A few years ago one of the major news stories worldwide involved a man letting the cat out of the bag about what the US Government were doing in terms of their ability to spy on basically anyone they wanted. This story was made into an Academy Award winning documentary called ‘Citizenfour’. To be honest I had no interest in watching the documentary; but after viewing Snowden I may now seek it out.
Directed by Oliver Stone, Snowden is a dramatised version of the events which took place between 2004 and 2013. The movie focuses on the life and work of Edward Snowden leading up to the point where he controversially told his story to the press, earning himself a place on America’s Most Wanted list.
Edward Snowden was in the armed forces before switching careers to go work for the US Government. His work at the CIA and NSA was classified. It was a stressful job which he was unable to talk about with his girlfriend – or anyone else who didn’t have security clearance. It was a job which he was very good at, although he was morally uncomfortable about it. The stress of the job would take a toll on him leading to various problems in his relationship and eventually his health. When it all became too much for him he had to make an extremely difficult decision which would change his life forever.
The decision he made to inform the world of the truth may have been criminal, but knowing the consequences of his actions, it was also arguably heroic. His actions divided opinion on what was more important – security or privacy. You can make your own minds up which side of the coin you’re on.
I enjoyed the movie. Like most people I had a vague idea of who Edward Snowden was and what he had done through snippets of news I caught. But I found the film to be eye-opening in terms of the extent to which we can all be monitored by the authorities. Although we know how the movie ends, I thought there was a tension to it, and thought the drama was pretty well constructed.
I also thought the ensemble cast were really good. Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared really believable as Edward Snowden. Shailene Woodley was passable as his girlfriend, Lindsay. Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto and the great Tom Wilkinson played the journalists in the room who Snowden first revealed his secrets to. Must admit though, I was slightly caught off guard by Wilkinson’s Scottish accent. Not as bad as Chris Hemsworth in ‘The Huntsman’ but still slightly disappointing from the great man. It was also a nice surprise to see Nicholas Cage in a film again where he wasn’t unbearably annoying.
I really can’t say how much of this film is based on what actually happened and how much is dramatised. With only a very basic previous knowledge on the story and my not having seen ‘Citizenfour’ all I can say is that Oliver Stone did a good job at making things clearer for me and sparking my interest in a story that is at the same time both fascinating and terrifying. It’s not going to please everyone, but I liked it.
