While the Polish première of Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies" is scheduled for Friday 27 November, the European première was held on 13 November in Berlin. Wroclaw cinemas are tempting viewers with sneak previews to be held this weekend (21 and 22 November). "Bridge of Spies" will be screened at the Nowe Horyzonty Cinema (at 7.30 pm), Helios Cinema at the Aleja Bielany Shopping Mall (8.30 pm) and Multikino at the Arkady Wrocławskie Shopping Mall (7.45 pm).
Almost a year has elapsed since Spielberg's crew left the set in ul Kurkowa and Ptasia in Wroclaw. The film's working title at the time was "St James Place". The title has finally evolved into "Bridge of Spies". The film is conceived as a Cold War espionage thriller. The picture tells the story of Francis Gary Powers, a pilot, whose U2 plane was taken down by the Russians during a reconnaissance flight in 1960. Jason Donovan, the film's protagonist, is a lawyer hired by the CIA to negotiate the pilot's release. The cast features a number of Hollywood icons, including Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda and Eve Hewson. Based on Matt Charman's original account, the script was written by Joel and Ethan Coen. Janusz Kamiński was responsible for photography.
Wroclaw served as a set representing Berlin at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. An additional elevation was put up in ul Kurkowa, in a gap that remained after a demolished tenement. On one of the walls a new mural appeared representing Die Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, or the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, which was in power in the former DDR. The SED was created in 1946, when Communist Party of Germany and the Social-Democratic Party of Germany merged under pressure from Soviet occupying forces. The mural was painted over after the shooting. Ul Ptasia in turn featured a Berlin wall reconstruction with barbed wire entanglements and a barrier. Several hundred Polish extras took part in the shooting. Even though they saw Spielberg from afar or not at all, some of them treated it as their life's adventure.
"There's chance I can spot myself on the screen. I only served as a backdrop, but at least I could catch a glimpse of Tom Hanks," say Bogdan, who features in the film as one of the workers building the Berlin Wall. "I won't miss it for sure. That's why I'm planning to go to a cinema. Even if I don't get to see myself, I will at least see Wroclaw," he adds.
The Wroclaw part of the shooting was carried out in collaboration with the Wroclaw Film Commission, a body established by the local authorities of Wroclaw and Lower Silesia to support film crews that seek shooting opportunities in the region.
"Bridge of Spies" will be screened by the Nowe Horyzonty Cinema, Lower Silesia Film Centre, Helios Cinema as well as Multikino and Cinema City venues.
