'SNOWDEN', which I saw earlier in the week, is a biographical political drama Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Oliver Stone and based on the books 'The Snowden Files' by The Guardian's foreign correspondent Luke Harding, and 'The Time of the Octopus' by Russian lawyer and Doctor of Law Anatoly Kucherena. The former is an in depth biography of Edward Snowden's story, and the latter is a story of a fictional American whistleblower seeking asylum in Russia. The film rights for both books were acquired by Oliver Stone and form the foundation of this account of Edward Joseph Snowden, who hit the international headlines in mid-2013 for leaking classified information from the National Security Agency to The Guardian in the June of that year. With an all star cast, Stone was so worried about filming in the US and reprisals from the NSA, that he shot the film mostly outside of the US in Munich and Hong Kong with some footage filmed in Washington D.C. and Hawaii. A controversial man and a controversial story with Snowden being hailed a whistleblower, a dissident, a hero, a freedom fighter, a patriot and a traitor - you'll just have to decide for yourself based on this 'dramatisation of true events' as the films opening titles tell us! The film was made for US$40M and has so far grossed US$19M since its release.
Featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden and Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend Lindsay Mills, the film tells the story of this American computer professional, former Central Intelligence Agency employee and former contractor for the United States government who copied and leaked classified information from the NSA without any authorisation. The film charts Snowden's career from when he was first serving in the army, and was medically discharged to him applying for entry into the CIA and going through numerous rigorous tests to gain entry and prove himself worthy. It also explains how he first met his girlfriend Lindsay Mills, a tech-smart photographer, and how their relationship coped with the peaks and troughs of the stresses and strains of the highly secretive world in which he worked, and what he was exposed to.
Once accepted into the CIA he is introduced to Corbin O'Brian (Rhys Ifans) as a major high ranking CIA official who takes the new recruit under his wing recognising the inner geek and computer programming genius that is now in his midst. He also meets with Hank Forrester (Nicolas Cage) on his first day on the job at 'The Hill' (a closely guarded CIA Training Facility) who will be one of Snowden's instructors, and they share common interests in historical computers and code-cracking hardware before Forrester lets out a barrage of stories about highly secretive projects and the modern spying game. Forrester is somewhat jaded having developed an intricate computer programme to target known enemies of the state, that was dismissed before completion and handed over to a third party contractor for US$4B - more money than sense!
As Snowden becomes more entrenched with the CIA and in turn the NSA and gets ever closer to O'Brian having proven his capabilities and his worth repeatedly, so his responsibilities and his authorities increase. He is quickly introduced to the world of surveillance and how the NSA is keeping tabs on every mobile phone, every social media site, Internet activity, messaging service and computer use across the world with the ability to peer into all and any users private lives with astonishing speed and accuracy and completely unhindered. He's uncomfortable with this revelation and so seeks to get on to field operations and sample the world of the international spy, and so teams up with CIA Agent Geneva (Timothy Olyphant) and is exposed to some dirty dealings that sits uneasily with him too. Increasingly we see Snowden questioning himself to the point when he resigns his job because the burden of responsibility and accountability is all getting too much. However, he comes back as a contractor hired by blue chip consulting firms to work with the CIA and NSA again - same shit, different bucket!
Throughout the film we are taken back & forth in time over the course of nine years culminating in a Hong Kong hotel room. We see his relationship with Lindsay ebb & flow as she struggles with the secrecy he is sworn to, and not being able to discuss his working life with him openly to help relieve the stresses and strains he is feeling as a result of his work.
After postings in some far away places that culminated in a secret NSA underground facility in Hawaii, Snowden downloads several hundred thousand files onto a USB drive while his superior, NSA Agent Trevor James (Scott Eastwood) is pre-occupied with an emergency crisis. Casually, Snowden walks out of the heavily guarded facility with the USB hidden inside a Rubik's Cube which he is rarely seen without, and out into the sunshine having taken his leave from his desk because he wasn't feeling so good.
After leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii, Snowden flew to Hong Kong and is holed up in a Hotel Room with Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) an American documentary film Producer and Director who was in attendance by invitation from Snowden to record his testimony. In the room too was Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) - an American journalist and author also invited by Snowden to document his testimony for the world press, and most notably The Guardian. And, Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) - a Scottish journalist working for The Guardian as defence and intelligence correspondent. So, is came to be that over the course of four days in June 2013 holed up inside that hotel room, Snowden spilled the beans and revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to the three journalists and confidants, which then appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post, other newspapers including Der Spiegel and The New York Times and across global television networks. Watching these events unfold on national news are Lindsay at home with her parents, Corbin O'Brian, Hank Forrester, and assorted world leaders.
Snowden's disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and Governments across Europe. After being charged by the US Government on two counts of espionage and theft of classified information he flew to Moscow seeking asylum which he was granted for twelve months, subsequently extended to three years. He remains in Russia as of this date, and was subsequently joined there by Lindsay.
In a closing scene we see Snowden being interviewed live via an Internet link-up in front of a live studio audience. He is asked probing questions, and why he did what he did. As the camera pans around the monitor on which Snowden is speaking from his apartment somewhere in Russia, the image cuts from Edward Snowden as portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the real Edward Snowden who continues the discussion about peoples freedom, privacy and security and the violation of those basic human rights by President Obama. Edward Snowden co-operated in the making of this film.
I have to say I was fascinated about this film, and even if only 50% of what is depicted on the screen by Oliver Stone is true and correct, then that is a very scary prospect too - for all of us! Gordon-Levitt carries his character along with nuance and grace that makes him grounded, real and believable. There are no arousing speeches, chest beating, table thumping or over the top antics to be seen here, but rather a considered somewhat introverted but nonetheless highly intelligent man just doing what he believes in, and who has the courage of his convictions to speak out about what he believes in, and what he knows to be true. There was no personal gain here, no bag of gold at the end of this rainbow - for Snowden it was all down side - living in exile, the possibility of prison, labelled a traitor, alone and turning his back on his country, his family, his loved ones and the life he had thus far made for himself. One man against the world and prepared to blow open the lid. A riveting film based on fact that we cannot ignore, well delivered, very watchable and it will cause you to debate and discuss the subject at hand long after the credits have rolled.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
