlin he spent a few nights in London. I was at boarding school at the time and in a bit of trouble. But he sent me a note from Claridge’s hotel that he must have written right before he flew to Berlin. He told me I should relax and that things would work out. It was good advice.”Her brother John, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran from Connecticut, also remembers the secrecy. All the family, including their mother, Mary, were told Donovan was golfing in Scotland. “Before he went to Berlin he spent a few nights in London. I was at boarding school at the time and in a bit of trouble. But he sent me a note from Claridge’s hotel that he must have written right before he flew to Berlin. He told me I should relax and that things would work out. It was good advice.”
A little older than depicted in the film and, he said, less sceptical than portrayed, the son even accompanied his father on visits to Abel in jail.A little older than depicted in the film and, he said, less sceptical than portrayed, the son even accompanied his father on visits to Abel in jail.
“My father always explained Abel was ‘really all about Mother Russia’. He was an introverted type of person. We once sang him a version of the Christmas song with the words ‘Rudolf, the red-faced spy’. He laughed only a little and then talked about something else,” he said.“My father always explained Abel was ‘really all about Mother Russia’. He was an introverted type of person. We once sang him a version of the Christmas song with the words ‘Rudolf, the red-faced spy’. He laughed only a little and then talked about something else,” he said.
Donovan was so keen to see his father’s work acknowledged that he once wrote his own screenplay. “I kept running into dead ends, so I was delighted to hear from Charman and DreamWorks,” he said.Donovan was so keen to see his father’s work acknowledged that he once wrote his own screenplay. “I kept running into dead ends, so I was delighted to hear from Charman and DreamWorks,” he said.
The children all gave Charman a sense of their father’s fair, but tough, approach. “He always wanted to get down to basics,” said his son. “In the beginning of the movie he is shown talking about a certain insurance case that actually came to the Supreme Court later in his career. Multiple liability in a road traffic case was the issue and I remember, because I was there, that he did hold up a newspaper headline and say, ‘It says there that one accident happened, not three’.”The children all gave Charman a sense of their father’s fair, but tough, approach. “He always wanted to get down to basics,” said his son. “In the beginning of the movie he is shown talking about a certain insurance case that actually came to the Supreme Court later in his career. Multiple liability in a road traffic case was the issue and I remember, because I was there, that he did hold up a newspaper headline and say, ‘It says there that one accident happened, not three’.”
Fuller, who lives in South Carolina, was “mesmerised by how much they captured my father”. “He had a great sense of irony and I love the fact it is a numbers game throughout the movie.”Fuller, who lives in South Carolina, was “mesmerised by how much they captured my father”. “He had a great sense of irony and I love the fact it is a numbers game throughout the movie.”
For her elder sister, the film’s climactic scene on the Berlin bridge sums up her father’s trustworthy nature. When Rylance, the Soviet spy, steps from the car, he sees Donovan and is reassured.For her elder sister, the film’s climactic scene on the Berlin bridge sums up her father’s trustworthy nature. When Rylance, the Soviet spy, steps from the car, he sees Donovan and is reassured.
“Back then we got a phone call from a representative in the middle of the night. Because it was all hush hush, my mother was confused. The CIA had even sent us postcards from Scotland,” said Amorosi. “When someone said we must be proud of my father, my baffled mother said, ‘Why? Did he get a hole-in-one?’”“Back then we got a phone call from a representative in the middle of the night. Because it was all hush hush, my mother was confused. The CIA had even sent us postcards from Scotland,” said Amorosi. “When someone said we must be proud of my father, my baffled mother said, ‘Why? Did he get a hole-in-one?’”
Donovan was once to have been played by Gregory Peck, after his success playing lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Peter Ustinov had written a screenplay and Alec Guinness was to play Abel.Donovan was once to have been played by Gregory Peck, after his success playing lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Peter Ustinov had written a screenplay and Alec Guinness was to play Abel.
“My father and I were in London and we spent three days with Peck there, since he was filming Arabesque with Sophia Loren,” said Fuller. “He guided me privately through London Zoo one night!”“My father and I were in London and we spent three days with Peck there, since he was filming Arabesque with Sophia Loren,” said Fuller. “He guided me privately through London Zoo one night!”
The family had already seen Donovan handle a secondment to the Office of Strategic Services, the American wartime intelligence operation, and a period in charge of visual evidence at the war crime trials at Nuremberg. His later career, before an early death at the age of 53 in 1970, was no less dramatic. Donovan negotiated with Fidel Castro for the release of prisoners during the Bay of Pigs crisis in 1961.The family had already seen Donovan handle a secondment to the Office of Strategic Services, the American wartime intelligence operation, and a period in charge of visual evidence at the war crime trials at Nuremberg. His later career, before an early death at the age of 53 in 1970, was no less dramatic. Donovan negotiated with Fidel Castro for the release of prisoners during the Bay of Pigs crisis in 1961.
After nine cinema trips to Bridge of Spies, his youngest child is still not ruling out another. “I love going to the movie theatre to see my father on the big screen, before it joins the ranks of all the other films out there,” Fuller said.After nine cinema trips to Bridge of Spies, his youngest child is still not ruling out another. “I love going to the movie theatre to see my father on the big screen, before it joins the ranks of all the other films out there,” Fuller said.