Snowden

In June, 2013, it came out that the National Security Agency had a massive espionage network in place. Within a few days, the source of the information revealed himself. Edward Snowden was a computer professional who had been working first for the CIA, and then switched to the NSA. Before long, his conscience started bothering him, and so he downloaded evidence of the espionage network, flew to Hong Kong, and revealed it to journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, while director Laura Poitras filmed the interview. Without a doubt it was the biggest story of 2013.

This story got told in Poitras's Oscar-winning documentary "Citizenfour". Oliver Stone's "Snowden" tells the story, but also looks at the years leading up to Snowden's employment by the NSA: his military service, his stationing in Geneva, and then Japan, and finally his employment with the NSA outlet in Hawaii.

I don't know if I would go so far as to call this a masterpiece, but what's mind-blowing is the sheer scope of not just the espionage network, but everything else that it comprised. Without a doubt, the most important scene is the worldwide revelation of Snowden's leaks, and Snowden's subsequent flight to Russia, where he remains to this day.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fine job as Snowden, as do Shailene Woodley as his lover Lindsay Mills. The rest of the cast includes Zachary Quinto (Spock in the "Star Trek" reboot) as Greenwald, Melissa Leo (Alice in "The Fighter") as Poitras, and an assortment of other people, including some surprise cast members.

All in all, I recommend the movie. Even though the viewer knows the plot, it's still a suspenseful story.

I know he won best picture for platoon - which also was a serious endeavour - but its behind us.

Vietnam is over, Vietnam is done.

Snowden lives. Actually, Snowden escaped and survived.

He went to what might be the only place people can be protected from US government agencies. I would like to think all whistle blowers would have to do is cross into Canada but then Snowden would know. He was smart - he is smart.

I remember Bambi Bembenek. She blew a whistle too and made it to Canada. Poor thing.

This is a must see for all except those that don't care their protection set forth by the founders of the United States can be taken away by bullies, perhaps corrupted by limitless power of a new industrialized intelligence complex.

Masterful work by Oliver Stone.

Thanks for bringing it to Tiff.

Oliver, please ask for a theatre more appropriate for Q&A for Snowden 2.0

The great director who's not afraid to tackle matters of war, conspiracy and controversial American political issues, has returned. Only this time, Oliver Stone has upgraded his latest film's look and tone to make it seem more digitally advanced, which is fine because it fits the story of Edward Snowden and we're living in this day and age where every millennial's favorite series happens to be "Mr. Robot." SNOWDEN, as you've guessed it, is a thriller about the whistleblower and former intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden, played in this film by the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt. "Divergent" star, Shailene Woodley plays his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, who stays by his side through his ordeals of working for the government due to his patriotism while at the same time feeling conflicted about how the government runs its methods in the name of national security. This film dramatizes the events that led Snowden to becoming one of the most wanted men in the world.

First, I have to give praises to Joseph Gordon-Levitt who I think went above and beyond in not only capturing Edward Snowden's mannerism and the way he speaks but my goodness, Gordon-Levitt's performance in this film is so calculating and precise, you can see his brains constantly work itself out, just by looking at him. And Shailene Woodley gives her most mature performance yet, because this film is more than just about the whole surveillance controversy, it's also about how that negatively affects Snowden & Mills relationship and I think it's fairly handled, both aspects don't take away or diminish each other's importance in the process.

When it comes to the film's dramatizing the U.S. and British global surveillance program, I'm sure there'll be questions as to how authentic the portrayal is, as far as the headquarters are concerned, for example, some may see it as a bit too much like a Bond villain's secret lair, but you'll be entertained by some of the visual effects that the film applies to showcase hacking and how one person can connect to another person and to another person and what's most fascinating about it is that there's a programmer watching the whole thing the entire time.

So SNOWDEN is essentially part conspiracy thriller, part relationship drama, and to a certain extent, part heist. Overall, I think it's a riveting film that keeps you engaged and more importantly gets you thinking, which I think is the goal of Oliver Stone's movies. Does the film lean one way in that it paints Edward Snowden as a hero? I think so, but not in a way that intentionally judges those who at the end still think of him as a traitor. SNOWDEN might cause audiences to become more paranoid or it might cause audiences to start supporting any effort to hold our government accountable. The jury's still out.

-- Rama's Screen --

Let me preface this by saying that the film cinematically was good. However, my criticisms regard the impact of the film in relation to the true events that took place, and the real Edward Snowden.

The main character in the movie 'Snowden' was a dishonest and grossly false representation of the real Edward Snowden. Oliver Stone portrays him as this hot shot genius big-wig within the NSA and CIA when the truth is that Edward Snowden was really a mid-level intelligence analyst. I thought that took a lot away from the real story, being that Edward Snowden was one of many ordinary government employees and what made him different is that he had the courage of his convictions to speak up and become a whistle-blower when he saw that our government was acting against the democratic principles for which this country was founded upon.

The real Edward Snowden shows us that even everyday Americans can become true patriotic heroes by speaking up when they see something they know is wrong. It is clear and obvious that the programs he revealed that ARE STILL BEING USED TODAY are completely prohibited by the 4th Amendment.

I went to watch Snowden with someone who was extremely well informed about the subject while I sadly wasn't and while we had extremely different perspectives going into it, I believe it is safe to say both thought the movie was pretty darn awesome. From the former point of view, it appears some important things were left out, while I kept getting stuck on stuff like how does a guy who did not even finish high school and obviously really wants to make it in Special Forces turn out to be such a genius, only being self-taught.

The fact is the story enthralled me. Even if some things felt cheesy, especially the abuse of light surrounding the main character in key moments, the fact is due to such a strong issue and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's stellar performance (queue choir of angels – yes, I am biased towards this guy, sue me), this was indeed a memorable experience.

I mean, that guy obviously did such a brilliant character study. I cannot get past how he placed his voice. The facial expressions and ticks, the way he held himself, a lovely mixture of a fragile and strong young man with principles literally held me at the edge of my seat sometimes – I had to keep reminding myself to sit back.

Some things did throw me off besides what I mentioned above, such as the way he got the information out (the entire process just seemed oversimplified) – and really every single time he expressed his obviously dangerous points of view.

However, I had a terrific time watching this and I highly recommend it. Makes me want to watch the documentary, to find out what really happened and what is just in the movie.